big little getaway

New tiny cabin getaway offers big escape in wooded Brazos Valley

As Texans venture out for vacation during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns are arising over the safety of hotels and even Airbnb locales. Now, a Brooklyn, New York-based company is offering Houstonians a socially distanced travel option with a chance to unplug.

Getaway, which offers a nationwide chain of tiny cabin resorts called Outposts, has unveiled its largest site to date. Nestled in Navasota, Texas — about an hour from Houston in the Brazos Valley— the new 142-acre Outpost boasts 34 two-person cabins featuring a queen bed, and 12 four-person cabins with queen bunks. Rents start at $99 per night.

The cabins are meant to be diminutive at some 200 square feet, but are meant to create a “mindful escape” within and in the wooded acreage. Techies take note: no WiFi is available at the Outpost and a lockboxes are available to store electronic devices. A few of the amenities include: a private bathroom, sink, two-burner stove, drinking water, and cooking tools.

So why choose a tiny cabin with no plug-in play over a lavish hotel? Getaway pitches the following reasons to go cozy:

Guests travel to Getaway is via car, not plane — all Outposts are located less than a two-hour drive from major cities.
Getaway cabins are naturally socially distant — they are secluded, private and located between 40 to 200 feet from other cabins.
There’s contact-free check-in and check-out and no communal spaces for guests to gather.
Outposts are operating at reduced capacity (50 percent) so there are less guests at an Outpost at any given time.
Getaway has intensified routine cleaning procedures to ensure cabins are more deeply disinfected.
Getaway is designed to encourage people to reflect quietly, and to themselves or with their immediate friends or family.

“Getaway was created with a sense of purposeful isolation in mind. Our cabins are located among the peace, solitude and tranquility of nature, providing a much-needed emotional and spiritual break during times like these,” said Jon Staff, CEO and founder of Getaway, in a statement. “Getaway is a viable option for those looking to spend a few days in nature, and we want to be a resource to people who need time away. We look forward to welcoming guests from the Houston area to our new Outpost.”

The Navasota site makes the 11th Getaway Outpost in the nation. The chain also has sites in Austin-San Antonio; Dallas; Boston; Cleveland; Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Oregon; and Washington, D.C.

Getaway cabins are 200 square feet on a wooded site.

Photo courtesy of Getaway

Getaway cabins are 200 square feet on a wooded site.

vacation

REVIVING THE ALAMO

Texas landmark the Alamo reclaims historic cannon from private ownership

Photo by Gower Brown/ Unsplash

A 90-pound cannon used in the Battle of the Alamo is returning to its San Antonio home.

It turns out the Alamo's original 1836 cannons are good for more than just defense — they also make a sturdy birdbath. After serving as a garden ornament for Samuel Maverick’s descendants, an authentic piece of San Antonio history is finally returning home to the revered mission.

According to an Alamo announcement, the swivel cannon weighs 90 pounds and is approximately three feet long. The relic was originally found in 1852 when Maverick built a home near the northwest corner of the battle’s site.

The lawyer and land baron was saved from death when he was urged by William Barret Travis to ride to the Texas Declaration of Independence convention in Washington-on-the-Brazos to send reinforcements. Returning to the Alamo’s grounds, he found a cache of cannons buried where the Hotel Gibbs sits today.

From there, the cannon wound up at the Maverick family’s Sunshine Ranch on the Northwest Side, where it was eventually incorporated into the garden DIY project. In 1955, the cannon was removed from the ranch, and the current location remained a mystery until the Alamo received a call from a Maverick relative in Corpus Christi.

Alamo cannon This Alamo artifact gives an idea of what the cannon will look like once restoration is complete.Photo courtesy of the Alamo.

“The relative graciously donated the cannon to the Alamo,” wrote a rep from the mission. “Alamo Senior Researcher and Historian Kolby Lanham and Head Conservator Pam Jary Rosser drove down the very next day to take this piece of history home to the Alamo.”

Although the artillery is mostly intact, it is missing its trunnions (the pivot-point protrusions on the sides of the barrel) and cascabel (the knob and neck assembly at the rear of historic muzzle-loading cannons). The parts were removed by the Mexican army to make the cannon inoperable.

Once preservation is complete, this cannon and the Alamo Collection’s other battle cannons will make their way to the upcoming Visitor Center and Museum, where they will be joined by rocker Phil Collins' collection of Alamo artifacts. The Alamo is in the midst of a $550 million preservation project, which includes conserving the Alamo Church, Long Barrack, and the mission’s original footprint. The museum is on track to debut in late 2027.

history museums artifacts texas history the alamo