Southeast Texas Road Trips – San Jacinto Monument

Road Trips for East Texas and Golden Triangle Families

San Jacinto Battleground

Are you looking for a great road trip, an easy drive (two hours or less) from anywhere in the Golden Triangle?

From a driving perspective, this is an easy one for most of our readers. Expect about an hour from Beaumont and a little over two hours from Lufkin.

The Alamo is the first thing many people think of regarding Texas’ fight for autonomy, but The Battle of San Jacinto is the battle that led to our independence.

The San Jacinto Monument, the world’s largest masonry column, (taller than the Washington Monument) commemorates the battle. Take an elevator to the observation level and you can see for miles around. The San Jacinto Museum of History is located in the base of the monument. It gives a very kid friendly overview of the battle and its impact on early Texas history. SanJacinto-Museum.org

The Battle of San Jacinto decisively led to the independence of Texas.

All of this sight-seeing will work up an appetite for your family. There are a number of very nice picnic tables available throughout the large park area (larger than Central Park in New York City). Many have barbecue grills and running water. Bring burgers, Zummos, or some pork chops and grill a nice lunch.

The area is also home to the Monument Inn, a popular and historic Texas seafood restaurant. My dad tells stories of when the restaurant was family style and you went and just ate fresh seafood until you could barely walk out. Today, you order off of a menu, but the portions are still very generous. I went with my teenage son. He had played a baseball game and wade fished, and the Shrimp Jamboree was more than he could handle. It had shrimp cocktail, broiled shrimp, fried shrimp, stuffed shrimp, a salad, rolls, and cinnamon rolls for about twenty dollars. MonumentInn.com

Fishing near the former home of the Battleship Texas in and around the ship channel can yield flounder, redfish, and speckled trout. Most people fish from the shore, but some wade fishing access is available.