The Best Texas Spots To Vacation Alone
East Texans who love having time to themselves are taking "solomoons." A vacation by yourself might be the most refreshing thing you'll do in 2020.
Everybody needs some time alone, especially right now when there are so many people in your space at home. Even if you're a family of three or four, when everyone has to be at home for work or school, it can feel like a hundred.
Getting away by yourself can be a healthy thing, and that's why more people than ever are booking solomoons. Think honeymoon, but instead of having to deal with someone else's needs and opinions, you can stick your toes into a white sandy beach, or float in a pool with your eyes closed and relax all by yourself.
I posted the Best Texas Spring Break Destinations prior to the pandemic and since that has sidelined plenty of travel plans, it might be worth revisiting. These relaxing spots would be great for a well-deserved solomoon.
1. Tubing on the San Marcos River. It's a one-mile stretch of the river with festive beverages in hand. Alcoholic beverages are allowed, and most tubing outfitters make the cooler part of the tube rental. It's quiet and serene. San Marcos is the home of Texas State University.
2. Tubing on the Guadalupe River. It's similar to tubing on the San Marcos River, but the stretch of river used for tubing is a lot longer, and drinking alcohol is allowed as you don't use disposable containers. It's scenic and beautiful, and the most popular spot for tubing is the stretch between New Braunfels and Canyon Lake.
3. Lake Texoma. It's one of the largest artificial lakes in the US, and if the smallmouth bass aren't biting, it's still fun to cruise the lake with friends and a cooler, and you can rent a boat or take your own. Lake Texoma has the paddlewheel boat called the Texoma Bell Riverboat at Durant, OK too.
4. Galveston Island. The fun stretches on for 27 miles, and it's an area full of bars and shops, places to play sand volleyball, hop on the Zip Line, and visit quirky mansions like Moody Mansion and Bishop’s Palace. Moody Gardens is right there too.
5. South Padre Island. The Dolphin Research & Sealife Nature Center can take you on a boat tour to see dolphins, and the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center has a five-story-high watchtower for the times that you're not partying on the beach.
And if you feel like sticking around East Texas, there's always Tyler State Park for fishing, swimming, mountain biking, camping, and geocaching. (That's a treasure hunt using a smartphone app to find the coordinates of the geocaches.)
If you go alone, you can make the rules about what time you get up, where you eat, and whether or not you leave the comfy beach chair. It doesn't have to be an expensive trip, and it could be just the refresher this pandemic needs.