Driving around Texas.....................
Discussion
Probably going to see a friend who lives just outside Dallas in about 6 weeks or so. Was thinking about then flying to the west coast and spending a bit of time there.
Then I thought about staying in and arund Texas and finding the real america, the one with all the old towns and ghost towns.
Anybody had any experience of this ? Is it worth spending time there or best to go elsewhere ?
Then I thought about staying in and arund Texas and finding the real america, the one with all the old towns and ghost towns.
Anybody had any experience of this ? Is it worth spending time there or best to go elsewhere ?
Just got back drove San Antonio through Dallas and Amarillo worked in Albuquerque then drove to Miami then New York :-)
I loved the 10, El Paso to New Orleans and beyond! So much to see, the white desert, Roswell, buried Cadillac’s and Palo Duro canyon before your half way across TX.
You need to love open space, people who seem to enjoy having scrap yards outside there house and A LOT of forgotten towns! It’s not a glamorous as Hwy 1 and the west coast!
All the tourist attractions are half the price of the west coast ones and in my experience just as impressive.
Hope it helps, will try and sort a photo or two.
I loved the 10, El Paso to New Orleans and beyond! So much to see, the white desert, Roswell, buried Cadillac’s and Palo Duro canyon before your half way across TX.
You need to love open space, people who seem to enjoy having scrap yards outside there house and A LOT of forgotten towns! It’s not a glamorous as Hwy 1 and the west coast!
All the tourist attractions are half the price of the west coast ones and in my experience just as impressive.
Hope it helps, will try and sort a photo or two.
I think Texas is actually very nice to drive around once you're outside the cities, but if you're thinking of going to the west coast anyway why not just drive it? Up from Dallas to Whichita Falls then on up to Amarillo where you can join old Route 66 and head west ending up in Santa Monica. Its about 1500 miles to the coast but there's some awesome bits of America you'll see that you'd never run into any other way.
Edited by TheMighty on Friday 6th March 20:44
Good drive to Dallas,
Look in on the JR Ewing ranch
Stay in the JR hotel in Plato
Good drive to Houston drag way,
About 30 min. drive east on the I10
Good drive to Mississippi.
Go on the steam boat Natchez.
leaves from the brewery in the French quarter
Nice stearn wheel paddle steamer down the river for about hour and half, and
back again.
Burbon Street in french quarter is good.
In Texas, forget Galverston.
Go to the Kemah boardwalks
There is a great high speed boat ride in and around galverston bay.
See if the Williams Tower is open again to the public.
Galleria area is good for shopping.
The Wild West is a great Cowboy texas night club on Westheimer if I remember.
Great steaks to be eaten in Sullivans, just opposite Extended Stay America on westheimer.
San Antonio is great.
They have the very, very nice River Walks. beautiful,boat rides around the walks.
Also go the the local movie and watch the movie about the Alamo.
Then after that, go to the Alamo.
Quite some thing else.
But watch the movie first.
Any more, just ask
'vette
Look in on the JR Ewing ranch
Stay in the JR hotel in Plato
Good drive to Houston drag way,
About 30 min. drive east on the I10
Good drive to Mississippi.
Go on the steam boat Natchez.
leaves from the brewery in the French quarter
Nice stearn wheel paddle steamer down the river for about hour and half, and
back again.
Burbon Street in french quarter is good.
In Texas, forget Galverston.
Go to the Kemah boardwalks
There is a great high speed boat ride in and around galverston bay.
See if the Williams Tower is open again to the public.
Galleria area is good for shopping.
The Wild West is a great Cowboy texas night club on Westheimer if I remember.
Great steaks to be eaten in Sullivans, just opposite Extended Stay America on westheimer.
San Antonio is great.
They have the very, very nice River Walks. beautiful,boat rides around the walks.
Also go the the local movie and watch the movie about the Alamo.
Then after that, go to the Alamo.
Quite some thing else.
But watch the movie first.
Any more, just ask
'vette
Edited by uk_vette on Thursday 5th March 17:05
San antonio is brilliant to spend a few days walking around.
Austin is good for student bars.
ft worth for cowboys.
hear is a trown together colection of some 'texan' bits and a little bit of NM except the rocket car thing but could not resist.
http://photobucket.com/roadtriptx
Austin is good for student bars.
ft worth for cowboys.
hear is a trown together colection of some 'texan' bits and a little bit of NM except the rocket car thing but could not resist.
http://photobucket.com/roadtriptx
Agreed on San Antonio... Could spend days just bumming round the bars and eateries on the Riverwalk and the Alamo is a must see. I was very suprised at the number of British and other Europeans who fought alongside Travis, Bowie and Crockett, to defend the Alamo.
If you're going to stop in San Antonio then you just have to stay at The Menger. Although its supposedly quite haunted we got a good couple of nights sleep there and its a great hotel with real character, plus its got a great bar which was built as a reproduction of the House of Lords bar,. This was originally situated at the front of the hotel but later moved to its current slightly more secret position at the side of the hotel during the prohibition era.
I'll post you some pics up tomorrow when I've had a look through what I have of the Texas end of things, plus I've got others of bits along Route 66 towards the west coast if you want to see some of those too.
Oh and while I'm thinking about it...
If you're going to be doing a lot of driving around Dallas you really can't avoid the toll roads. The car rental companies are being a pain in the backside with this and don't have toll tags in any of the cars and tell you to avoid using the toll roads. I *cough* may have borrowed a toll tag whilst driving round Dallas but still got stung for a charge as the toll wasn't fully working and didn't pick up the tag and just charged the fee to the licence plate, at which point Dollar decided they want £25 for processing a 38p toll charge! The answer to this is to just forget about the Toll Tag, don't avoid the toll roads and just let it all get charged to the rental company and once its all processed you'll still only get one charge for the processing of the fee's from them. Better to just accept its an extra few quid you're going to have to stump up later I think and use the roads rather than try to figure out other ways round.
If you're going to stop in San Antonio then you just have to stay at The Menger. Although its supposedly quite haunted we got a good couple of nights sleep there and its a great hotel with real character, plus its got a great bar which was built as a reproduction of the House of Lords bar,. This was originally situated at the front of the hotel but later moved to its current slightly more secret position at the side of the hotel during the prohibition era.
uk_vette said:
Good drive to Dallas,
Look in on the JR Ewing ranch
Stay in the JR hotel in Plato
The Wild West is a great Cowboy texas night club on Westheimer if I remember.
Great steaks to be eaten in Sullivans, just opposite Extended Stay America on westheimer.
That'll be the Southfork Ranch (from Dallas the TV show) which is actually just about in Parker, Texas and the Southfork Hotel in PLANO. For a real cowboy nightclub, ie a Honky-Tonk you should try Billy Bobs Texas just by the Fort Worth Stockyards, its the biggest honky-tonk in the world with numerous dance floors, a casino, pool hall, and its own indoor bull riding arena. They have big name bands on most weekends, obviously they do "both types of music... Country, and Western".Look in on the JR Ewing ranch
Stay in the JR hotel in Plato
The Wild West is a great Cowboy texas night club on Westheimer if I remember.
Great steaks to be eaten in Sullivans, just opposite Extended Stay America on westheimer.
I'll post you some pics up tomorrow when I've had a look through what I have of the Texas end of things, plus I've got others of bits along Route 66 towards the west coast if you want to see some of those too.
Oh and while I'm thinking about it...
If you're going to be doing a lot of driving around Dallas you really can't avoid the toll roads. The car rental companies are being a pain in the backside with this and don't have toll tags in any of the cars and tell you to avoid using the toll roads. I *cough* may have borrowed a toll tag whilst driving round Dallas but still got stung for a charge as the toll wasn't fully working and didn't pick up the tag and just charged the fee to the licence plate, at which point Dollar decided they want £25 for processing a 38p toll charge! The answer to this is to just forget about the Toll Tag, don't avoid the toll roads and just let it all get charged to the rental company and once its all processed you'll still only get one charge for the processing of the fee's from them. Better to just accept its an extra few quid you're going to have to stump up later I think and use the roads rather than try to figure out other ways round.
Edited by TheMighty on Friday 6th March 01:05
Fort Worth Stockyards, good fun day out if a bit touristy, but the cowboys (and girls) are the real thing and they really do drive cattle day in, day out which at least makes it feel a bit more genuine:
Billy Bobs Texas:
Is this the way....? no I'll let you fill in the blanks:
Billy Bobs Texas:
Is this the way....? no I'll let you fill in the blanks:
Edited by TheMighty on Friday 6th March 20:28
Couple of points on places mentioned:
I lived about eight miles away from Southfork, but be aware it is a lot smaller in real life! My house is bigger - when I first saw it, it was a case of "Is that it?!?!"
Billy Bobs in the Stockyards is well worth a visit simply for the non-ironic wearers of cowboy hats and random line dancing. Lots of pickup trucks outside. They do bull riding on Friday and Saturday nights, that is great fun. Normally the riders are thrown off within about 2 seconds!
Also, in Fort Worth, I suggest a meal at Joe T. Garica's ( http://www.joets.com/). The evening menu is either Beef or Chicken Fajitas. That's yer lot. But they are the best fajitas I've had.
BTW, watch the 121 north of DFW towards Plano, they have automatic tolls with no barriers or anywhere to pay on the road. It's a letter through the door job and some rental car companies slap a $20 charge on a $1 toll. Take the I635 and then North Dallas Tollway/I75 if you are heading North
After spending almost a year there, I'm quite attached to the place (got my cowboy boots and my Billy Bob T-shirt to keep the Texan in me happy!).
I lived about eight miles away from Southfork, but be aware it is a lot smaller in real life! My house is bigger - when I first saw it, it was a case of "Is that it?!?!"
Billy Bobs in the Stockyards is well worth a visit simply for the non-ironic wearers of cowboy hats and random line dancing. Lots of pickup trucks outside. They do bull riding on Friday and Saturday nights, that is great fun. Normally the riders are thrown off within about 2 seconds!
Also, in Fort Worth, I suggest a meal at Joe T. Garica's ( http://www.joets.com/). The evening menu is either Beef or Chicken Fajitas. That's yer lot. But they are the best fajitas I've had.
BTW, watch the 121 north of DFW towards Plano, they have automatic tolls with no barriers or anywhere to pay on the road. It's a letter through the door job and some rental car companies slap a $20 charge on a $1 toll. Take the I635 and then North Dallas Tollway/I75 if you are heading North
After spending almost a year there, I'm quite attached to the place (got my cowboy boots and my Billy Bob T-shirt to keep the Texan in me happy!).
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