Suggestions for side trips from Dallas

[csnoop]

We are planning to fly to Dallas to see my DH's brother's family in Dallas this Oct. DD will be 15 mos old then. I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions for some side trips we can take from Dallas.

DH wants to drive to Memphis but that seems a bit far. I am mainly looking for places that take a max of 3 hrs in the car from Dallas. Ideally, it would be the opposite of 3 high-energy & talkative kids/teen, 2 high-energy adults and a number of other pets. Somewhere that I can enjoy a nice massage/spa, quiet and enjoyable to walk around, and good for a 15 mos old.

Thanks!
CC

[happy2bamom]

San Antonio is nice. The riverwalk is a nice place to walk, eat and shop.

Austin is cool. It is a college town, with a lot of good music. The campus is really pretty and nice for walking around.

[amldaley]

San Antonio is about 4.5 hours, but worth it.

The Alamo is a fun, historic visit and the Riverwalk is great for all ages, especially in the evening when it is all lit up. I highly recommend San Antonio.

Corpus Christi is 6 hours, but lovely beaches and blue water and very family friendly.

Austin is on the way from Dallas to San Antonio and I think it is maybe 3 + hours. Very clean and pretty city.

I have to imagine all three cities would have their fair share of spas for that massage!

[ilfaith]

My kids really enjoyed The Stockards in Fort Worth when we went to Texas for a wedding last year.

http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/

[ilfaith]

Okay...rereading your original post, I realize you are looking to get away from high-energy children and pets. In that case, the Stockyards are not what you are looking for.

San Antonio and Austin are both fun, laid-back cities. Are you looking for a day trip or planning to stay overnight?

[kristenk]

Where do you live now? Not necessarily specifically where, but what's the area like where you live? There are quite a few possiblities.

How much time will you have in Dallas/the metroplex? There's tons of stuff to do here or in the very general vicinity.

Will it just be you, DH and DD? (I got a little confused about the high-energy talkative kids.)

How much time and money will you have to spend on the side trip?

ETA: And are you talking early October or late October? (Early October can still be pretty warm. Well, so can late October...!)

[csnoop]

The side trip will be just DH, DD and me. We live in San Franciso so I am hoping to go somewhere less urban and less fast paced. My brother-in-law's family live in Dallas and we will spend a few days with them. I assume that we will doing a lot of stuff with them in Dallas. We are planning for the side trip to be a few days long.

I am not entirely sure on the budget, maybe around $100-$150 per night for lodging.

The dates for the trip haven't been nailed down, but it will be some time between Oct 6 and Oct 23.

[cellenly]

I'm not sure if you're looking for resorts or a relaxing sight seeing vacation.

Resorts (that i've heard good things about. i'm not a resort girl so i've never been):
near dallas - Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose & The Cliffs near Possum Kingdom Lake
in Austin - Barton Creek Resort

If you want a sightseeing trip, you'd probably want to do San Antonio & Austin since they're 1:15 apart. but note that when you're tired & you have to drive from San Antonio back to Dallas, it's a long 5 hour trip back.

Here's a list of what we do w/ visitors:
Austin:
Mt Bonnell then eat at County Line BBQ
eat at Hula Hut & dessert at Mozart's next door - on lake
eat at Oasis if you want the view of Lake Travis
sometimes the LBJ presidential library
visit 6th street if into the music/bar scene - this is just what we do. prob not for you.
bats off the congress bridge on towne lake (i'm not sure what time of year this happens, but you may want to look into it or just walk around the strech of town lake by the four seasons)
perhaps rent a boat & hang out on Lake Travis
Austin has a lot of cool local restaurants so check chowhound.com for what suits you. (many recommend salt lick for bbq & byob though I personally like county line more. Eastside cafe is my favorite and I like magnolia cafe, and kerbey lane for gingerbread pancakes).
if you're into golf, I'd recommend River Place. it's semi private, on the more expensive side for a round, but really beautiful.

San Marcos outlets is in between Austin & San Antonio. It's pretty large & tiring though. (again just what we do).

San Antonio:
Alamo - for day - most times i've gone it's crowded w/ tourists.
Riverwalk (nicer in evening) - i've heard you can buy ticket to use the boat as a taxi service. I'm hoping someone who knows more about the Riverwalk layout can reply. parts of the riverwalk from the the mall to the restaurants are crowded but toward the other side, it's quiet and relaxing.
San Antonio Missions - the Alamo may be disappointing, but one feels you can't come to San Antonio w/o going there. if you want to avoid the crowds, you may consider the other missions instead. here's a link http://www.nps.gov/saan/planyourvisit/index.htm
bars/music/clubs - there's a lot around the area (again, just want we do)
We usually have breakfast at Market Square & in the morning it's fairly quiet.

Other things we don't do but you may consider, Austin - zilker park, barton springs. There's tonz of places in the greater austin area to bike. New Braunsfels - tubing (but avoid peak/holiday times)

though not quiet, you may want to go to a country music dance hall.

HTH

[csnoop]

Thanks cellenly!

Your list is very thorough. I will start looking into them.

CC

[fivi2]

Also the Hill Country Hyatt outside of San Antonio is supposed to be nice. Lost Pines (Hyatt?) 30 or so minutes east of Austin in Bastrop also supposed to be nice. There are a couple places on the lake (Travis) - Horseshoe Bay, I think. The Westin La Cantera in San Antonio my also be nice. I haven't been to any of these, and they may be out of your price range, but I have heard good things.

[kristenk]

What about a trip to Glen Rose and/or Granbury? They're only about 20 minutes apart.

We went to Glen Rose for a mini-vacation when DD had just turned 2. We actually rented a house in Glen Rose and it was great! I was going to link the house's website, but it's currently down. I don't know what that means. In any case, the house was called Amazing Grace cottage and it was perfect for the 3 of us.

Dinosaur Valley State Park isn't too far away. Here's a link:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/dinosaur_valley/

Fossil Rim is also pretty close. Ellie had a great time there. http://www.fossilrim.com/

It would definitely be a laid-back vacation!