3 days in Dallas with family - what to do?

[ahutton]

Day one- history- Head to Dealey Plaza and the 6th floor museum. Then over to the Bush Presidential library.

Day two-stereotypical Texas- visit the Fort Worth Stockyard. You could even park at Grapevine and take the vintage train if that interests you. Or just drive to the stockyards look around and get tickets for the Wild West Show.

Day three- hopefully you are planning the trip during the State Fair. Nothing says Texas like Big Tex and the Fair. If I'm going to Fair Park, I like to stay in an area where I can jump on DART to avoid parking at Fair park.The fair would easily fill a day.

I know many people who have loved the Cowboy stadium tour. If you do it be sure and pay for the tour that gets you down on the field.

Food: If I was trying to do "Texas" I'd get TexMex one night (Chuy's is our choice- had it tonight- get the house margarita on the rocks!.) Then barbecue one night- no recommendation as I'm not a fan. Then Steaks one night- Saltgrass is excellent but ask around for a non chain/local place.

ETA- If you decide on the Grapevine train, I've heard good things about the Grapevine Opry on Saturday nights.

If you do Fort Worth Stockyards - Coopers BBQ is right by there and is my second favorite BBQ in Texas. Hutchins BBQ in McKinney is my favorite and would be about a 40 minute drive from the Bush Presidential Museum that is on the SMU Campus.

We did the fair last year and had a blast. It is a great day, especially if the weather is nice.

The Cowboys Stadium tour is a lot of fun - I've done it a couple times. Call ahead though - depending on the day you do it, you may or may not get to tour locker rooms and get down on the field and those are some of the best parts of the tour.

Southfork is also fun if you are a fan of the TV show, but know that the interior of the house is NOT what was used for the show. The patio is though - and I thought that was a fun couple hours.

Check and see if the Mesquite Rodeo is going on, or if not, see if there is rodeo activity in Fort Worth. That is something that I never would have thought I would enjoy but we LOVED it.

Chuys is great Tex-Mex but there are lots of those in the US; Anamias is also very good and a local chain.

It is easy to fill a long weekend here, and lots of cool hotels but some can be very tough on the budget. Great Wolf Lodge and Gaylord Texas are huge resort properties with pools, but rates can be a bit high. The Omni Dallas is a very cool, high end hotel that is close to downtown and well known for having great views and having a great light show.

 

[tcufrog]

@soniam
The Fair Park Science museum was replaced by the Perot. I want to like the Perot but when I went it was insanely crowded even though we reserved tickets in advance and the area for little kids wasn't nearly as good as the little kids area at the old museum.

 

[Jdbsfw]

If you do Fort Worth Stockyards - Coopers BBQ is right by there and is my second favorite BBQ in Texas. Hutchins BBQ in McKinney is my favorite and would be about a 40 minute drive from the Bush Presidential Museum that is on the SMU Campus.

We did the fair last year and had a blast. It is a great day, especially if the weather is nice.

The Cowboys Stadium tour is a lot of fun - I've done it a couple times. Call ahead though - depending on the day you do it, you may or may not get to tour locker rooms and get down on the field and those are some of the best parts of the tour.

Southfork is also fun if you are a fan of the TV show, but know that the interior of the house is NOT what was used for the show. The patio is though - and I thought that was a fun couple hours.

Check and see if the Mesquite Rodeo is going on, or if not, see if there is rodeo activity in Fort Worth. That is something that I never would have thought I would enjoy but we LOVED it.

Chuys is great Tex-Mex but there are lots of those in the US; Anamias is also very good and a local chain.

It is easy to fill a long weekend here, and lots of cool hotels but some can be very tough on the budget. Great Wolf Lodge and Gaylord Texas are huge resort properties with pools, but rates can be a bit high. The Omni Dallas is a very cool, high end hotel that is close to downtown and well known for having great views and having a great light show.

I would have never guessed my favorite Tex-mex restaurant "Anamias" would get a mention here, I was eating at the Flower Mound location almost everyday back around 1999-2000 or so, loved that place.

 

[DebbieB]

If you are a big roller coaster lover - Six Flags Over Texas. New Texas Giant - scariest roller coaster I've ever been on.

 

[EMom]

How old are your children?

 

[gopher101]

Fort Worth museum of science and history is great if you kids are young.
Than again if they are young, there is a mini LEGOLAND inside of grapevive mills mall.
Fort Worth zoo is great for all ages.
There is a museum district in ft worth, a good few of them are few.
If you want some good soul food(?). Eat at Razoos. Local chain and just great.

 

[chellt]

Stay at the Gaylord and visit the fair!! And all the other wonderful options mentioned.
And be sure to eat some Tex-Mex!!!