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Warren Loose Conservatory & Cattail Marsh

November 30, 2016 by Jillian Leave a Comment

I’ve been to almost every corner of Texas and I have lots of favorite places in this great big state. One of my recent favorites is the little known Beaumont Botanical Gardens, located in historic Tyrrell Park. The park contains the gardens, a conservatory, banquet hall, horse stables, golf course, walking trail and a marsh with a boardwalk 🐎🌷⛳️

To see my photos of the lovely gardens, check out my post on the Beaumont Botanical Gardens. This week’s post is all about the conservatory and the awesome marsh. Below are my favorite photos of these extremely peaceful, beautiful places ☮

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Beaumont Botanical Gardens

October 10, 2016 by Jillian 2 Comments

I spent most afternoons this past summer walking barefoot through the botanical gardens in Beaumont, Texas 👣🌺🐝🌴 It was never crowded and many times I was the only person there. The botanical gardens are tucked away in the expansive Tyrrell Park in southern Beaumont. The outside gardens, pictured here, are free and open from daylight till dark every day.

What are some perks of traversing these lovely grounds? For starters, there are wild bunnies hopping around 🐇🐰 I’ve also seen a raccoon on the trail as well as a pretty ginormous snake 🐍 There’s lots of cute lizards and butterflies and bees, and of course brightly colored flowers and fragrant roses.

I brought my camera along for my last couple of visits to the Beaumont Botanical Gardens. Here are my favorite pictures 📷

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Angelina National Forest & Historic Aldridge Sawmill

August 11, 2016 by Jillian 2 Comments

Angelina National Forest reminds me of the kinds of forests you read about in fairy tales. There’s just something magical about it 🔮 On my way to Nacogdoches, Texas I decided I was going to finally stop by this natural beauty and spend at least a couple of hours wandering around and hiking the nature trails. I ended up at Boykin Springs, located off the main highway, but only after getting lost and having to stop at a tiny local restaurant to ask for directions.

Just my luck, the main road leading to the trail was still closed off due to a ton of recent rain which resulted in flooding. Darn you Texas and your crazy weather! Despite that, this was my only chance to see Angelina National Forest and I wasn’t about to let a closed road stop me. I parked my car, got out, and walked about twenty minutes until I saw the entrance of Boykin Springs. Here are my favorite pictures from the day, including the historic Aldridge Sawmill at the end of the trail.

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Day Tripping in Historic Nacogdoches, Texas

July 6, 2016 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Whenever I see or hear the name Nacogdoches it always makes me think of nachos. Yummm…

This little college town located in central southeast Texas got it’s name from the Nacogdoche tribe of Caddo Indians that inhabited the site 10,000 years ago. As the oldest town in Texas, Nacogdoches is rich with history, famous Texans, and beautiful flowers. I took a day trip to explore this lovely town and was pleasantly surprised.

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Hiking Through Big Thicket National Preserve

May 21, 2016 by Jillian Leave a Comment

The cool thing about southeast Texas is that there are a lot of national forests, thanks to all those piney trees 🌲 There’s lots to explore outdoors and back in March I decided to visit Big Thicket National Preserve, which is about a 45 minute drive from the city of Beaumont. Not only does this piney forest smell amazing (!) but it’s home to all sorts of wildlife and vegetation.

The preserve is broken up and spread out all over the area, with several different hiking trails for visitors to enjoy. On this particular day, I explored Kirby Trail near the visitor’s center, and the Sundew Trail just seven miles up the highway. Here are my favorite photos from the day 📷

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