Dogwood Junction in Palestine, TX

Last weekend, the boy and I found ourselves at home and bored so we checked out our Summer Bucket List for a few ideas and then we headed out to Dogwood Junction in Palestine, TX to have a little fun! We played some mini-golf and some arcade games and we thought we would share our fun with you all today in case you’re ever traveling through our hometown and need something fun to do.

When we first walked in, we noticed something new from the past few times we had been here. There is now a bounce house for smaller children to use up that pent up energy. Benjamin was just a little too tall (The height restriction is under 36 inches) but I thought it was a great addition to the arcade room.

As we walked outside to play a little mini-golf, Benjamin was excited to see the batting cages. I think he’s a little too young for those yet, but it would be fun to watch some people playing and practicing in there sometime. We were the first to walk in on this day so nobody was out there, but we will definitely have to go back on a busier day to watch.

Finally, it was time to start the mini-golf! Benjamin picked out a red ball to match his red golf club and of course I had to have a green ball to go with my green club. We set out to complete the 18 holes.

The mini-golf course has small fun obstacles and each hole is just a little different. There’s a fun little creek running through the middle and all the greenery is so beautiful. Even when Benjamin got a little out of control and hit the ball in the grass, it was easy to find and retrieve.

Each of the holes is sponsored by a business in Palestine, so you can learn a little about the businesses around town while you’re golfing.

Remember how I said I had the green ball? Well, Benjamin let me hit the ball once at each hole and then he finished up for me. He’s just so much darn fun!

As we finished up golfing, Benjamin asked if we could try out the race cars. Well…you see…I’m still just a little big and he’s a little small for the cars, but I’m betting that by next Summer, we will be racing those tracks!

We headed back into the arcade and settled on a game of Air Hockey and quite a few more games of Skeeball (he wouldn’t let me take a pic of him playing the arcade games). So, here’s the fun part of the arcade. For most of the games that you play, you earn tickets and then there’s a fun prize booth where you trade the tickets for prizes. We ended up spending $10 on 40 tokens, earned 60 tickets, and he walked away with a handful of fun prizes!

As if Daddy was with us, we had to make one last stop at the crane machine to take a try. We didn’t get anything this time, but there’s always next time!

Ultimately, we spent $10 to golf, $10 on tokens, and $0.50 on the crane game and we had a full day of fun!

I think the next time you’re in or near East Texas, you should really take a few hours to visit Dogwood Junction in Palestine, TX!