Discover the Ethereal Beauty of Monahans Sandhills State Park

We were headed home from Carlsbad caverns and passed this park, so of course, we had to check it out. We had visited White Sands National Monument two days earlier and I was curious how Monahans Sandhills State Park would compare.

The sand dunes in this park are much smaller than White Sands, but I kinda liked that. The sand is also darker in color.

Monahans Sandhills State Park is located in located in Western Texas near Odessa. It consists of 3,840 acres of sand dunes, some reaching heights of 70 feet.

The park encompasses only a small portion of a dune field that is about 200 miles wide. Most of the dunes within the 200-mile area are stabilized by vegetation. The dunes located in park are still active, changing shape and size constantly from the wind.

It is best to go early in the morning during the summer. The disk and sleds do not slide easily when the sand is hot. Sleds and disk can be rented from the park visitor center.

Monahans Sandhills State Park:

•  is around 6 hours from the Dallas/Fort Worth area
• 6 hours from Austin, Texas
• 4 hours from El Paso, Texas
• less than an hour from the New Mexico border and around 3 hours from the border of Mexico.

Address:

 2500 E Interstate 20 Exit 86
 Monahans, TX 79756

Hours:

8am - 10pm daily

Happy Travels! 

Rip Van Winkle Gardens (Balinese Style) New Iberia, Louisiana

We stumbled upon this amazing place by accident. My Mother and I  were needing a place to stop and stretch on our way to Biloxi, Mississippi from Arkansas.

We were really excited to see that lodging was available in one of the garden cottages! We were lucky, considering they have limited lodging and it was so last minute!

The Rip Van Winkle Gardens is twenty-five acres of semitropical Balinese style paradise that surrounds the Joseph Jefferson Home. It is crazy how beautiful this tropical garden is in January. Can you imagine what it looks like in the summer!

The land sits atop a salt dome on Lake Peigneur in New Iberia, Louisiana.

The home was built in 1870 by Joseph Jefferson as his winter home.

In 1905, the home and land was sold to John Lyle Bayless, Sr. After the death of John Bayless, his son Jack developed Rip Van Winkle Gardens around the historic home in the late 1950's.

He later donated the home and surrounding land to a private operating foundation and built himself a new home by the lake.

On November 20, 1980 a drilling accident involving the salt mine caused a whirlpool effect pulling some of the Rip Van Winkle garden area and Jacks new house into the mine.

The top of the chimney in the lake is the only visible remains of Jack’s new home. The damage to the Rip van Winkle place had been restored.

The beautiful gates lead up to the Joseph Jefferson House. The cottages are on the right at the end of the drive.

If you stay in one of the cottages, the whole place is yours to enjoy alone after they close at 5 pm.

We walked along the shore of the lake and watched an amazing sunset before returning to our cottage for the night. This is truly a unique place to stay!

Planning your visit:

1. Make reservation well in advance if you want lodging. They only have three cottages to stay in at the gardens.
2. The best thing about staying in one of the cottages is that you have to grounds to yourself after it closes to the public!
3. Go in the spring, summer, or fall time. Although it is beautiful in the winter, there are a lot of bare spots.
4. Be sure and take the tour of the Joseph Jefferson House. It is very interesting! (The tour is free with lodging)
5. Check out their web site here.

Happy Travels!