Our newest adventure was an afternoon trip to Brazoria County, Texas. I made a list of sights we were curious enough to take a look at and, we had an excellent afternoon wandering around on a sunny afternoon, making Brazoria County discoveries.
Our afternoon excursion is an easy day trip from Houston and many of its surrounding counties. A copy of the Google map shown below indicates our route, beginning at the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge
The Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge office, where we entered the area, is five miles northeast of the intersection of FM 523 and FM 2004 on FM 2004.
Our first stop was the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, one of the three Refuges that make up the Texas Mid-Coast National Wildlife Refuge complex and one of the units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The Brazoria refuge, established in 1966, provides a habitat for migrating birds and waterfowl.
Brazoria refuge is home to over 300 species of birds for part of the year and is an excellent bird-watching location. It is a beautiful spot to be outside and enjoy nature. The visitor’s center, including restrooms, was closed, of course, but we spent quite a while enjoying the peaceful quiet we found here.
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 44,413 acres and has been designated an Internationally Significant Shorebird Site by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Here the public can fish, hunt, birdwatch, and enjoy all that nature has to offer. You can get more information here at this Fact Sheet.
Stephen F. Austin Statue -Munson Historical County Park
41885 SH 288
Angleton, TX 77515
979-849-5965
Open 8 am to 5 pm, Wednesday through Sunday
After our relaxing visit to the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, we drove on to Stephen F. Austin Statue – Munson Historical County Park to take a look at this giant statue of Stephen F. Austin, built as a tribute to the father of Texas.
You cannot miss seeing this 76-foot-tall statue designed by Texas sculptor David Adickes, along Highway 288 and near Angleton. Stephen F. Austin was an essential figure in the history of Brazoria County and, in the 1820s, provided land grants to settlers.
This park has been in operation since 1996 and contains a gift shop, picnic areas, as well as catch-and-release fishing.
Jalie B’s On the Go
Our next planned stop was Black’s Fairy Meadery in West Columbia, about 15 miles away, but we were hungry. I had relied on just coming across a fun place for lunch. We found just such a fun place, Jalie B’s On the Go – a food truck in West Columbia in the parking lot next door to the Meadery we planned to visit.
Jalie B’s caught our eye as we drove by, and we decided to check it out. We ordered a burger and fries for Steve and a fried chicken sandwich and fries for me. Big spools and chairs arranged under an awning provided a comfortable place to have our lunch.
This eatery is a busy place, people were coming and going, mostly picking up food to go, but after a brief wait, our food was brought out to us by the owner’s daughter. Jalie told us the story of her Mom’s business and informed us that everything was fresh and cooked from scratch with a homemade taste.
Our food was seriously good, excellent tasting burger, “real chicken” for the chicken sandwich, and astonishingly crispy fries. After we finished our sandwiches, we went back to the window to order a homemade slice of pie for dessert. We shared a slice of cherry amaretto pie for dessert – also quite good.
This stop was the right choice, and we will make it a point to stop here when we’re in this area again.
BLACK’S FAIRY MEADERY, LLC
325 East Brazos Avenue
West Columbia, Texas 77486
(979) 345-6323
Wed-Sat 2 pm -9 pm
We had never heard of a meadery. I had a vague idea that mead was a beverage served in medieval times. It turns out that mead is probably the world’s oldest fermented drink and is made from water and fermented honey.
The term “honeymoon” originates from the tradition of giving newlyweds a month’s worth of mead, in other words, a moon’s worth of honey wine.
The Black Fairy Meadery has been in existence since 2017 in an excellent corner location with available parking. A delightful event room, including a stage and bar, is located through a hallway to the back of the building. Its specialty is meads that have fruity and floral flavors.
Terica was kind enough to explain what mead was and offered a few samples of their product for us to try. I was surprised by the taste, sweet but not too much. We purchased a bottle of their black currant lime flavor, as recommended by Terica.
Black Fairy Meadery makes its product on-site in a back room and creates multiple flavors. What an educational stop this was!
Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site
1702 N. 13th St.
West Columbia, TX 77486
979-345-4656
varner-hogg@thc.texas.gov
We toured the extensive grounds during our visit. The Visitor’s Center and Plantation were not open. I’d visited the Plantation a few years ago by myself and toured all of the buildings at that time.
The Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site had three owners throughout the years, Martin Varner, Columbus Patton, and Texas Governor James S. Hogg, so you can imagine the rich history this Plantation has.
In 1824 Martin Varner established his home here on 4,428 acres of land granted him by Stephen F. Austin. Mr. Varner used slave labor to develop a rum distillery.
Mr. Varner sold his homestead to Columbus Patton in 1834, and the place then became known as Patton Place, where Mr. Patton, again using slave labor, built Patton House into a large sugarcane business.
After Patton’s death, and a long stormy probate situation, the executor of the estate, sold the property. There were several owners between 1869 and 1901, during which time convicts were used and cruelly treated as laborers.
The hurricane of 1900 destroyed most of the original buildings, including the sugar mill, and severely damaged the Plantation. What then remained of Patton Place was purchased by Texas Governor James Stephen Hogg in 1901, and he began the hunt for oil on the property.
The discovery of oil after the Governor’s death made his family extremely wealthy.
Varner-Hogg Plantation was donated to the State of Texas in 1958, by the Governor’s only surviving child, Ima Hogg. I recommend taking a picnic lunch and spending a full day at this beautiful and historic location.
Ring of Honor
111 East Locust Street
Angleton, TX 77515
(979) 849-4364
The Ring of Honor, a beautiful black granite memorial located on the lawn of Brazoria County Court at Law No. 1, is a touching tribute to see. Stop by and take a moment to reflect and read the names of the more than 180 service members from Brazoria County killed in action since World War I.
Main Street Steakhouse
1802 Main Street
Danbury, TX 77534
(979) 308-4308
The Main Street Steakhouse in Danbury is a new favorite of ours. The place is rustic, small-town charming, the food, although we’ve only eaten here once (so far), was oh so good!
We did not have a required reservation but were graciously seated at a good table near the bar area. The staff, particularly the young lady that took care of us this day, are friendly, helpful, and very efficient. We ordered fried shrimp and blackened catfish.
Both were delicious, large portions, and we had a large selection of side orders to choose from. We ordered dessert to go, a pecan cobbler in a mason jar for me, and chocolate pie for Steve.
When we arrived we observed the curbside pick-up station set up right by the front door. Cones mark off the area for vehicles to pull up under a canopy and receive their order from very busy ladies shuffling order after order. I was impressed by the efficiency of it all.
I am very happy we have made this discovery and plan to return soon and hopefully will take friends with us to enjoy this gem.
Well, another week has gone by. I am simply itching to go on a big, air, cruise, train, long-distance trip! For now, though, Steve and I are having a great time exploring our immediate vicinity.
Brazoria County, and the places we visited on this trip made for a quite enjoyable, low-key afternoon for us. These places are all within reach of those of you in the Houston area and all of the surrounding counties. A fun day overall visiting enjoyable sights well worth our time.
Sounds like a wonderful fun filled trip or trips , again as you describe , very educational and worth checking out!
The awe of finding and going to these places is evident in your relating it and having us want to check it out but you make it seem like we’re there with you and Steve!
Thank you
Thank you Chris for those kind words. Next week we are going to travel a bit farther from home (YEA!), but we do enjoy seeing and visiting the sights that are right here, in our back yard almost. I hope my stories encourage folks to check out some of these places we’ve visited and have their own fun adventures. We are having a GOOD time.