July 19, 2021
Chris and Heather discuss a few of the great outdoor (and indoor) activities families can enjoy in Alpine and the Big Bend region.
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Transcript for “Family Adventures in the Big Bend”:
Intro
Welcome to the Heart of the Big Bend. It’s time to kick back, put your feet up, grab your favorite beverage or snack as we discussed, declare, proclaim, publicize and articulate about the wonders, magic, beauty, music and happenings here in the area known as the Big Bend of Texas.
Chris Ruggia
Hello welcome and thank you for joining us again for heart of the Big Bend. This is a podcast and radio show coming to you every other week about visiting the beautiful Big Bend of Texas. Specifically, we will cover what’s happening in Alpine, an incredibly friendly, small town nestled in a desert mountain valley at the heart of the Big Bend region. With easy day trips from Alpine, you can take in everything this amazing region has to offer.
I’m Chris Ruggia, Director of Tourism for the City of Alpine, I’m join today by Heather Yadon.
Heather Yadon
Hello!
Chris R
Heather runs our amazing Visitor’s Center in downtown Alpine, one of the first places you’ll stop when you get into town. Today Heather and I are going to talk about what we call family adventures in Alpine and the Big Bend.
Heather Y
Yes, we know that we have a lot of families that come out here to take in all the beauty of the Big Bend and really have unique experiences for their children. Your first stop at the Visitor Center, we have some things that cater specifically to the little ones we have a section that’s just for them. We have all the tourist information, all the brochures and pamphlets about the park and everything but we have a special section just for kids or we’ve got coloring pages that teach some Texas history. We’ve got the Take care of Texas activity books, like Darrell in a Barrel is well-known all over Texas, teaching kids about cleaning up after themselves, which is a perfect lesson before they head into the parks. That is so important when they’re out in the parks.
We also have a must-stop for families – a bathroom, very important and we’re getting ready to add on some more. We also have changing tables – that’s hard to come by in a lot of public restrooms, but there are some all around town that are available for use, so that’s important. It gives a chance for kids to get out and about a little bit. We have an area where they can play, there’s a rock garden. We’ve got old-fashioned hopscotch; some kids probably haven’t seen that in a while. It’s not a real popular game anymore, but it’s fun and they love to do that. We also have sidewalk chalk for them to draw on our sidewalks.
Chris R
Yeah, there’s a little photo op they can put their faces in through the wall and be a cowboy or things like that.
Heather Y
It’s perfect for families; it’s got four cut-outs and kids can pick which cowboy they want to be. It’s kind of our own little mural, which is another thing they can get from us. The kids really like the mural tour. It gives them a chance to go through downtown and check out all the murals, and there’s a special thing that I make sure I always give to the families. It is a scavenger hunt that’s perfect for kids that are old enough to read and keep their attention span. There’s a section of the murals that’s the alley art and local artist Nancy Whitlock –
Chris R
Yeah I was gonna say let’s give a shout out to Nancy Whitlock Studio of Arts; she did a lot of work on the walking tour and on that activity.
Heather Y
She did, and that scavenger hunt is so cute. It helps find animals in all the murals that are in the alley and it’s really special experience for kids.
Chris R
The outdoors is really what you’re going to want – it’s one of the really primary things that we can share with kids on their visit to the Big Bend.
Heather Y
One place we send them from the Visitor Center that is nicely air-conditioned is the beautiful Museum of the Big Bend.
Chris R
It is, and I think we all know what the big eye-catcher for kids is when they get to the museum. Well, there’s two I would say, that’s the bear and the dinosaur.
Heather Y
That’s right, the dinosaur from the ceiling is pretty special and there is the bear. There’s also special programs at the museum, they schedule those periodically, so you can always check their website. You can get there through ours: visitalpinetx.com we have a link to the museum website and you can see if they have any of the children’s programs going on. They do some special stuff for educating the little ones.
Chris R
Their permanent collections or exhibits are really engaging to walk through. There’s a lot of physical environments that the kids can go through and look at. There’s Indian rock art, there’s a re-creation of the window at the end of the Window Trail in Big Bend National Park, then of course there’s just stories of all these different cultures that have made up the experience over the past of the Big Bend.
Heather Y
Yeah, I think that because they start with prehistoric and go to modern times, kids really get to see how we got to where we are and it gives them a great history lesson. At the museum, you can do a lot or a little there. If you have younger ones that can’t keep their attention spans, it’s not guided, you don’t have to do a guided tour. You can cut your trip shorter and focus on what your kids are interested in, which is important when you’re traveling with little ones. I know that mine just turned three so we don’t get locked into tours. That’s exactly why we don’t fly; we drive all over. I just drove to Tennessee with her because it’s too hard. When you’re locked into something, it’s very hard with little ones to keep their attention spans the whole time, so the museum is perfect because you can do what fits your kids.
Chris R
Right. The next thing we wanted to bring up, staying in Alpine for the moment, there’s a range of city parks. There’s more outdoor activities that kids can enjoy especially in the summertime.
Heather Y
Yes, I think that anyone who has not been to our city parks is so pleasantly surprised when they see how many parks we have and what they have to offer during the summer. The first being the swimming pool. It has been so popular this year because obviously we had a hot start to summer and it was closed last year. It came back very strong and it’s a very nice pool. It’s also low cost to get into the pool, I think general admission is three dollars, so very low cost for a family to go there. It’s got the shallow end for small ones; it’s got the deeper end with the diving board. It is fully manned by certified lifeguards that are on duty to ensure the safety of all the families; it’s a perfect place. There’s tables where you can sit out and get under a little bit of shad – there’s some shade cover out there too, which is important when you’re out here this summer.
Chris R
The swimming pool is part of the Kokernot Municipal Park and Kokernot the largest flagship city park that Alpine has to offer. There’s a pretty sizable play area that has some shade, there’s shade trees as well as a shade structure there.
Heather Y
There is. Kokernot Park is a great area for a little ones two and under that is age-appropriate. Toys that they can climb on, smaller slides, and that is completely shade covered. It has the rubber floor, it’s completely raised off of regular ground and it’s got safety measures in place so the kids don’t get hurt. Then you’ve got the equipment that progresses to age-appropriate. You’ve got larger slides and you have some obstacle course area. Older kids can play too. Then there’s your traditional swings, and at Kokernot Park we have a chuck wagon and some metal pieces that we’ve had out there for a long time that are pretty special and unique to the area. We have that chuck wagon that you can also play in and stuff. Kokernot also has a dog park that’s pretty important for families who are traveling with animals and it also has a skate park. Again, if you have age ranges and you’ve got some little ones, and the big ones who want to do their thing, you can do it all right there at Kokernot Park.
Chris R
Yeah and one other park I want to highlight is Baines Park. If you’re exploring the range of the city, it’s up on the side of a mountain next to our Lady of Peace Catholic Church. It gives a view over the city. It gives a great view and it also has some really nicely shaded play areas.
Heather Y
It does; they just added some really nice shade covers in that park recently. They covered several pieces of the equipment out there, so that they’re not too hot to play on. It’s all plastic. New safety measures are followed out there too. We’ve had a group that’s really helped get equipment that’s in good shape – newer stuff out there at all of our parks. There’s great stuff out there and there’s also basketball courts.
Chris R
They’re really popular over there.
Heather Y
Lots of people play at them. On our historic tour, what was it before?
Chris R
It was the sight of the Garner Hotel. If you look at old photos from the 1920s of Alpine, there’s this huge building looking over the town and that is the site that burned in the 20s or 30s. I’d have to look at the exact date, but Baines park is on the grounds of that old hotel.
Heather Y
It’s also home to a very cool art piece that is kind of an iconic picture you see a lot when you look at Alpine. My little one actually calls it Mariachi Park because there is a metal sculpture there of a mariachi band that’s really cute. It’s a special park in our area too.
Chris R
Yeah and keeping with the summer theme, one of the great activities that Alpine has to offer in the summertime is baseball. Right next to Kokernot Park is Kokernot Field, which is a beautiful piece of architecture that was built in the 40s out of native granite and custom iron work based on Wrigley Field in Chicago. A smaller version that Herbert Kokernot of O6 Ranch commissioned and built. He started the Alpine Cowboys baseball team way back in the 40s and we have a new version of the Alpine Cowboys that are playing now.
Heather Y
It’s such a good experience for kids because it’s like going to an old time baseball park. You’re sitting on the bleachers and there’s stadium seating, but either spot there’s not a bad view in the house. You’re right there close to the action and you get to see them play, not only the Cowboys play, but they have great interactive events throughout the game. They do the bat – I don’t remember what it’s called when you spend the bat and you run around the bases – and they do some other games where they hit a beach ball around the area, they sing ‘Take me out to the Ball Game,” seventh-inning stretch. It’s quite an experience for kids.
Chris R
Your daughter had her first taste of baseball this year right?
Heather Y
She did, and a player gave her a ball so she fell in love. We’re going back for sure.
Chris R
One other thing that kids love is sweets, right? So what’s on tap in Alpine?
Heather Y
We’ve got some really cool fairly new places. The ones that I’m going to talk about, the newest one, is called Gumslingers. It is an old-fashioned candy and soda pop shop. It’s located right in the heart of downtown. It’s at 104 5th St., basically the corner of fifth and Holland.
Chris R
If you’re looking at that those two murals in the corner, it’s basically right behind the one with the calendar.
Heather Y
It is a really cool little shop. It’s got old candy, you get to take your paper sack and pick what you want and they weigh it. That’s how you pay. They’ve also got all kinds of baked goods that they do, fudge and caramel, if you don’t want something sweet they’ve got pickles and jerky, so it’s got a little bit of everything. They also have a cool cut-out; the kids can take their pictures in there with their mascot cowboy, the Gumslinger. It’s a great stop for families. Lots of fun there.
The other place is just two blocks over from there. It’s at 106 Sul Ross, which is in Old Town Square. That’s Scoops Creamery, it’s like an old fashioned ice cream place where you can order over the counter and pick what ice cream you want. On any given day the flavors change, but there are at least 20+ favors to choose from. The toppings seem endless; they’ve got everything you can imagine – they’ve got sprinkles and all kinds of different candies, gummy worms, hot fudge, strawberries, waffle cones. They also didn’t forget about the parents, there’s coffee drinks too so that’s good. You can get your energy while you’re there to keep up with a little ones, while you’re out and about exploring. Both of those – Gumslingers and Scoops are great stops.
Chris R
They’re gonna be an a win no matter what.
Heather Y
So get a snack while you’re out explore. Next to Gumslingers is actually a really cool shop that’s great for families to stop at and that is Wasserman’s. Wasserman’s has a store downtown where they sell alpaca goods.
Chris R
Every once in a while they’ll have a guest in the shop.
Heather Y
Sometimes they do, but I believe the latest guest got a little too big to stay in the shop. I’ll tell you what we’re talking about; I usually have to whisper it to parents before the kids go crazy. It’s a kangaroo. Wasserman’s actually have a “wranch” that’s located outside of town – that’s ranch with a W -they have alpacas and donkeys and kangaroos. They actually have their third baby right now; that’s who was hanging out in the shop in the last couple months.
Chris R
The town gets a treat when the babies are born because they hang out in downtown and we get to visit with them.
Heather Y
It’s pretty cool; they give a bottle right there and they put them in a little laundry basket to sleep. Wasserman’s offers tours of their ranch. It’s a private tour and it’s not like going to a zoo it’s not even like going to a petting zoo. It is a one-on-one personal experience like you’re just coming over to be a guest at Heidi’s house. It’s amazing; you can do rides on the donkeys, get up close and pet everything. It’s not open set hours, you just book your tours.
Chris R
That’s real important, you got to reach out to them before you come out.
Heather Y
You can get to their website through ours. if you go to visitalpinetx.com and go to that families page, you can find Wasserman’s Wranch through there. It is a unique name so it’s a little easier to find there.
Chris R
As we are headed out of town after visiting Wasserman’s Wranch and we are thinking about what we want to experience and the rest of the Big Bend. We’ve got our kids with us; where would you go?
Heather Y
First, I would head towards Fort Davis, but first I would go past Fort Davis to Balmorhea.
Chris R
It’s open again! Balmorhea is an amazing spring-fed pool, one of the largest. I couldn’t tell you exactly, but in the country, probably.
Heather Y
It’s huge! That’s what my daughter said; she said it was a huge pool. It’s going to be a little bit colder water because it’s spring fed. It is amazing. That’s a wonderful day trip to go and swim there at Balmorhea State Park. When you are done at Balmorhea and you head back through Fort Davis, there’s other stuff to check out. Their drug store, where you can grab more ice cream – we’re gonna give you all the places you can find ice cream. There’s other places in Fort Davis for families too.
Chris R
If you have a little more time, there is the Fort. Fort Davis National Historic Site, which is a wealth of history, and sometimes you’ll have staff in costume and things like that. That’s not gonna be every day that you go there, only if they have events.
Heather Y
They have one of the really good junior ranger programs there at the Fort. That’s one of the places where you can buy your junior ranger pack. You can get the kids for free, but there’s other places you can buy the vest and get real official. That’s one of the places where you can do the Ranger programs at Fort Davis. You can also do it at the Davis Mountains State Park.
Chris R
The Fort Davis, Davis Mountains State Park also has some trails that are a little shorter that are easier for families and kids to do.
Heather Y
Absolutely; they get a taste of the wilderness. It’s a good option to between Alpine in Fort Davis.
Chris R
There’s another place that has entry-level walking areas and that’s the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center. They’ve got a small visitor center and they have an arboretum outdoors with a lot of native plants. They have a bird blind that you can… Also the Davis Mountains State Park also has a great bird blind where you can be hidden away and see a lot of bird activity. There’s some really nice walks at Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center.
Heather Y
There is and then you have the cactus greenhouse where you can also see and learn what plants are. If you’re not from this area and you start going out into the desert, it’s hard to know what everything is. It’s all labeled here and it’s wonderful. It’s a good lesson to share with your kids all the different life that the desert has. People think of it desert sometimes as desolate and that’s just not the case here.
Chris R
And the Chihuahua desert is the most biologically diverse in the world and they have a lot of information there to fill you in on that.
Heather Y
Also, if you head from Fort Davis up towards the park and then past the park, there is Prude Ranch which is a great place for kids. It also actually offers summer camps for kids, you have to book in advance, but those are hugely popular for kids across the state. I have a great idea; I think you should drop your kids off at summer camp and take some adult time in Alpine and go pick your kids up when it’s over.
Chris R
That’s like your classic guest ranch.
Heather Y
It is and they do offer just the horseback rides, even if you’re not at the summer camp. There are some good ones for families because they’re shorter. They do all age groups and it’s a more reasonable price. You’ll find some larger rides around the area that are a little higher priced for half a day and that’s a little much for a kid. Especially if they’ve never been on a horse. That’s some thing my child takes for granted; they’re in the backyard, so I don’t have the experience of a kid walking up and not wanting to do it. Prude Ranch will work with kids if they are a little timid and scared at first. They’ll get them warmed up, petting the horse and brushing them and stuff so they’re prepared for the ride. If you go to South County, there’s a couple other places that do horseback riding as well – Lajitas Stable and Big Bend stable. They’re both down in the Terlingua area between the Big Bend Ranch State Park and the National Park. They do rides to that are family friendly all of their information is on our website as well.
Chris R
One other museum type experience is McDonald Observatory anytime of the day that you can. Also, as a drive, it’s about 40 minutes, I would say, from Fort Davis. It’s not that far, it’s just getting up and out. You’re going up past Davis Mountains State Park. It’s on that road.
Heather Y
Their visitor center is really engaging and hands-on. It’s more like an education center. It’s got so much that your kids are going to want to be able to see and touch and look at. It’s a really great stop for families. Even if you can’t do the late night star party with the little ones, you can still experience what the Observatory has to offer by visiting their visitor center.
Chris R
If you can reserve an advance well in advance, their star parties, what are the days again?
Heather Y
Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and at one point they were doing some Thursdays. I’m not sure.
Chris R
Check the McDonald Observatory website to know for sure and that’s where also you can check availability and make a reservation for upcoming trips.
Heather Y
You need a reservation for everything there, especially just to go to the visitor center right now. Go to their website to do all of that. Make sure that you have the availability that you need that fits into your trip. I know that when we travel, we try to do one big activity one day and maybe the next day would be something a little more low-key, like going to the park and checking out some of the shops and stuff. We try to balance it out like that because when they’re little, it can be hard to do these big, huge things day after day on your trip.
Chris R
One more thing I wanted to mention, maybe a short little experience if you’re in Marfa, the Marfa Studio Arts has various kids programs. One of the things that’s in their gallery space they call it the Imagination Station on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. Somebody’s in there and they usually have some kind of hands-on activity for kids to learn about the arts and also the nature of the area. Those folks do a great job and that’s some thing that you can just go in and out and have a quick little moment with the arts that Marfa is so well known for.
Heather Y
Exactly. I think that if you have a child that’s into art, or even if they’re not, they’ll come here and fall in love with it. When you see the murals and you do that mural tour, it’s amazing. The large scale for kids to see, that’s very impressive. They love doing those scavenger hunts. They love getting to do some hands-on art projects because schools do a great job but that’s some thing that you only get a little taste of in school. And it’s such a great part of our area and it’s a great way for kids to get your kids creative juices flowing.
Chris R
Absolutely. You can tell there’s no shortage of great experiences for kids when you bring them out to the Big Bend area and we didn’t even touch on the National Park. Though, of course that’s a big bite to take.
Heather Y
There’s a great book that’s available at Front Street Books – I’m sure it’s available at other stores, but Front Street Books is another great place to stop for your kids as well. They have a great kids area and they are a wonderful stop. It’s our local bookstore, which is independently owned and operated. They have great puppets and things for you to check out, but they have a book that is like $4, it’s such a good buy for laying out what trails that are in distance, and all the trails at Big Bend National Park – are they easy, moderate, intermediate, hard? That’s a great thing to pick up. I have a copy at the visitor center, but the Big Bend National Park website has maps and everything. This book really gives parents a good idea what trails kids be able to go on and what they’ll really be up for on the day. I know that my three year old is not a great hiker yet and carrying her is hard, so it makes an intermediate trail go to hard for me.
Chris R
Hopefully we’ve given you guys enough of a range where you can make those choices based on what your kids are really up for.
Heather Y
Right, and like I said, if you go to visitalpinetx.com and look under family adventures, we’ve got links to all of this for planning. Give us a call or send a message and we can help answer questions about anything that you’re looking to do with your kids and give them a unique experience.
Chris R
That’s about all we have for you this week on Heart of the Big Bend. You can get more information about Heart of the Big Bend at visitalpinetx.com/podcast or search for Heart of the Big Bend on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and most other podcast apps. And for all of you guys, listening to us on KALP/KVLF radio in Alpine, we’ll see you in two Fridays.
Outro
You’ve been listening to the heart of the Big Bend. Hope you liked what you heard and that you’ll find the time to experience all that the Big Ben has to offer. See you soon, partner.