Thursday, May 31, 2012

Texas Weekend Trips

I read this post on Amy's blog this morning and was really inspired to see more in Texas with our kids!

Brian and I have been to Houston to see some stuff before we had kids.  We've also spent time in San Antonio and Austin, all before kids.   San Antonio has been on our list to visit again with our kids, but I never thought about returning to Houston just for the kids' stuff.  But now I think it would be fun!  Our kids would probably love the Space Center.

In the big scheme of vacation planning, we can only afford to go somewhere far once a year.  But I'd also like to squeeze in a small, local Texas trip once a year, too.  Our school district has a couple of 3-day weekends surrounding teacher work days, and we also have the entire week of Thanksgiving off, so in addition to the summer that gives us a few "off-season" times to accomplish these weekend trips.  (I'm not a fan of doing anything during Spring Break in Texas since the entire state has the same Spring Break and everything is super crowded!)


So I've started a Texas Weekend Trip wish list:

*  Houston--Aquarium, kids museum, Space Center

*  San Antonio--Sea World, Riverwalk, Schlitterbahn

*  Glen Rose--Dinosaur Valley State Park, Dino World, Fossil Rim Wildlife Center

*  Galveston--Moody Gardens, the beach

*  Port Aransas--ocean stuff

*  Great Wolf Lodge--we went here once when we just had our oldest son.  It was a blast!
Our son in our room at Great Wolf Lodge, Dec 2008


*  Dude Ranch--we are thinking about staying at a ranch near Wichita Falls next year during one of Brian's bike rides

*  Amarillo--we will probably stay here every time we drive to Colorado to see my family.  The Big Texan is not to be missed!

*  Austin?

Have you been to any of these places?  Would you recommend?  What other places have you been to in Texas that you'd recommend for families?  Or do you have any places you'd recommend for a couples romantic getaway (if we can ever find someone to watch all 3 of our kids?)





2 comments:

  1. We love camping, not sure if that is your thing or not, but our favorites are Bonham State Park and Fairfield State Park. We went to Paris once and it is pretty neat, just don't go over a holiday weekend - everything closes. They have the eifel tower with a cowboy hat, the campbell's soup plant, and tons of old houses turned museum. We also love the caves north of San Antonio and heading to Fort Worth for a long weekend.

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  2. Hi Nancy,
    In Houston, the space center is really cool. Near San Antonio is a cave/cavern (Natural Bridge is the name I think?) that is very neat. You take a walking tour underground through the caverns.
    Fossil Rim in Glen Rose is awesome, all my nieces/nephews have loved it!

    Would love to hear your experience if/when you do the dude ranch thing. This is something on my list as well and I'd like recommendations!

    Judy

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