Dirty Dancing – Texans Travel Life

My birds eye view atop the observation tower was stunning at sunrise, but I would imagine it would be spectacular as the sun set across the water on the other end of the day.

As a kid, I loved watching The Parent Trap. The whole idea of going to camp for the entire summer seemed like Heaven on Earth. The myriad of activities available to all the campers at Miss Inch’s Summer Camp for Girls always looked so fun! And the camp itself looked like the most picture-perfect place on Earth to my young eyes.

Separately, The Manling and I conquered our fears of height to gain a higher perspective of the beautiful lake and the spectacular surrounding areas.

As a teenager, I was all about Dirty Dancing – but not because of Patrick Swayze. Kellerman’s Resort held the irresistible draw to my teenaged self that Miss Inch’s Summer Camp for Girls did to the younger me. It was a magical place that offered good, clean fun for it’s guests like the talent show where the accordion players among us finally got their fifteen minutes of fame. There were log cabins (like the one Baby’s family rented) and beautiful lakes in the background and a variety of activities designed to bring people together in wholesome ways. (I would argue that the resort played a pivotal role in the movie, for the idyllic setting captured my attention more than any of the main characters.)

My amazing view as the sun greeted the day.

As an adult, I discovered Lake Livingston State Park during the Summer of 2018, a place that was like stepping back into the absolutely best parts of yesteryear. I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that LLSP has somehow captured all of the greatest moments of childhood and nestled them under towering East Texas trees, and then tossed in an absolutely perfect campy vibe that leaves you wistful for bygone days.

My fondest childhood memories apparently live on at LLSP, most especially at the screened shelters area. Little House on the Prairie, anyone? Those adorable wooden shelters on the shores of Lake Livingston State Park made me want to exchange the luxury & convenience of city life for the quaint simplicity beckoning from within those tiny houses right then and there. (Honestly, I texted The Man while I was walking around that area to inform him that I believed I could live my best life RIGHT. THERE. And I meant it.)

See what I mean?!?! My heart aches to call that place home.

Or this one. I’m not picky. I could live my best life in either of these one room shelters. I promise.

While I was off fantasizing about living my best life in one of those Tiny Houses, The Manling was – drum roll please – fishing. And for all you anglers out there, the fishing is good at Lake Livingston State Park, even from the shoreline.

A sampling of the little guys that called the area around the boat launch home.

I even landed a wee little fella when I took a break from my nostalgia to live in the moment with The Manling.

What else is there to do at Lake Livingston State Park if you’re not into reliving yesteryear or fishing? Rent a canoe and spend some time on the lake. Geocache. Go hiking – there’s about 5 miles of trail. Mountain bike. Go on a nature hunt for birds, or rabbits, or armadillos, or flying squirrels…even alligators! The point is, there is something for everyone at LLSP. What are you waiting for?

Why We Love Lake Livingston State Park

Nostalgia. If your best childhood memories could be packaged into a State Park, that State Park would be Lake Livingston.
Water. This is an irresistible draw during the summer heat in Texas. LLSP offers affordable canoe and kayak rentals. They loan good ole fashioned cane fishing poles. And you can swim in the lake, to boot!
Shelters. Scroll back up to those pictures. They speak for themselves, but I gushed over them anyway. #bestlifeever
Forest. We love trees. Tall ones. The kind that offer real shade. The kind under which the temperature is noticeably lower. We want to look at them. We want to walk in their shade. We want to see the impossibly blue sky peeping through their towering, green limbs. If you do, too, LLSP is your utopia.

Must Do’s

Sunset. Go to the tip-top of the Observation Tower about an hour before sunset and just enjoy the show over Lake Livingston.
Stay. Reader, you can request specific campsites and shelters, which is unusual within the State Park system because the norm is “first come, first served.” Take advantage of that awesomeness and rent shelter #7 or #3. Trust me.
Hike. While we didn’t hike on our visit (the shoreline fishing was too good!), reading about the nite hike to Frog Pond is calling my name! And rumor has it that the most popular trail (the Pineywoods Boardwalk Trail) happens to be the means to get to Frog Pond, so you totally score a twofer with this hike. Don’t forget a flashlight.
Make Memories. In my opinion, this isn’t the place to be alone. Grab those you love and go make some memories at LLSP. The place is rich with opportunities!

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Lake Livingston State Park! Please leave your comments on this State Park that is nothing short of a delicious slice of yesteryear below.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

Balmorhea State Park was one of the bucket list locales on our Tour of Texas Waterholes we did several summers ago with The Manling and Kinder Frau. During the planning stages of our trips, BSP showed up on list after list as this big deal in Texas. Like, you’ve not arrived until you’ve experienced Balmorhea in person. It is, after all, the WORLD’S LARGEST SPRING-FED SWIMMING POOL and it just so happens to call Texas home. So obviously, being the good Texans we are, we pointed the Tiny Toyota Tardis (because the Yaris is bigger on the inside) toward West Texas to see what all the fuss was about.

But first, we spent the front half of the day sand boarding at Monahans Sandhills State Park, making sure we were primed and pumped to experience the desert oasis that is Balmorhea SP. Once we were completely sandy, abominably hot, and desperately seeking some sand-free refreshment of the H2O variety, we began the exciting 1.5 hour drive to BSP.

Exciting, you may ask?

Yes, exciting!

The north-to-south road that we traveled the bulk of our trip on looked like the set of an old-fashioned movie akin to The Grapes of Wrath. Lots of dust was blowing in winds that were constantly causing us to course correct the Tiny Toyota Tardis. Lots of skeletal structures peppered the landscape after something had clearly blown the rest of the building materials away. We seldom passed another car. We saw another living soul exactly never. And in the west, the vast expanse of sky was growing the largest storm you could imagine – heading toward us. With no where to seek refuge, we continued driving south, sometimes at a snail’s pace, as we helplessly watched that storm slowly sweep toward us, overtake us, and finally – thankfully! – leave our tiny two-door Toyota in it’s dust. Never have we driven in more frightening and unexpected weather than we did that day.

By the time we reached the entrance to BSP, the rain had stopped even though the clouds lingered. We had no idea if the park remained open during inclement weather, but we entered the HQ with our fingers crossed and our prayers prayed that what we’d just driven through would not have been in vain.

It wasn’t! To the contrary, the storms that we had driven through caused an understandable mass exodus from Balmorhea State Park, and now? Now the park was ours to explore and enjoy in almost complete solitude!! (With a cap on the allowable number of visitors per day, it is a big deal that we got in, much less that we practically had the place to ourselves.)

I love that Kinder Frau is practically on top of The Man. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying. Swimming with the fish can be a Man thing. We’re good with that.

We headed straight for the cool of the pool and enjoyed a few unforgettable hours of swimming, cannonballing, and snorkeling the deep end (a 20 footer!) to get a closer look at the pool’s finned inhabitants (no fishing or noodling allowed).

No noodling? No fishing? No problem! He’ll snorkel.

I’m super glad we had that unforgettable experience in yesteryear because when The Manling and I returned mid-July 2018, our experience was not quite the adventure we remembered. As in, we were there for a whole ten minutes which included a bio break, our signage selfie…

…and registering the car in the HQ with the Park Staffer who regretted to inform us that everything except the picnic area was closed. Every. Single. Thing. See?

Turn that frown upside down, fellow Texas Travelers. They will be open and renovated and repaired and ready to help you create your own memories to share very soon!

Why We Love Balmorhea State Park

Water. Come on. It’s the WORLD’S LARGEST spring-fed swimming pool. WORLD’S LARGEST. That’s worth checking out. You can swim, scuba dive, or snorkel. (The fact that the constant temp of the pool is in the mid-70’s during the summertime in Texas is bonus gold.)
CCC Buildings. Truly, your mind wanders and wonders if you’ve somehow stepped back into history and are living in your own West Texas version of Dirty Dancing focused on swimming with the locals instead of sneaking out to forbidden dances with them.

Must Do’s

Swim. WORLD’S LARGEST spring-fed swimming pool. Why do I have to keep telling you this? Check this one off your bucket list. It’s a definite Must Do!
Stay. Camp. Motel-type lodging. With the Davis Mountains as your backdrop, this is one sweet place to park yourself overnight, or over an extended weekend.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Balmorhea State Park! Please share your thoughts on this wet & retro State Park in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.