West Texas Roundup - Coasters and Culture in the Texas Panhandle

Over the July 4th weekend I went on my first roller coaster trip since early 2020 - the West Texas Roundup, an event with the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE). These events usually include exclusive ride time and behind the scenes tours, and this was no exception.

The weekend started out on a bad note, as my flight to Lubbock was cancelled. I managed to book a flight on a different airline, spent the night at a hotel airport in Dallas, and made it to Lubbock on a Saturday morning, 14 hours later than I had planned. But with that out of the way, the rest of the weekend was fantastic. My hotel was really cool. It's a new boutique hotel in downtown Lubbock, not far from Texas Tech. The rooms surround a central courtyard that is meant to be a community meeting place, with a restaurant, pool with bar, and live music several nights a week. Highly recommended! I had an early lunch at Torchy's Tacos, which is always a great stop when in Texas. I briefly explored downtown Lubbock, including the Buddy Holly Center, a farmer's market, and the Depot District that has a few restaurants and bars. I then stopped at "Prairie Dog Town," a little reserve for these critters near my first amusement park of the trip.

The Cotton Court Hotel

Torchy's Tacos. Cowboy hat guys at the bar!

Buddy Holly was from Lubbock.

A Buddy Holly statue.

I happened upon a farmer's market in the Depot District.

The old rail depot.

Prairie dogs fighting over food.

The event kicked off at Joyland, a small family amusement park. It has a handful of classic rides, mostly moved from other parks around the country. I particularly enjoyed the log flume and the drop tower. Our day started with bumper car soccer, which my team won! We had Q&A with the park owners, and plenty of free time to enjoy all of the rides and the atmosphere of this quaint park. The weather was great. It got a bit hot in the middle of the day, but was a beautiful evening. What a great start to this event!

Welcome to Joyland.

You get wet on the log flume. Watch out for the alligator!

The Galaxi coaster and a brilliant sky.

It was very comfortable as the sun started to go down.

Our group! Photo courtesy of ACE South Central.

Our second day started in Plainview, about a 45 minute drive north. I stopped at a couple of small towns on the way, which had interesting buildings but unfortunately were quite deserted. We had a tour of Larson, an amusement ride manufacturer. It was interesting to learn about the process of manufacturing a ride. They've even made roller coaster supports for Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coasters. After the tour, we had a nice breakfast (burritos), and then came the most unique and interesting part of the event. The National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives is not yet open to the public, but we had a special behind-the-scenes tour and saw the unveiling of two new coaster exhibits. This place is incredible - all coaster enthusiasts should try to visit (although you can currently only do so as part of a special event). I spent a few hours exploring here, and could have spent more. We also got to see the archive room, which had loads of old blue prints and historic documents.

Abernathy - looks like a ghost town!

Hale Center at least had a mural and one open store.

Downtown Plainview had a few nice buildings, and brick streets.

The Larson factory.

Behind the scenes tour!

Sign from the defunct Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Tons of signs, models, and coaster cars all over.

One of the main rooms of the National Roller Coaster Museum.

Close up of a wooden coaster model.

A model showing the original planned layout of Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood.

A genuine Coney Island Cyclone car!

We saw the unveiling of the newest exhibit, a Loch Ness Monster car.

They even have Disney trains.

The car and bobsled-style track from Cedar Point's Disaster Transport (previously Avalanche Run)

There's a bar, and it's amazing! It's made out of wood from Cedar Point's Mean Streak and Magic Mountain's Colossus.

The bar stools are RMC coaster wheels!

An overview of the newest expansion, with multiple coaster trains.

Original concept art for Thunderation at Silver Dollar City.

A sign from Six Flags New Orleans - the brown mark near the bottom is from the Hurricane Katrina water level.

After the phenomenal tour of the National Roller Coaster Museum, we kept heading north, for our next park in Amarillo. I stopped off in Happy, Texas along the way. 

No frowning allowed!

It's called happy but it's a bit sad.

Saw this guy along the way too, in Amarillo.

The second and final park of the trip was Wonderland, another small family park. It's actually quite similar to Joyland, but a bit bigger and with a much larger coaster. I had a great time riding multiple coasters and playing a round of mini-golf. We had a fajita dinner and a round of Q&A with the park owners. We finished off with some sunset rides on the bizarre but intense and fun Texas Tornado.

Welcome to Wonderland!

Riding on the Mouse Trap.

Texas Tornado is steel, but essentially has wooden coaster trains.

Texas Tornado climbing above the rapids ride.

This is the driest water ride. You won't get a drop on you.

Log flume time!

Another vintage coaster!

The Hornet was previously at Astroworld in Houston.

Texas Tornado has bizarre supports. Check out the modified bottom of this loop.

Texas Tornado's drop.

The day ended with a great sunset.

Texas Tornado's weirdest loop at sunset.

Dark ride, sky ride... lots to do here!

Mouse Trap coaster.

View from the sky ride.

Beautiful end to a great day!

The event officially came to a close, and I went to my hotel for the night. I decided to go big and tacky - at the Big Texan Ranch! This is a wonderful west Texas tourist trap, famous for a 72oz steak that is free if you eat it within 15 minutes. They have a motel right on site, and my room was every bit as over-the-top as I hoped for. I had a beer before bed at the onsite brewery, and enjoyed watching some random fireworks from the parking lot.

Why not have a cowboy boot lamp?

Wood everywhere, Texas stars everywhere!

My motel.

Hey look it's the Big Texan!

Why not have  T-Rex too?

A quick beer before bed. It's made on site, and it was actually pretty good! A Mexican style lager.

The next morning I woke up super early to make the most of my remaining few hours before flying back to Atlanta. Amarillo is quite flat, but I drove about 40 minutes south to Palo Duro Canyon, which is like a mini grand canyon. I got there around 7:45AM, so there were no crowds, and it was great to take in the views in peace and quiet. The trails (and part of the main road) were closed due to recent flooding, but I was still able to explore the main area of the park. In addition to the views, I saw a variety of critters - a deer, a tortoise, a tarantula, and turkeys. I definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area.

Views all the way to the clouds on the morning drive.

Old windmill, new wind turbine.

Overview of the canyon.

Lots of wildflowers!

I literally stopped my car so this tarantula could cross the road.

Brilliant red sandstone.

More sweeping views from in the canyon.

A turkey!

Little tortoise buddy.

I made it back in to Amarillo and explored downtown. It was quiet since it was a Monday holiday morning, but I enjoyed seeing some of the old buildings and grabbing a locally roasted iced coffee. Downtown Amarillo is quite a bit bigger and more developed than Lubbock.

The historical society building. And a horse.

Overview of downtown.

A theatre and old office building.

Yay, local coffee!

Another cool building, now a Courtyard Marriott.

They even have a shriners building!

My next stop was a few attractions on the west side of town. Historic Route 66 runs through Amarillo, and there's still a strip lined with shops and restaurants. It was fun to explore for a bit. I then visited the botanical gardens, which were small but very well maintained and beautiful. A final stop was for some gas station BBQ (again, when in Texas!) before heading to the airport.

Me with the Route 66 mural.

An abandoned motel. Reminder of the past glory days of Route 66.

A video game mural!

A few of the shops on Route 66.

The main plaza of the botanical gardens.

They have a little frog musician.

The tropical greenhouse, complete with ducks and a waterfall.

A blooming cactus.

The Japanese garden section.

The Palo Duro section, with a neat mosaic.

Authentic gas station BBQ.

It was pretty good!

I had a fantastic time on this trip. It's always great to meet up with fellow enthusiasts and chat about coasters, and I got some bonus local culture and nature. I may just end up back here in a few years to check out additions to the National Roller Coaster Museum. Huge thanks to ACE for organizing!

Snow and Waterfalls in Highlands, North Carolina

We were in need of a relaxing weekend and wanted to enjoy some winter weather while still socially distancing, so we booked a weekend in a historic (but renovated) 1924 cabin in Highlands, North Carolina. Highlands is only a little more than a two hour drive from Atlanta, but is at over 4,000 feet altitude and is a small touristy mountain town. A great thing about living in Atlanta is that the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains are easily accessible, with great opportunities for weekend trips for relaxing, hiking, or just to experience cooler weather.

Our cute little historic house.

The cozy living room.

David relaxing by the fireplace.

After settling in, we set out to see a couple of waterfalls before sunset. The first, Bridal Veil Falls, is right along highway 64, one of the only routes in and out of town. We made a quick stop to take in the view, which was complete with a big row of icicles draped from the overhanging rock.

A road goes under the falls, but it's closed to vehicles in winter.

So many giant icicles.

Bridal Veil Falls - the view from across the road.

Our next stop was just a few miles down the road. Dry Falls is part of the Nantahala National Forest, with a $5 entrance fee to park. It's worth it to see this impressive waterfall and take the trail right underneath the falls.

The view down the valley.

Dry Falls is very large!

It's called "Dry Falls" because you can go underneath the falls and stay dry, thanks to the large rock overhang.

The freezing mist formed ice across the hillside.

The guard rail was covered in ice too. Watch your step!

We made a brief stop back in town to walk around a bit, and stopped at Mountain Fresh Grocery to pick up some supplies. Highlands is one of the cuter mountain towns in the region. It's also higher-end, with a couple of nice restaurants and some historic inns right in town. It's not very big (only about 2,000 people live here), and has a nice concentrated walkable downtown.

Lots of cute shops and restaurants.

Historic downtown Highlands. Just ignore the parking :)

A historic hotel in downtown.

The next day we did a longer hike to Glen Falls, which is actually a series of waterfalls along a forested trail that descends around 750 feet to the bottom of the valley. The trail continues for some distance, but we recommend stopping and turning around at the third waterfall overlook, as there are not any waterfalls past that point. We went as far as a point where the trail crosses the stream toward a campground, and turned around there.

Year-round green in this part of the country!

One of the impressive waterfalls.

Another cascade further down the trail.

Some sprouting moss on a tree.

After our hike we got some coffee and food to go from Calders Coffee and Highlands Smokehouse (both recommended), and went back to our cabin in time to avoid driving the mountainous roads during the incoming snow. We had a nice relaxing evening watching the snow and enjoying the fireplace.

Yay, snow!

This is what we woke up to - beautiful snow!

The porch with a lovely snow view.

David enjoying the snow.

A true winter wonderland!

Many of the trees on the mountaintops were covered in ice and snow.

A viewpoint on our way home.

Another viewpoint closer to Georgia.

Highlands is a great little spot to visit not too far from Atlanta. Under normal circumstances, it would be nice to shop and eat in the cute downtown. We'll stop by again sometime in the future for sure.

North Georgia Waterfalls and Mill Town

In late December we spent a socially distanced weekend in north Georgia at the historic Habersham Mills. The property is an old mill town along the Soque River. Everything from cannons to athletic gear was manufactured here until the mill finally closed in 1999. The historic mills are in the process of being renovated, and there are several very unique lodging options on site. We stayed in the Old Post Office space. It was truly a unique stay, and much different than the typical woodsy cabin options you often see in north Georgia. You're free to roam the grounds and see all of the old buildings. Highly recommended!

Our AirBnB was the top floor of this old Post Office.

A very cute space, with locally made furniture.

Inside the main mill building.

It's a huge complex, with several giant buildings along the river.

Soque Shoals and the former power generating station.

Our place was renovated beautifully, with an eye toward historic preservation.

While we enjoyed hanging out in the unique space and roaming the mill grounds, we also did quite a bit of hiking and explored a number of waterfalls. North Georgia is dotted with waterfalls, many of which are quite large and impressive. Each has it's own distinct flavor. Even in winter many of the trails remain somewhat green thanks to rhododendrons and other species that stay green year-round.

The first waterfall we visited may have been our favorite - Minnehaha Falls. It's accessed via dirt roads. You don't need a 4x4 (our little Ford Fiesta made it) but we did have to ford a tiny stream across the road! There's limited road-side parking and it's a short hike up to the falls. The trail was a bit muddy and icy but still easy to traverse. The falls cascade down a series of rock features, creating an impressive series of little waterfalls.

Overview of Minnehaha Falls.

You can walk right up to the falls, and even climb around the edges if you want. Watch out for ice!

Hemlock Falls was the second waterfall we visited. This was smaller than Minnehaha falls, with a longer hike to get there. It was a pleasant walk through the woods alongside the stream, with several small cascades along the way. The falls are at the end of the trail, with a pretty pond at the base of the falls. Some fellow hikers brought their dogs, who enjoyed frolicking in the water.

David at one of the little falls along the trail.

An overview of Hemlock Falls.

Paul with the falls.

Part of the trail crosses the stream on this little wooden bridge.

Our biggest hike was part of the Bartram Trail. This is a long trail, with over 35 miles of trail in Georgia and more in North Carolina. The trail is named after an 18th century botanist, the first European to catalogue the unique species in the region. We hiked a portion of the trail that included Becky Branch Falls and Martin Creek Falls. The wooded trail meandered around little ridges and several streams, and had a few somewhat steep sections. Overall it was still an easy trail and the waterfalls were the highlight.

Becky Branch Falls.

Trees overhanging the Bartram Trail.

Martin Creek Falls. There's a little wooden viewing platform here.

The trail was a little muddy from melted ice and recent rain.

Just across the street from the section of the Bartram Trail that we hiked is a more accessible section - a short mostly flat trail with interpretive signs that leads to Warwoman Dell. This waterfall is quite small, but is picturesque as it falls into a very shallow pool in a tiny canyon. This is worth doing if you're in the area because it's a short hike and you can learn more about Bartram's travels, native plant species, and even the planned 1800s railroad that was never built - part of the trail travels in the strip of land that was cleared for trains.

Warwoman Dell.

Our final waterfall in one of the more famous waterfalls in the area, at Tallulah Gorge State Park. This is a much visited area, with a big parking lot and an easy trail to a couple of viewpoints. During non-COVID times there are exhibits in the visitors center. We arrived shortly before closing, so we didn't have time to do the full loop trail (with about 560 feet in elevation change), but we were treated to a beautiful sunset. 

View down the gorge.

Sunset at Tallulah Gorge.

In addition to hiking, waterfalls, and relaxing at Habersham Mills, we also saw a couple of the local towns. We couldn't do much because we were social distancing, but we did see some cute touristy areas and had an outdoor breakfast. North Georgia is full of cute mountain towns.

A church in Clarksville.

Big ol' omelet for breakfast in Clayton

Pimento cheese dip. Who knew?

North Georgia is full of a surprising area of great hikes, waterfalls, and cute little towns, all within a short drive from Atlanta. We'll be back soon!