Driving into the heart of Palmetto State Park, I had the strangest feeling that we left the state of Texas behind and were somewhere very different. Unfamiliar trees encroached on both sides of the road, and the area was lush with vegetation. I was amazed by how many wonderful places are at our fingertips; this park is barely an hour away from home.
We stopped in front of a building known as The Refectory, originally built for concessions by seventy-four “CCC Boys” in 1935. Michael sat behind the wheel as I left the car and read the sign in front of the old stone building. I loved what it said, “This building represents a nation’s hope…”
Scoping out the picnic area, we discovered we were in the middle of the park’s various trailheads. Michael told me to choose one. The San Marcos River Trail looked promising till I saw a sign that said WATCH FOR SNAKES. I checked my bare toes peeking out from my river sandals. Warily, I put one foot in front of the other, as we strolled along the path, inhaling the day. Traversing the 1¼ mile long trail, my impressions were many. I felt we wandered from the forest of East Texas to the Amazon Jungle to the deep south, where giant trees are dense with tendrils of wispy moss.
Passing a black water pond, once a mud boil that has been extinct since the 1970’s, we stopped to study it and let our imaginations take flight. Perhaps some would now call it a swamp or a bog. It was beautiful in its mysterious black gloom, but I worried about what lay beneath. I envisioned the sinister slither of snakes or other swamp creatures, with massive jaws that might find I had very tasty toes. Then I remembered the legend about a swamp monster, or mud man, specifically The Ottine Swamp Thing, described as a Bigfoot-like creature that reportedly inhabits the park's prehistoric-looking tropical wetlands. I could see it here, lurking about.
Amid all of the giant trees and ponds and swamps and bogs and rivers and trails are low-growing palmetto palms and inland sea oats. It is a world of green mystery, magic, and wonder – a friendly, comfortable, walkable park to be revisited again and again.
Palmetto State Park is tiny, barely 270 acres. There are eight easy-to-moderate hiking trails, with the longest only 1¼ miles long. This park is a kid's paradise, or at least a fantastic playground. The trails provide effortless walking and contain myriad horticultural and natural wonders. There is easy access to the San Marcos River, where you can swim, tube, and fish, as well as Oxbow Lake for swimming and fishing adjacent to a picnic area and playground for small children.
Michael’s Picnic Menu
Whole Smoked Chicken
Baked Potato Style Potato Salad
Celery Sticks
JJ’s Bakery Fried Pies
When I woke the morning of our picnic, I didn’t smell coffee. I smelled bacon and heard clattering and sizzling sounds. Walking into the kitchen, I saw Michael in the throes of finishing a mayonnaise-less potato salad for today’s picnic. Glancing at his recipe, it sounded very much like the baked potato of my dreams. He smoked a chicken yesterday, and there were celery sticks in a container and our favorite fried pies in our picnic basket. I think I like it when it is his week to plan our picnic meal.
I have to be honest, the first time Michael brought one of JJ’s fried pies home, I turned up my nose. Boy, was I wrong. Now I serve them at backyard picnics with friends, and after tasting them, my friends rushed out to buy all they could get their hands on. Offering more than 10 flavors, they are available nationwide and in Central Texas – let Google tell you where.
Baked Potato Style Salad
Serves 6
• 2 lb. small red potatoes
• 16 slices bacon
• 2 C sour cream
• 1 packet Ranch® Seasoning Mix
• pepper
• 6 – 8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 – 2 bunches green onions
NOTE: if using thick sliced bacon, use half as much.
If needed, scrub the potatoes clean. Leaving the peel on, cut each potato into small cubes. Put cut potatoes in a large pot and add enough salted water to cover by 1-inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cook uncovered for 8–15 minutes or until potatoes are tender (test with the tip of a sharp paring knife after 8 minutes). Do not overcook. Drain the potatoes in a colander and run under cold water. Spread potatoes on a paper towel-lined, rimmed baking sheet to cool completely.
While the potatoes cool, cook and drain the bacon, then coarsely chop. Mix Ranch® Dressing with sour cream in a large bowl. Grate Cheese. Discard the root ends of the green onions and thinly slice all the onions, including the green tops. Add bacon cheese and green onions to the dressing mixture. Stir to combine. Add the cold potatoes and gently mix to combine. Taste for seasoning, adding pepper to taste. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow flavors to combine.
A lifetime food enthusiast and cook, Charlotte Caldwell loves to entertain and enjoy fine food in the beauty of the outdoors. She has catered everything from weddings to charity events and, of course, picnics for family, friends and organizations who can’t get enough of her recipes. She is the author of “Charlotte’s Texas Hill Country Picnics,” from which these columns appear. To learn more, contact [email protected] with the subject line “COOKBOOK.”
