Central Texas holds delights for each member of the family. Make a tour of Central Texas and enjoy varied activities within easy distance of each other. Cruise a Texas river, explore a historic cavern, visit a working rail station and railroad museum, drink Dr Pepper in its home city, and step back in time with the working Texas Rangers.
Depart Lake Buchanan for an ecological cruise around the Central Texas Hill Country aboard one of the Vanishing Texas Cruise boats. You will tour Lake Buchanan and the Colorado River vicinity with opportunities for bird watching and observing native Texas wildlife, flora and waterfalls. During the winter you might spy bald eagles who winter in the area. There’s also a drought cruise option, so don’t let a dry spell foil your plans.
Vanishing Texas River Cruise
443 Waterway Lane
Burnet, TX 78611
800-474-8374
http://www.vtrc.com/
Since prehistoric times, Longhorn Cavern has sheltered people. During the Civil War, Confederate army munitions experts manufactured gunpowder in the cave. You will see evidence of their operations during your tour. Notorious train robber Sam Bass may have hid out in the cave. Later, the main room was a dance hall, night club and restaurant during the years of Prohibition 1920 to 1933. Nowadays, it’s open year round for guided tours at a comfortable 68°F.
Longhorn Cavern State Park
6211 Park Road 4 S.
Burnet, TX 78611
877-441-2283
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/longhorn_cavern/
http://www.longhorncaverns.com/
Schedule a stopover at the Temple Amtrak Station and tour the museum which tells the story of the railroad from a local perspective. Exhibits include a telegraph room, a replica railroad restaurant dining room, railroad equipment, locomotives, and cabooses. You can board a passenger car to experience the joys of traveling by rail.
Railroad and Heritage Museum
315 West Avenue B
Temple, TX 76501
254-298-5172
http://www.rrhm.org/
Dr Pepper is a Texas original. Waco pharmacist Charles Alderton created the soda by experimenting with various flavorings while an employee at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store. Dr Pepper made its national debut at the 1904 World’s Fair Exposition in St. Louis. Explore the displays of vending machines and packaging through the years, plus the bottling room on the regular tour. Take the Create a Soft Drink tour to invent your own soft drink and plan your marketing campaign with name, slogan, label and logo. Enjoy a free sample of Dr Pepper on either tour.
Dr Pepper Museum?300 South 5th Street?Waco, TX 76701?254-757-1025
http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/
From their modest beginnings in the early 1800s to today, the Texas Ranger Ideal is honor, self-sacrifice, perseverance, courage, duty and humility. Exhibits trace the Ranger history through the years with the aid of art and artifacts. Your child can become a Junior Ranger with a $25 donation. Even movie and television Rangers get attention at this museum. A new 400 piece collection of Lone Ranger memorabilia is being cataloged and readied for display.
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum
100 Texas Ranger Trail
Waco, TX 76706
254-750-8631
http://www.texasranger.org/
