Bryan & College Station, Texas

First of all, a little info:

Lake Bryan is owned by the local utilities company (BTU). They use the lake to cool their power plant (which you can see from the lake). The use of the water by the power plant does not affect the consumption of the fish in the lake. Here’s what WikiPedia has to say about it:

Lake Bryan is a power plant cooling reservoir in Brazos County, 5 miles (8 km) west of Bryan, Texas, USA. The dam and lake are managed by Bryan Texas Utilities which uses the reservoir as a cooling pond for the electrical generators in the Dansby Power Plant. The reservoir was officially impounded in 1974.

My family visited for the first time on a very windy day. Our food practically flew off the picnic table. There were wind surfers, jet skiers, water skiers, volleyball players, a few dogs and other people having picnics. We’ll go back to swim and hang out in the Spring or Summer.

• Day use fee $3/car weekdays, $5/car weekends and holidays
• Open 6 am to 7:30 pm November 1-February, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. March-October

There’s a restaurant (which is closed during the Winter Months), a boat landing and picnic tables just as you enter the park. The main area is across a bridge and into the center of the lake, where there’s a covered pavilion, volleyball courts, picnic tables, a beach, a stage and lots of room to run a play.

Here’s a list of things you can do at Bryan Lake:

1. Picnic: This is what we did. There’s a covered pavilion, and lots of picnic tables all around the area. There are BBQ pits at a few of the tables and a few large Oak trees for shade.

2. Swimming: It was too cold in December, but we will be back in the Spring to swim. In the middle section, at the tip, there’s a beach, and a large area cordoned off for swimming. Not sure how deep it was, but I’ll let you know.

3. Fishing: Looks like there’s Sunfish, Catfish, Crappie and Large Mouth Bass. Here’s what the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website has to say about it:

• Prey species: Sunfish make up the majority of prey fish in Lake Bryan. Gizzard and threadfin shad are present but in low numbers. Bluegill are the most abundant of the sunfish species, and most are < 4 inches in length. Threadfin shad were stocked in 1992 but do not contribute significantly to the prey base in Lake Bryan.
• Catfishes: Channel catfish abundance has declined over the past few years. Only one individual was captured in the 2006 gill net survey. However, the creel survey indicates anglers do target and catch channel catfish. Growth of channel catfish at Lake Bryan is slow.
• Largemouth bass: Largemouth bass are abundant in Lake Bryan with fish up to 21 inches collected in our electrofishing survey in 2005. The 18-inch minimum length limit has allowed the population to produce larger sized bass for anglers. The current lake record is over 7 pounds.
• Crappie: Catches of crappie in our monitoring surveys are typically poor. Though directed angler effort for crappie was low in the 2004 creel survey, anglers did report catching and releasing crappie, with some harvest of black crappie. Hybrid crappie were stocked in 1997 in an attempt to increase the numbers of crappie available for harvest; however, none were collected in the present survey.

4. Water Skiing: We saw some water skiing over by the dam. Looks fun.

5. Wind Surfing: There were two wind surfers on the windy day we went.

6. Mountain Biking: At the time of this writing, the trails are closed because of rain and mud, but I am definitely looking forward to hitting those trails. There’s an organization in town that even goes out periodically and services the trails to keep them nice and safe. Here’s a map of the Lake Bryan trails, and a place to find out the status of the trails at any given moment. (although the trails are not actually “closed” when they say “closed”, it’s just a reminder that the less they are taken care of, the more possibility there will be that they won’t be rideable in the future).

7. Hiking: Although the trails are perfect for mountain bikes, they are great for walking and birdwatching. Being a water area, there will always be interesting birds to look for.

8. Boating: There’s a boat ramp

9. Jet Skiing: Saw a couple of these while we were there.

10. Volleyball: There was at least one sand volleyball court that we saw. Looked in good shape.

11. Watch a show: There’s a stage out there. Not sure what ever happens on it, but it’s out there. Looks like a perfect place for an open mic night.

12. Eat at the Restaurant: Called The Hook Lakeside Bar & Grill“. They offer Catfish Tacos, Burgers, Po Boys and seafood platters at fairly decent prices.

13. Camping: I believe there’s an RV hookup per day charge as well as a tent charge. I can’t remember what it is, but I remember that there’s a thing called the “Honor Pole” where you pay what you owe. That’s fun.

Have fun.

jorge

I met some friends way out in the middle of nowhere (actually about an hour North of Bryan - Hwy 6 to Hearne, then Hwy 79 through Franklin), and there, was a little store, right on the corner, called New Baden General Store. We went inside, through the “country store” area, and to my surprise, there were tables, the smell of grilling burgers, and the place was packed with people.

They had daily specials, but my friends said I needed to get the burger.

Here’s what the Historic New Baden Website has to say about the place:

Opened in 1884 and operating out of this building since 1906, the New Baden General Store Store is still operating in 2003 as a grocery store (selling locally grown fresh produce), meat market, deli counter, hamburger and short-order grill (with several tables for seating), feed store, hardware store, & gas station. Operated for years as “Mrs. E. Schultz & Son”, the store was run by the Schultz family for many, many years. The original building is a one-story structure with rolled tin canopy and brick parapet.

What a cool place. Finding the bathroom was interesting. Go back into the warehouse and look around, you’ll find it. Well, I actually kinda got lost back there. Turns out it was more obvious than I thought. I get distracted easily.

The burger was fantastic. As you’d expect, greasy and yummy. Service was super friendly. Just a bunch of country folk having a relaxed lunch.

The whole place was cool. We looked around in the store and if you haven’t been in a general store, it’s basically just a really, really small grocery store. Postcards, some local handicrafts, bread, peanut butter and the like.

This place reminded me of a similar place in Percilla, Texas (in East Texas) where I ate lunch with my pastor friend. He made sure to sit so he could see the door, and he knew just about everyone who walked in the door. Most of them came and sat down at the table with us. How friendly.

This is the same feeling I got at the New Baden General Store. Just friendly.

We’re planning on going to the New Baden Jamboree this month (every 1st Saturday of the month at the New Baden Community Center), and I believe the General Store supplies the burgers. I’ll let you know in another post.

Enjoy

jorge

Lots of places claim it, but this is where I take my parents when they come into town.

Koppe Bridge Bar and Grill is a really cool place. This is one of those places (like Texas Roadhouse) that you can throw your peanut shells on the floor. Some family from England came and wanted a genuine burger, so we took them here. They had a problem throwing the peanut shells on the floor, so I asked one of the staff and she said, “Please do! The more I have to clean up, the more I get paid!” They were OK with making a mess after that.

The burgers are really juicy. Isn’t that another word for greasy? Well, they are. The fries are great. It’s loud in there, so our kids can talk in their normal “loud” voice. My kids all love being allowed to throw peanut shells on the floor too.

Their side of beans are fairly spicy. I really like them but my wife ha a hard time with them. Our “spicy eater” lasts a few bites and then gives up.

We tried the grilled chicken breast sandwich and it was just OK. The chicken tenders for the kids is great.

The burgers are about $6.50.

Free drink refills, televisions always on, and tables with names scratched into them. We found some pretty old names scratched in there. And we were hard pressed to find bad words or things I wouldn’t want my kids to read scratched into them.

I wrote “Emma Loves Sofie” in one of the tables (my two daughters). I thought that would be funny in an “Andy Kaufman” kind of way. It’s probably not funny. Sorry.

Anyway, great place, great service (which is basically order at the front and they’ll call your name when it’s ready), and by far, the best burger in town.

Two locations: Harvey and Welborne

Jorge