This is STOP 6, the 10th, 11th and 12th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop 5 in Vicksburg, MS.
This stop was in the really nice little town of Jefferson Texas.
The Drive from Vicksburg, MS to Jefferson, TX
Vicksburg MS to Jefferson TX
We aren’t pressed for time today – it would only be 3.5 hours if we took the interstate, however, by now you know we have a strong preference to stay off the interstate and drive through smaller towns to get a feel for America. After some quick research to get ideas and we briefly get on I-20 to cross the Mississippi River, then hop on Historical Route 80 (that parallels I-20) and then head north to catch Louisiana 2 that crosses the northern part of the state and eventually gets us to Jefferson TX in 5 hours.
The historic town of Jefferson is home to 3 small historic hotels and at least 20 bed & breakfasts. It has a nickname as the B and B capital of Texas. The White Oak Manor B&B is located in the historic district in a quiet area just a few blocks outside of the main downtown area. The home was built in 1911 and has a large southern front porch. We are staying in the room named Southern Charm. It is self-check-in with a passcode for the keypad front door and bedroom door in a sealed envelope on the front porch. That alone tells us this will be a safe town to walk around.
Dinner at McGarity’s Restaurant & Saloon
Having once again skipped lunch, we need food and McGarity’s is our destination of choice. It is a beautiful historic building with a lot of ambiance. Notice all variety of old objects hanging from the ceiling. We are greeted by our bartender Karli and order some fried cheese curds. She warns us they are a little spicy – and that they are. YUM! Next we decide to split their french dip sandwich and garlic mashed potatoes – which turns out to be more of a pot roast sandwich – and it is delicious!
A Day Spent In Jefferson
We have 2 goals today: no driving and exploring the historic section of Jefferson. Our day starts with a yummy breakfast that consists of german puff pancakes with blueberries and apple-brandy syrup and some scrambled eggs with orange slices on the side. We chat with “The Smiths”, no relation – an older couple spending just one night at the B&B. We learn they were high school sweethearts who reconnected some 40 years later and just got married last April.
We then spend an hour or so walking up, down, across and back through the residential streets of historic Jefferson. Our B&B host, Dan, informed us there are over 60 homes on the National Historic Register in this section and well over 100 buildings total in the town. We see some modest older homes and some extravagant ones as well. We also see the other B&Bs in town.
We saunter on down to the more touristy section of town which is laden with little antique shop after little drug store after little gift shop. There is quite the eclectic assortment of shops to wander through. We meander through almost all of them and since we are thirsty, we stop for a snack at The Taste of Cadoo. We order onion rings and a few beers.
Jefferson Historical Museum
Next we head to the Jefferson Historical Museum. The building was constructed in 1888 – 1890 as a Federal Courthouse and Post Office, remaining in use until 1961. It was then sold to the historical society where renovations began to turn it into the museum housing books, pamphlets, maps, portraits, paintings, relics, letters, journals, etc. pertaining to the history of Jefferson and Marion County, TX. We learn Jefferson was once one of the most important ports in TX and once was the 6th most populous town in TX. Peak population is said to have exceeded 30,000 just a few years after the Civil War. An extensive log jam known as the “Great Raft” was on the nearby Red River that extended as much as 160 miles. Water levels rose on Cadoo Lake and riverboats were diverted through Cadoo. Jefferson became a busy port from New Orleans and also transported troops during the Civil War. It took over 8 years to clear a small navigable path in the Red River (from 1830 – 1838) but the raft itself remained until the discovery of nitroglycerin. In 1873, using nitroglycerin, the Army Corps of Engineers was finally able to clear the raft from the Red River. The water level of Cadoo Lake dropped 10 feet and riverboat travel through Cadoo to Jefferson was no longer feasible. The prosperity of Jefferson dwindled and soon the population was down to around 3000. The sign outside town says the population today is 2106.
We take a short walk on a nature trail and we see railroad magnate Jay Gould’s personal railroad car. We peek in the windows of the historic Jefferson Hotel and walk through the lobby of the historic Excelsior hotel. We head back to the B&B to drop off some things and sit on the front porch talking with Emily & Lynn Barmer from the Dallas area. We decide we both want to take a boat tour of Cadoo Lake tomorrow, so I call the B&B recommended guide and make reservations for 10:45 the next day.
Knightlight Tavern
Last event of the day will be dinner at the Knightlight Tavern, another historic tavern, this one which a claim for a medieval decor. The place doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once inside we see the charm of the place. We meet our bartender Gina and end up with hours of just delightful conversation and food. This place DID impress us once we saw the menu and even more so, when we tasted our meals. I ordered the Mediterranean Pasta w/garlic bread and Harrison got something called Scarborough Chicken and a baked potato.
Cadoo Lake Boat Tour
This morning’s breakfast consists of what our host Dan calls “Crescent Sausage Casserole”, fried redskin potatoes & onions and watermelon. In addition to Emily & Lynn, we share this meal with a rather talkative Ed (whose wife stays in the room because she doesn’t eat breakfast).
The drive to our boat tour is about 25 minutes and gives us a chance to see more of the back country of North East Texas. We meet our boat captain, Rich (Cadoo Lake Bayou Tours), who greets us at the Shady Grove Marina and Café. Emily & Lynn are already there and so we head straight for the pontoon board where a third couple (we are never introduced) is already seated.
We proceed for 1.5 hours on a portion of the largest natural lake in TX at well over 25,400 acres. Rich teaches us the history of the lake and gives us a wonderful tour. The lake is physically located in both Texas and Louisiana. The lake was once a cypress swamp, but when the Madrid earthquake occurred in 1812, the swamp became filled with water and formed the lake. The lake is peppered with cypress trees and we learn that many of them of well over 400 years old. No new seeds can take root since the swamp is now a lake, so the cypress trees we see are all that even be in the lake and bayou tributaries. We learn that Cypress trees change to a brilliant orange in the fall – unless the Linn worms eat the foliage first. He takes us down a 1 mile long man-made channel called Governor’s Ditch – a hauntingly beautiful tree lined section where they cleared an approximately 40 foot wide section so the 30 foot wide riverboats could save about 100 miles of navigation on the waterway. We see one alligator (despite these waters hosting thousands), several egrets, a blue heron or two and one owl. We learn that there is oil around and under the lake that is still actively mined. We learn that Don Henley (of Eagles fame) owns several properties around the lake so they will be preserved.
Over 20 horror movies have been shot at this lake with the shack in the first picture being in a number of them.
Early Evening Walk Around Town
First order of business is to return to the Jefferson Historical Museum to purchase a shot glass souvenir. We meant to purchase it yesterday but forgot. Shot glasses make great souvenirs because they are generally $5- $7 and they don’t take up much room. We’ve been collecting them for over 20 years and have 3 display cases of them at home. The museum has a toy train exhibit that was closed the previous day and sadly, it is closed again today.
There are two stores discussed over breakfast that we haven’t been to yet. One is Nutty’s Peanut Butter, a place where they make their 12 different gourmet flavors of Peanut Butter. We taste 6 – and we buy 6 (it is buy 5, get the 6th free): White Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Raison, Sweet Cinnamon, Honey Roasted Crunch, Peanut Butterscotch and Chocolate Marble. (HINT – they ship!) Peanut Butter doesn’t need to be refrigerated once opened, and it is one of our go-to foods for picnics on the road so we are set for the rest of the trip. The second store is Made In The Shade, an eclectic boutique that is just an interesting series of what we call “eye candy” (just fun to look at, but nothing to buy).
When we drove to the boat tour this morning, we noticed a series of boardwalks just beyond the bridge out of town. We head that way and do a lovely 2 mile shaded walk on the boardwalk in this currently dry section of the bayou. While we were out walking we found bigfoot!
Dinner at Auntie Skinner’s Riverboat Club & Restaurant
Auntie Skinner’s is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so this is our first opportunity to check it out. First order of business is to meet our delightful bartender, Dawana and gets some beer to quench our thirst from the walks. Next we meet a local, Brad, who has done a lot of travel in the US – so we swap stories as we much on the Spicy Fried Green Bean appetizer. We move on to splitting the Baked Chicken Dinner with a side salad and loaded mashed potatoes. Brad leaves and his bar stool becomes occupied by a local couple, Ellie & Steve (who she teasingly calls Stevie which he keeps reminding folks it is just Steve). More interesting conversation.
Our Verdict
A town with this many historic lodging options and restaurants with great food makes this a recommended stop and one we’ll likely return to someday. NOTE: we’re told they have some type of festival almost every weekend in the spring, summer and fall. As you can see in one of the pictures there is a bigfoot statue that goes along with the bigfoot festival. We saw pictures also of the Mardi Gras celebration that takes place at the same time as the one in New Orleans. Given the amount of riverboat traffic this town once had from New Orleans it doesn’t come as a surprise.
We pick McGarity’s as our favorite of the four restaurants went too .
Next Up
We are off to Fredericksburg, TX and Texas Hill Country for 4 nights
This is STOP 6, the 10th, 11th and 12th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop 5 in Vicksburg, MS.
[…] This is STOP 7, the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th days of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Jefferson, TX […]