Long Weekend in Dallas
If you are in Dallas with friends and family (especially children or teenagers), here is an itinerary capturing some of the best weekend getaways from Dallas to ensure a fun filled long weekend in Dallas. Capturing the best places to visit in Dallas tx, this itinerary will keep all ages gainfully employed, creating some beautiful memories along the way.
Places and Experiences covered:
- Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, in Glen Rose
- Fort Worth Water Gardens
- Perot Museum of Science and Nature
- Escape Room (Dallas)
- Dallas Cattle Drive Sculpture
- Six Flags over Texas
- Art in the Vine
- Colour me mine
- Six Flags above Texas
Day 1: Time with Nature at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose and Fun in Water at Forth Worth Water Gardens
Most of the kids love animals and that’s why the first day starts here. This is one of the best weekend getaways from Dallas especially if traveling with kids and ensures one whole day covered if you don’t want to move around much.
This is a wildlife center where you can drive at your own pace and feed the animals from your own hands (literally). You just need to buy the food for animals and feed them along the way. Other options include guided tours and night camping at the foothills safari camp. The animals are free to roam and are habituated to eating from people’s hands and hence going towards the car for the same. This makes sighting over 1,100 animals an easy process and an enjoyable one. Carrying your own picnic is highly advisable as there are picnic tables and log benches. The Fossil Rim park allows you to carry food for your own consumption and not to feed the animals. You can read more in detail about the park here (including how much time to budget for this trip, what all can be seen etc)
On the way back, take a quick pit stop at Dairy Queen and beat the summer with a cone-full of ice-cream before heading to the Fort Worth Water gardens.
Enroute our way home, was Fort Worth Water Gardens in Dallas downtown. It is a cool oasis in the hot summer and has plenty of room to let the youngsters explore. This is a unique concept and thus features as one of the best places to visit in dallas tx.
There are three separate water areas:
The first one is a quiet, blue meditation pool which is surrounded by cypress trees and towering walls that are covered in thin plane of water that cascades almost 90 degrees down to the sunken blue water feature. The sound of the water on the walls evokes thoughts of a gentle rain shower.You might even try relaxing with a good book or magazine while you listen to the soothing sounds of water.
The second one is an aerating pool features multiple illuminated spray fountains under a canopy of large oak trees.
Active Pool, featured in Logan’s Run is the main attraction of the Water Gardens. It has water cascading down terraces and steps into a small pool at the bottom. The active pool experience was built for people to be able to walk down the terraced steps to be surrounded by and experience the power, sounds and motion of water crashing around them.
You could end the day with a bite of ice-cream in a wafer and other delicacies being dished out at many of the food trucks which are present around the downtown area.
Day 2: Science and Puzzles at Perot Museum and Escape Room
Unlike Day 1 where everyone was together, this day will see the children and the elders splitting up. The elders will need to take turns for different activities and staying with the kids. Manageable and hence worth a shot.. The kids will love the Perot museum of Science and Nature which is almost a day long affair since the kids will be quite tired by the end of it all. There is another museum – The Sixth Floor Museum which is all about former President JFK. Since we had younger kids (aged 5,5 and 10) we decided for the Perot Museum.
The Perot Museum is another one of the best places to visit in Dallas Tx.
In the Perot Museum, our kids especially loved the earthquake simulator and footage of real Texas tornadoes where they could anchor it like a TV reporter. Creating music in the sound studio was just as much fun.
We also liked their ongoing exhibition on the eye of the collector and it displayed amazing objects which people had collected during their lifetimes.
Once the kids were tired, we headed to the cafeteria for some sumptuous snacks.
Great experience and you will need to budget a whole day for it.
Those who want to try their hand at solving mysteries and puzzles to escape from a locked room in 60minutes can head to the Escape Room, while the others stay with the kids in the museum. You can read more about the Escape Room here.
Once everyone was done with their respective brainwork, head to see the Dallas Cattle drive sculpture as no visit to Texas can be complete without a picture with the Texas Longhorn.
Day 3: Starting with fun and Ending with Art – Souvenir Day at Art in the Vine and Colour me Mine
The first half of the day, we had fun in the water park of Community Activity Center of Flower Mound. Probably other communities in Dallas may have something similar.
Six Flags over Texas is another good option, if you’re into extreme theme parks. The kids had a fantastic time there too and I’m tempted to include it in the best weekend getaways from Dallas as this is a full day affair for sure.
It is located between Dallas and Fort Worth in Arlington, Texas and features over 35 thrilling rides and attractions, exciting shows, concerts, and special events. The park sits on a 212 acres of lush landscape. Some of the popular attractions include: The Texas SkyScreamer (world record holder for taking the riders to breathtaking heights), Titan, New Texas Giant, Batman: The Ride, and Superman: Tower of Power.
In the evening, those inclined towards creating art can then head to Art in the Vine while others take the children to an art activity of their own at Colour me Mine. Adults and children alike can pick any ceramic figurine and paint it with acrylic colours.
Once painted, Colour me Mine will make the colours even (for the little children) and then put it for baking. You will be able to collect these in a days time as a small souvenir of your Dallas trip.
I love the concept of Art in the Vine, it has much less to do with Art and more to do with spending time together. We were 3 generations of women with our art abilities and inclinations covering the entire spectrum, together painting our canvases.. Sheer fun!
