Dream Destinations, Down Home Style

August means last call for vacations. With the sun peaking out of the clouds here in East Texas, I am dreaming of sun-swept beaches and turquoise water. Let’s be realistic, however, with school supplies, back-to-school clothes and the price of gasoline, who can afford Acapulco or the Caribbean?
Speaking of the price of gas, why not make a list of places to vacation nearby? With a list, you can work in one mini-vacation before school starts, plan another one for the Labor Day weekend, and finish the list on the weekends as fall rolls into spring.
Destination #1: Tyler State Park
It’s hard to find a more beautiful place that so well-represents all the variety of trees and foliage that we enjoy here in East Texas. Our state parks are a great place to camp, picnic, kayak, canoe, fish, hike, go birding, rent paddle boats, take nature tours, or hang a hammock and let everyone else play while you rest. The folks at Tyler State Park tell me that the swimming is good and the water is only slightly above normal. Since the 65 acre lake is spring fed and self-contained with no tributaries, they have not had any problems with the water. They also mentioned Lake Bob Sandlin, Atlanta, and Daingerfield State Parks, all in Northeast Texas, as other great places to visit. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website, there are over 20 State Parks in our area.
Destination #2: Kilgore, Texas
Who could resist a small town with the cultural savvy to host a Shakespeare Festival every summer? While we’ll have to wait until summer 2008 to take in the next festival event, Kilgore College hosts other cultural and sporting events throughout the year. The East Texas Oil Museum, on the KC campus, is an afternoon’s worth of interactive exhibits that tell the history of the oil industry in East Texas and allow kiddoes to get the flavor of a bygone era, all in air-conditioned comfort. Don’t forget to schedule a meal of ribs at the Country Tavern while you are in the neighborhood.
Destination #3: Shreveport, Louisiana
If big-city excitement is what you are craving, Shreveport, closer than the Metroplex, is an interesting cultural mix of old-world charm and new dynamics. Some folks go to Shreveport for horse racing or “the boats,” a reference to the many casinoes along the riverfront. However, some of Shreveport’s best attractions are family-friendly, like the Sci-port Discovery Center and the R.W. Norton Museum. Sci-port Discovery Center includes all kinds of exhibits designed with children in mind to explain Louisiana’s economy and history; a child with a little imagination can soon be the captain of a riverboat or a biologist preserving wildlife habitats. The Norton Museum, with its internationally noteworthy collection of western art by Frederic Remington and Charles Russell, is a gem of an art museum and worth a visit to Shreveport all by itself.
Destination #4: Canton and Edom, Texas
Why not spend Saturday at First Monday Trades Day? If you can’t make the First Monday week-end, but the sunshine is calling you outside, there is a new water park called Splash Kingdom, situated on I20. After a hard day of shopping or swimming, retire to one of the many bed and breakfast inns in the area for the night. Sunday worship in a small town church followed by lunch at The Shed in Edom is a perfect way to spend a leisurely Sunday. On the way out of town, be sure and stop off at the Blue Moon Nursery to pick up a few plants and some good advice about organic gardening. Don’t go back to work until you have had a chance to get your fingernails dirty by planting something that will be around when the cooler temps arrive in October. There’s nothing like enjoying fall color in your yard to extend that vacation feeling a little longer.
Destination #5: Tyler, Texas
It is easy to forget how much fun a few days in Tyler can be, since so many of people have to come to town to work or for doctor’s appointments. In fact, there are so many fun things to do in Tyler that next week I am devoting a whole column to that extra long, extra eclectic list.
Just because summer is winding down and the price of gas is up does not rule out a dream vacation, especially when that dream vacation is down home style right here in East Texas.
In the meantime, my next stop is down a waterslide at Splash Kingdom. Yeeeehaw! See ya in the sunshine!

Cathy Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives in East Texas with her family. If you would like to add something to one of her lists, she can be reached at features@bullardnews.com.