Texas travels

Visit these 6 Texas inns and B&Bs filled with history and secrets

If these walls could talk: Georgia O’Keeffe’s favorite hangout in the Panhandle. Ulysses S. Grant’s East Texas escape. A wharf worker’s cottage in Galveston. From history-filled bungalows to hidden-gem hideaways, these legendary lodgings are some of the most storied in the state.

The Texas Historical Commission is enticing travelers to bypass big hotels and check into historically significant bed & breakfasts through an initiative called Historic Overnights. Launched in 2023, the program connects preservation professionals with property owners of B&Bs to help research and share their captivating stories from the past.

“Historic Overnights is a unique way for travelers to discover in-depth details about historic places and experience local history in a more immersive way,” says Sarah Page, the state's heritage tourism program coordinator.

Historic Overnights launched in Galveston; more than a dozen vintage lodgings on the island are now featured, along with places in the northern Hill Country. More are being added across the state, the organization says.

For travelers inspired to find storied stays of their own, the Texas Historical Commission also keeps an updated site with historic hotels, B&Bs, and short-term rentals

Here are six historic lodgings (including one in nearby Galveston) where guests can sleep where history happened. They not only welcome travelers with Texas hospitality, but with authentic lore that turns road trips into time travel.

Elvis House, Waco Elvis became friends with the radio DJ who owned this Waco home in the 1950s.Photo courtesy of The Elvis House

The Elvis House in Waco: Bungalow fit for The King
Elvis has left the building — but at the height of his fame in the 1950s, he often stayed in this pretty red brick house and played its piano. He had struck up a friendship with the rock 'n' roll radio DJ who lived there, and considered the 1924-built hideaway a "home away from home" while stationed nearby in Fort Hood. It has been thoroughly updated and outfitted with Elvis memorabilia and mid-century furnishings, including a record-changing console from the 1960s. Elvis also liked to hang out at Waco’s Elite Café (now Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Table) and neighboring Health Camp, and you can still visit both restaurants today. Sadly, neither offers a peanut butter and banana sandwich (The King’s favorite) on the menu. Rates start around $99 per night. 2807 Lasker Ave., Waco.

Galveston Speakeasy Cottage: Breezy seaside survivor
This cute bungalow’s funky, mismatched colors and oddball woods reveal a secret: It was constructed from salvaged materials from burned buildings following a massive fire in 1885. The one-bedroom, one-bathroom home then survived the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the worst natural disaster in American history. It served as a rental property for wharf workers for most of its life, and its prime location now attracts travelers to the coastal city. Oak floors, crystal doorknobs, and a speakeasy-style door window ooze authentic character. Rates start at $185 per night. 1212 19th St., Galveston.

Relax like Georgia O'Keefe in the colorful, antique-filled Hudspeth House.Photo courtesy of Hudspeth House

Hudspeth House in Canyon: Panhandle painter's paradise
Cozy up by the original gas fireplaces in this 1909 charmer with shimmering stained glass, hardwood floors, and seven bedrooms with antique furniture. The DIY mail-order home was built from a Sears & Roebuck catalog kit that contained everything from pre-cut lumber and nails to a 75-page instruction book. (IKEA, eat your heart out.) Close to the courthouse square, it was the favorite lunch stop for a young painter named Georgia O’Keeffe, who lived in the Texas Panhandle town of Canyon before blazing a trail through the art world. The B&B is still known for its delicious food, with home-cooked breakfasts of green chile quiche, fresh-baked pastries, and buttery French toast. Rates start at $146 per night. 1905 4^th Ave. #4023, Canyon.

Officer’s Quarters at Presidio La Bahía in Goliad: National historic landmark
Have you ever had a 300-year-old Spanish fortress all to yourself? You’ll find a four-bedroom apartment inside heavy bastions and the thick rock walls of this Goliad landmark, a formidable fort in Southeast Texas that withstood several sieges. It’s also where Texian soldiers were imprisoned before being marched out and massacred during the Texas Revolution (remember Goliad?) and where the first Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. Overnight guests today get access to the Presidio’s capacious inner courtyard, along with a kitchen, dining room with fireplace, and A/C. The Quarters book up far in advance and are now accepting reservations for 2026. Rates start at $200 per night. 217 US Hwy. 183, Goliad.

The Excelsior House Excelsior House in Jefferson has hosted Ulysses S. Grant, Oscar Wilde, and Lady Bird Johnson. Photo courtesy of Excelsior House

Excelsior House in Jefferson: Poltergeist in the Piney Woods
While not technically a B&B, Excelsior House certainly feels like one with its clawfoot bathtubs, four-poster beds, and throwback blend of Southern grace and Victorian romance. Open since 1858, it has hosted a stream of VIPs, including Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, poet Oscar Wilde, and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Crystal chandeliers and ornate mahogany furnishings evoke the heady days when Jefferson was a wealthy riverboat town. Step out to the wrought-iron balcony and survey the historical streetscape as horsedrawn carriages clip-clop on the bricks below. And if you’re looking for the most haunted spot in Texas, this might be it. Unexplained activities in Room #215 inspired Steven Spielberg to write the horror movie Poltergeist. Rates start at $99 per night plus tax. 211 W Austin St., Jefferson.

Three Danes Inn in Fort Worth: Wild West shootout
Ask to see the bullet hole in this yellow Queen Anne-Victorian from 1904, whose then-owner — a local saloon keeper — was shot to death by a gang of thugs on his own back porch. After a raucous night at his saloon in the city’s rowdy Hell’s Half Acre neighborhood, he returned home with the day’s profits — but he never made it inside. His wife saw it all, and the men were eventually caught. The gorgeous gabled home features a turret and wraparound porch, and each of its five rooms has a private bath. The house is also now home to the Three Danes Baking Company, an acclaimed bakery now serving up sweet treats exclusively to guests of the inn. Rates start around $125 per night. 712 May St., Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy of Hudspeth House

Hudspeth House was a favorite Canyon haunt for artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

bed breakfasts storied stays texas historical commission vintage lodgings historic hotels texas hotels

wine guy on the road

Chris Shepherd wines and dines at a city that reminds him of Houston

Photo by Chris Shepherd

Al Ameer won an America's Classic Award from the James Beard Foundation.

Recently, I tagged along with my wife Lindsey to Detroit for a Southern Smoke industry lunch. I don’t work for the foundation, but I love any opportunity as a co-founder to meet with industry folks and share our resources (emergency relief funding and no-cost mental health care for people in the food and beverage industry) with them.

What we found in the Motor City, though, was so much more than we ever imagined. Detroit absolutely blew us away.

From the moment we arrived, we knew this place was special. We checked into the Detroit Foundation Hotel, housed inside the city’s landmark Fire Department headquarters built in 1929. The building served as headquarters until 2013 before being beautifully transformed into a hotel in 2017, and they preserved so much of its history.

Our room had originally been the office of the Fire Commissioner’s secretary with soaring ceilings, dark wood walls, and details that made you feel connected to the building’s past. Downstairs, The Apparatus Room buzzes from morning until night. The original white tile walls remain, the massive windows where fire trucks once rolled out flood the room with light, and the bar pulls you in the second you walk through the door.

The wine list is thoughtful with producers like Matthiasson, Ashes & Diamonds, and Lingua Franca, while the cocktail program is outstanding. More importantly, the bartenders were some of the best I’ve been around in a long time. Knowledgeable, welcoming, and genuinely excited about what they do. That’s something we kept finding everywhere we went.

Dinner that first night was at Ladder 4 wine bar, another beautifully restored firehouse built in 1910. They took their time bringing the building back to life, and we could feel it. The wine program is incredibly well thought out, and the food celebrates the farms surrounding Detroit with dishes that are seasonal, fun, and full of personality.

We ate tomatoes with stone fruit and ricotta salata; chicken Milanese parm with tomato, fior di latte, and pickled chilies; and then a dish that completely stole my heart: drive-thru hash browns topped with caviar and sour cream. We paired it with a bottle of Hubert Lignier Morey-Saint-Denis, and the evening just kept getting better.

The biggest surprise was learning that the person guiding us through the wine list was actually the executive chef. His understanding of how food and wine belong together came through in every recommendation. You could feel the soul of the restaurant inside those old white tile walls and next to the original brass fire pole. Call it a wine bar, call it a restaurant — I just call it awesome.

The next afternoon we headed over to Dearborn, because we absolutely had to visit Al Ameer. Home to one of the largest Muslim communities in America, Dearborn has an incredible food culture, and Al Ameer has been at the center of it since 1989. After earning the James Beard America’s Classic Award in 2016, it has become one of those places everyone should experience.

Fresh pita hit the table nonstop alongside hummus, baba ghanoush, kibbeh, fattoush, and a spread of salads before we dug into mixed grills loaded with chicken and beef shawarma, kabobs, and kofta. We finished everything with fresh juices, sat back in our chairs, and just smiled. What a lunch.

That night friends took us to Alpino, a restaurant inspired by the Alpine regions of France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Tell me the last time you started dinner with bubbling cheese fondue, bread, apples, potatoes and pickles alongside a bottle of Austrian Riesling…yeah, I thought so. It’s been too long. We followed that with strangolapreti tossed in spring herb butter, ricotta agnolotti with English peas, Wiener schnitzel with morels, house-made sausages and German Pinot Noir. That’s my kind of dinner.

The following day we gathered at Leña for our Southern Smoke event, sharing a beautiful lunch and talking about taking care of the people who take care of all of us every day. Afterward, we walked over to Lafayette Coney Island, because you can’t come to Detroit without eating one of the city’s iconic hot dogs. Sitting next to its longtime rival American Coney Island, the story of the Keros brothers and their neighboring restaurants is as much a part of Detroit history as the hot dogs themselves. Sometimes you just have to eat a little history.

Our final dinner was at SheWolf Pastificio & Bar. If you love pasta, this place belongs on your list immediately. They mill their own flour, make every pasta fresh daily, and devote an entire room to nothing but pasta production. It’s obsessive in the best possible way.

Photo by Chris Shepherd

Al Ameer won an America's Classic Award from the James Beard Foundation.

We started with an incredible panzanella of local tomatoes, charred focaccia, fermented corn and sheep’s milk ricotta before diving into a beautiful rigatoni amatriciana, sweet corn and ricotta-filled francobolli with pesto Genovese and popcorn, plus an off-menu duck confit pasta finished with Calabrian chile crunch. A bottle of 2017 Cascina Luisin Barbaresco tied everything together and reminded me once again why great food and great wine will always make each other better.

What I’ll remember most isn’t just the food. It’s the people. Detroit is filled with chefs, farmers, sommeliers, bartenders, and restaurateurs who genuinely believe that lifting each other up is better than competing against one another. Their wine lists are deep, the bars are full of incredible spirits and amari, local farms are celebrated everywhere, and everyone seems invested in making the city better together.

Sound familiar? It’s exactly what has made Houston one of the greatest food cities in America. Should Detroit be on your dining bucket list? Hell yes. It’s on mine now, and with a quick two-and-a-half-hour nonstop flight from Houston, I’ll happily be back.

----

Want Chris' recommendations for other cities? Ask him by emailing chris@chrisshepherd.is.

Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014 and an Impact Award in 2026. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $16 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund.

news-you-can-eat travel chris shepherd