Texas as a holiday destination..... or not.

Jonbvn

I lived outside Fort Worth over 20-years ago. Obviously, things will have changed in that time, but I saw it as a great place to visit.

Things I think are a must see/do:

Billy Bobs in the FW Stockyards (sorry no kids).
Dealey Plaza Dallas.
The Alamo in San Antonio.
Houston Space Center
Six Flags in between Dallas & FW.

Aidenr

My friend has got it into her head that she wants to go to Texas for a jolly next month.
we have looked at the brochures etc and San Antonio has come up as the spot that we want to go to. shopping, the alamo and a day on a ranch is what we were thinking.
The problem that we have seen is that due to my job, the time away is only going to be about 4 nights ish and I can not find ant direct flights to SAT.
the closest, would be Dallas and my friend is put off by spending hours in a car driving from the airport to SAT. with internal flights looking at about $350+ I was hoping to save some pennys and drive.

Has anyone driven drom Dallas or even Houston, I thought it would be a cool road trip or am I kidding myself and will suck away my soul lol

Any thoughts/ideas or how I can sugar coat a drive by national parks, places of interest on the way ???
Thanks

A

torbrex

Aidenr wrote: »

Has anyone driven drom Dallas or even Houston, I thought it would be a cool road trip or am I kidding myself and will suck away my soul lol

Any thoughts/ideas or how I can sugar coat a drive by national parks, places of interest on the way ???
Thanks

A

I have done the drive from Houston and including a stop to do some shopping, I was there in less than 4 hours.
I checked into my hotel then went out to 'Wonderworld' which is about an hour North on the Austin road and saw some magnificent underground caves.

Murphy_The_Cat

Thanks folks for your suggestions so far.
the idea of a Dallas-San Antonio-Houston-Dallas loop has gained the regal approval of Mrs Cat, so it looks like things are a go-er.
I've got enough airmiles for UK-USA, USA internal & USA-UK, so the flight from TX - FLA is covered -- for the others we'll have to pay, but the fares seem reasonable enough (although DFW - Orlando is about £50 per head less than DFW-TPA, which I found quite odd).

I've also discovered that the AAadvantage miles scheme has extended the dates that I can use the free flights, so that has opened up our choice of flight dates a bit more.

Depending on the nitty gritty, it is looking like 8 days Texas loop, 7 days Tampa/St Petes, 3 days elsewhere Florida then home.

By the sounds of it there is an awful lot to do in Texas, I just need to find out what the rest of the family would like to do.

splatt30

It's 20 years ago but I grew up in Houston (age 5-12).
I have very fond memories of the area!
The NASA space station would be a must, you just don't appreciate how big those shuttles are until you've stood in the exhaust! 6 Flags has a theme Park and waterpark in Houston as well as Dallas (AstroWorld and WaterWorld) if that's what floats you boat. I can't remember if they take place all year round but see if you can go to a Rodeo while you're there for a real Texan night out. And I agree with San Antonio, even though I was probably only 7 when we went I remember the river walk with it's cafes and the Alamo. A work colleague went to texas a couple of years ago and spent some of thier time staying on a ranch, bet the kids would love that!!

You've made me feel all nostalgic, perhaps we should look at going!!!! Good luck, have fun.

Murphy_The_Cat

Oh yes, yes, yes

space stations, rodeos, waterparks (may be a bit chilly still in March/April), ranches, parks the Plan is lookiing better & better.

Murphy_The_Cat

Things are moving on apace and Mrs Cat has given me the 'green light' to stsrt getting on with it.
I've decided to drop the Florida element of the holiday and instead I'm going to have a 16 night break in the Lone Star State.

I'm now thinking of taking open jaw flights -- into Dallas and out of Houston, and driving in a letter L itinerary.
So, it'll be land at Dallas and then travel via Austin, San Antonio to Corpus Christi and then along the Southern Coast to Galveston and /or Houston, but at this stage I'm a bit loose on how long to spend in each area.
Mrs Cat would very much like to enjoy some 'beach time', but whether it would be at the CC or Galveston end I'm unsure.

Is there anything particularly good/bad in my plans ?

torbrex

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Things are moving on apace and Mrs Cat has given me the 'green light' to stsrt getting on with it.
I've decided to drop the Florida element of the holiday and instead I'm going to have a 16 night break in the Lone Star State.

I'm now thinking of taking open jaw flights -- into Dallas and out of Houston, and driving in a letter L itinerary.
So, it'll be land at Dallas and then travel via Austin, San Antonio to Corpus Christi and then along the Southern Coast to Galveston and /or Houston, but at this stage I'm a bit loose on how long to spend in each area.
Mrs Cat would very much like to enjoy some 'beach time', but whether it would be at the CC or Galveston end I'm unsure.

Is there anything particularly good/bad in my plans ?

Sounds good to me, I spent 2 full days in San Antonio plus the extra half day when I got there earlier than I thought I would.
Being on my own I probably got round quicker than a family would. The rivercentre mall is great with the canals and well laid out shopping area and the Alamo is close by as well as regular and off-beat shops.

I took a tour bus round the 'Mission' tour which is a one price on-off type tour where you can visit as many of the missions as you like then get back on the next tour bus that passes. There are some great markets and eateries away from the centre and the Mexican food is terrific so your diet could take a beating.
Just to the north off I35 is Natural Bridge Caverns which I found very interesting and spent half a day there, close by is a wildlife park.


I didn't spend any great amount of time in any of the other places but can well recommend San Antonio.

Murphy_The_Cat

Torbrex, thank you very much for your suggestions. I especially like the idea of the hop on, hop off bus.

Also, Tojo, thank you for your comments about Galveston, things like that are worth their weight in gold.
BTW, where did your post disappear to ?

Tojo_Ralph

Murphy_The_Cat wrote: »

Also, Tojo, thank you for your comments about Galveston, things like that are worth their weight in gold.
BTW, where did your post disappear to ?

I was editing and looking for a couple of photos from last year .... But gave up.

Anyway, as noted, IMHO the never ending beach area of Galveston is a bit neglected, tacky and sort of has that out of season feel about it. The town centre ferry terminal area is all pretty much touristy, but not a whole lot to see. Tiki Island which you kind of pass over when you use the bridge/causeway is lovely, but purely residential so no use for holidaymakers.

Also, lets not forget that "Ike" ripped through Galveston late last year and from what I understand, they are a long, long way short of repairing all the damage.... Hence I'd suggest doing a goodbit of research on Galveston Forums and courting input from locals.

So to a couple of pics .... One being a tacky Peter and Jordan inspired wedding chapel in Galveston one block back from the beach and the other being Tiki "oh how I'd love a weekend retreat like that" Island.... Then again, I'm sure Tiki Island never escaped the wrath of Ike.


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