This past weekend my wife and I decided we wanted to get out of town for a night. We had no desire to take a long trip, we weren't interested in trying our luck at the slots in Shreveport or fighting traffic in Dallas, we just wanted to relax.

When my phone lit up with a text message from my wife letting me know where we were going on our little getaway, I was kind of skeptical. "I booked us a room in Jefferson. Don't growl. It'll be fun" (she knows me a little too well..) "Jefferson??? What the heck is there to do in Jefferson???" I thought.  My phone lit up again as she sent me links to the hotel we were staying in and a few places she wanted to check out. "I'll bet the hotel has an old musty smell. LOL" I replied.  "Its the 2nd oldest hotel in Texas. i know how much u love history and i love antiques...we will enjoy it."

"I guess..."

I've driven through Jefferson many times and called several games from their football stadium, but I have to admit, it wasn't exactly on my radar screen as far as a places I'd have any interest in "getting away" to. Was I in for a pleasant surprise.

After the short drive down, a friendly clerk greeted us upon our arrival at the Historic Excelsior House. After checking in and taking our bag to the room (which didn't smell old and musty at all, btw), we took a walk around the historic district. Our first stop was the old general store where we enjoyed a refreshing soda from the fountain and spent the better part of an hour browsing through shelves and shelves of merchandise. After that, we hit every antique store we could find (and there are a bunch of them!). (Guys, either bring a large wad of cash with you or prepare to spend a few hours telling your wife "honey, what in the world would we do with THAT??!").

After an afternoon of browsing antique stores, we stopped in for dinner at Auntie Skinners. The food and the service was excellent. After dinner, we decided to hang out there for awhile to check out the band (who doesn't like a good band??!). We weren't disappointed at all. The band,  "Ambush", played everything from classic rock to disco and was very entertaining. What a great evening!

Of course it was raining Sunday, so we didn't do a whole lot. But, what's wrong with that? Nothing! All in all, we really enjoyed our weekend in Jefferson. We'll definitely be going back soon.

Are there other great places to visit within a short drive of Texarkana that you would recommend?

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