I'm looking for places to take the family on the weekends (any weekend, fall, winter and spring) within a 2 hour or so drive from the BCS area. This could be a "drive up and then back" the same day or full 2 day weekend event.

Any suggestions or recommendations is appreciated?

Not to rule out other options, we can drive a little further (say 3 or 4 hours drive time each way) if you have some really good suggestions/ideas.

Thanks in advance.

Blue Bell creamery in Brenham is always good.

Dewbery Farm in Brookshire. Go on a Saturday and do the Pumpkin Stroll at night. It's awesome..500 handcarved pumpkins and lit up...really nice.

This is on the 4 hour limit, but an excellent trip. I did a trip one weekend with a friend to Glen Rose to go to Dinosaur Valley SP, Fossil Rim Wildlife Area, and Dublin for the Dr Pepper Plant. Kids would love it as you have dinosaurs, feeding animals, and a coke. Here is a write up from it. http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1423980&forum_id=54

Another one, also in the 3-4 hour range is Longhorn Cavern followed up by the Congress Avenue Bridge bats. Write up on the travel board, http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=1426713&forum_id=54

Washington on the Brazos State Park just west of Navasota.

I'm pretty sure the Blue Bell Creamery is only open on weekdays.

Burton Cotton Gin Festival--just west of Brenham. Old working cotton gin with folks who want to tell you all about how it works and what life was like when the area was a cotton center. Crafts, etc. also. Mid-April.

Salmon Lake at Grapeland--northeast about 90 miles. Several festivals--bluegrass music, gospel music, wild west reenactments. Camping and cabin rentals. Grapeland also has a Peanut Festival complete with Peanut Queen and parade, unfortunately, it was last weekend.

Fort Parker State Park and Historical Site. http://www.oldfortparker.org/home.htm

"Christmas in Crockett"--gotta plug my hometown's arts & crafts fair: over 200 booths all over the courthouse square and surrounding streets. Nov 21, 2009. 10 am-5 pm

One more in Houston County: Lovelady's LoveFest on Valentine's weekend.

So much to do, so little time.

[This message has been edited by CEAg78 (edited 10/22/2009 10:35a).]

What is your family in to?
touring... hiking... biking... kayaking... fishing... museums... etc...

There is a lot of neat places within 2 hours... For outdoor stuff checkout http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/
This lists all the State Parks, Historical Sites, Wildlife and Natural areas by regions and there is easily 20 to 30 places within a 2 hour range... We have made it to 10 or 11 this year and are going to hit 10-12 more next year... Very rich family time at these places if you leave the video games... lap tops... Ipods... and stuff at home...
Take a deck of cards or a few board games... Some bikes or kayaks and you will be very pleased with any of those areas.

I took the kids to Schlitterbahn Galveston on Sunday and we had a blast. They have an indoor winter season and everything is heated. Only 1/4 of the park is accessible, but it was enough to keep us busy for the day. Tickets were $20 each online.

One of the top ten things to do in Texas is to go to Coopers BBQ in Llano and pick your meat off the pit. It may be a little further drive than you wanted tho.

Another idea is the Market place in The Woodlands during xmas time. On Saturdays they have activites scheduled. There is also Old Town Spring. You could also go to Waco and tour the Texas Ranger Museum and Dr. Pepper.

I forgot to add the wildflower park in Johnson city in the spring.

[This message has been edited by dachsie (edited 10/22/2009 11:28a).]

Don't forget NASA, The Museum of Natural Science and IMAX in the Houston area.

The Museum of Science and History [open late 2009] and the Omni IMAX Theater in Ft. Worth. Also the stock yards there are worth a visit, too!

I've done the Blue Bell tour on the weekend, so I know its open unless they've changed their hours in the past couple months. best $1 ice cream cone you'll ever get.

I can attest that Longhorn Caverns and the Hill Country in general is a great place, but that's a little beyond your 2-hour range. Cooper's in Llano does have what I consider to be some of, if not THE best BBQ in the state, but that's almost 3 hours away.

MY BEST ADVICE is to do the following. Make it a weekend trip and head to Fredricksburg on a Friday night. Best downtown, family-friendly atmosphere in a town with lots of hotels, restaurants, bakeries, shops, and several unique festivals this time of year. Wake up, spend the day and eat lunch there at the Brewery, then drive north on 16 to Enchanted Rock State Park. Either camp there or drive a bit further north on 16 to Llano for the night and BBQ at Cooper's for Sunday lunch. Llano has a few B&Bs to stay at, as well as a couple new hotels. If you're not completely worn out by Sunday (or in a food coma from Cooper's), you can drive out to Longhorn Caverns since Burnet is on your way back west along 29. Then just take 29 all the way to 95 and then pick which way back to CS from there.

Its by far the prettiest drive you can find for a weekend road trip and you'll spend very little time on major highways. It all makes for one big loop. Let me know if you have any questions.

I even included a map for you.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=College+Station,TX&daddr=Caldwell,+TX+to:Fredericksburg,+TX+to:Llano,+TX+to:Burnet,+TX+to:College+Station,+TX&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=30.503117,-98.584442&sspn=0.756076,1.036835&ie=UTF8&ll=30.434466,-97.591553&spn=3.144616,4.147339&t=h&z=8

Texas Ranger Museum
Dr. Pepper Museum

both in Waco

I was going to suggest Geocaching or Huntsville State Park. They do an excellent alligator program usually on Saturday mornings and they have lots of nice hiking and biking trails.

Good Luck!!!

Kemah Boardwalk and Oil Ranch in Hockley

I love fall!!

Why not stay in town? You know, have a "staycation". There are lots of events that are going on around town. A lot of fall festivals are happening this Sat. (Oct. 24). And there's several museums and parks in the area. The CVB has a great website (visitaggieland.com) that lists all the events and pretty much everything else there is to do in the area and surrounding areas.

This Fri-Sun in Flatonia,Tx is Czhilispiel 37 or 38 I can't remember which.(been to too many)

Live music,carnival,food vendors,arts and craft,chilli and BBQ cook offs.

There is beer for the adults,but everything else is geared for the family.

Good times,good times....