If you live in Dallas or Fort Worth, there are a lot of fun and interesting places to visit that aren’t too far away. One of the best ways to enjoy DFW is to take road trips in and near the Metroplex area.
Dallas
Downtown and uptown Dallas offer lots of entertainment, such as The Dallas Museum of Art, The Hyatt Regency, and the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority trolley system, which is now free of charge. The McKinney Avenue fleet is made up of streetcars which have been refurbished and which are run by volunteers. Number 369, named “Matilda,” for example, comes from Australia. If you’re in the mood to splurge, you can dine or have a birthday party on a trolley. Also, there’s the The Dallas Farmers Market, which is one of the country’s largest open-air markets. Just outside of Downtown Dallas, in Fair Park, there are the Museum of Nature and Science and the Dallas Aquarium. If you live in Dallas, a membership to the Dallas Zoo will get you both into the zoo and the aquarium for free for one year.
Highland Park is another good spot to cruise around, especially Highland Park Village. Built from gorgeous stucco with red tile roofs, Highland Park Village is visually stunning. There’s also a wide range of stores in Highland Park Village, including Anthropologie, the Chanel Boutique, Starbucks Coffee, Beretta Gallery, Gerald Tomlin Antiques and Williams-Sonoma. There’s also a Tom Thumb in the same center.
Another excellent stopping point is the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum is a vast place, and you can walk for miles and not cover all of it. Each year, the Arboretum sponsors events such as Dallas Blooms and Concerts in the Garden. Several membership levels are available that allow free admission and free parking at the Arboretum for a full year.
Fort Worth
Few people are aware that Sundance Square in Downtown Fort Worth offers similar fun to Downtown Dallas, with free parking and a friendly atmosphere. Downtown Fort Worth is a nice blend of Texas cow town with urban culture. There is a Barnes and Noble in Downtown Fort Worth. The bookshop is directly across from the Bass Performance Hall, which features a wide variety of shows and concerts. There is a wide variety of restaurants in Downtown Fort Worth, from mainstream places like Jamba Juice and Mi Cocina, to unusual spots like The Flying Saucer, and a few places with a Texan flavor, like Cabo Grande and the Cantina Laredo. There are several galleries downtown, including the Milan Gallery and the Thomas Kinkade Gallery. At night they turn on strings of white Christmas lights on the trees, and the whole place lights up.
The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is also a great place to go, and the main area is free of charge. Perhaps the best thing you’ll find at the Botanical Gardens is the Japanese Garden, which features a pond filled with koi, a Moon Bridge, a Teahouse and Pavilion. Another popular attraction is the Conservatory, which is a giant greenhouse filled with orchids, bromeliads and other exotic plants.
Another attraction near Fort Worth is the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, which is a route that runs between Grapevine, Texas and the Fort Worth Stockyards. The Stockyards are quite an attraction, with lots of nice shops which have open-air roofs between them for shade. Currently they have two locomotives running; an 1896 steam engine called “Puffy,” and a 1953 GP-7 diesel engine. There’s no air conditioning on this route, so if you go during the summer, pack some cold drinks for the ride. There’s a North Pole Express ride which runs in the wintertime, but it sells out fast, so buy your tickets early.
Outside DFW
Venturing out of DFW to is a great way to find odd and interesting places. An interesting historical spot just 30 miles north of Dallas is McKinney, Texas, which features Chestnut Square Historic Village, a group of seven historic houses dating from the 1850s. Other McKinney attractions include the 7,000 Heard-Craig House, which was built in 1900, The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, and the McKinney Farmer’s Market.
The Texas State Railroad runs a train which goes through the piney woods of East Texas. This route runs from Rusk to Palestine and back again. There are Victorian-style train stations at each end of the route, and you can board at whichever end you prefer. When you reach your destination, you have an hour and a half for lunch, and then make the trip back to your departure point.
Another popular haunts outside DFW is Glen Rose, Texas, home of Dinosaur Valley State Park. This is a great place to go camping and swimming. You can walk through barefoot through the creek beds, and put your feet where dinosaurs once had theirs. Other attractions include the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, and Historic Downtown Glen Rose.
Texas has an excellent state park system, and there are several state parks near Dallas. One of the closest is in Cedar Hill, Texas, near Joe Pool Lake. The park features 355 wooded campsites with water, electric, and picnic tables. Another attraction is the mountain bike trails. It also features Joe Pool Marina, so this is a great destination if you’ve got a boat. Also, there’s Lake Tawakoni, which has a swimming beach, hiking trails, a boat ramp and lots of picnic sites. Also check out other state parks such as Lake Mineral Wells, Possum Kingdom Lake and Lake Whitney.
So if you want to avoid the mall, and you’re not up for a full vacation, day trips to these places within driving distance of Dallas and Fort Worth will make for great fun. For more ideas, read Free Things to Do in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
Sources:
Dallas Farmers Market Celebrates National Farmers Market Week” DallasFarmersMarket.org
“Store Listings,” HPVillage.com
“Membership Levels, Benefits and Cost,” DallasArboretum.org
“Shopping,” SundanceSquare.com
“Dining,” SundanceSquare.com
“Gardens,” FWBG.org
“Walk in the Steps of History,” VisitMcKinney.com
“Grapevine Vintage Railroad,” FortWorth.com
Cedar Hill State Park,” Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
