Day Trips: Gifts From All Over Texas • The Austin Chronicle

Holiday gift giving means it’s time for a road trip.

Maceo’s Spice & Import Company (maceospice.com) in Galveston is the perfect destination for the chefs and eaters on your list. Not only is the island city decorated for the holidays, but the 81-year-old specialty shop has an expansive selection of spices and hard-to-find imported foods. The house-made tomato gravy and pesto sauce are highly recommended. While you’re there, treat yourself to a muffaletta sandwich and a bowl of gumbo.  

If someone on your holiday gift list is a New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival fan, head to Santo at the intersection of I-20 and U.S. 281. Kennedy’s Sausage Hometown Market (kennedyssausagehtm.com) makes the original Crawfish Monica Sauce (minus the crawfish) from Jazz Fest. The market sells other frozen foods that can be found nowhere else except maybe their other store in Stephenville. 

At Santo you’re 16 miles south of Mineral Wells, so drive to the Crazy Water Company for a case of Texas’ original mineral water. 

If you can’t make a road trip during the hectic days leading up to the holiday, then shop online. One of the pleasures of traveling Texas is finding the friendly voice of National Public Radio. Small radio stations were hit hard after the elimination of federal funding for public media. For instance, Marfa Public Radio lost a third of its funding. Consider making a gift to one of the 44 public stations in Texas in someone’s name. Or purchase a very cool T-shirt from Marfa Public Radio (marfapublicradio.org) as a way of making a donation.

Want a gift with staying power? Give a personalized brick to support the renovation of the historic Bolivar Point Lighthouse (bolivarpointlighthouse.org). The red brick with their name on it will be used as a paving stone at the lighthouse across the channel from Galveston.

Feliz Navidad, y’all. 

1,784th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips.

This article appears in December 12 • 2025.