What to do in Dallas?

[mamax2]

We'll be in Dallas for 4 days the first week of December. I have ZERO experience with Texas. DH will be doing work stuff all day/night so it's pretty much just a little getaway for me and the kidlets. I have a 3 y.o. and a (then) 11.5 month old. What should I plan to do? I will have a rental car.

[WestieMomma]

I can give you a few recs!

Definitely check out the Dallas World Aquariuam, my 4 yr old nephew went a few weeks ago and loved it.

http://www.dwazoo.com/info.html

If the weather is nice enough go to the Ft. Worth Zoo..don't bother with the Dallas Zoo-FTW's is much nicer.

Also in Grapevine, TX there is Grapevine Mills..it's a big mall with Rainforest Cafe, kids stuff to play on. Grapevine also has a cute downtown area with lots of shops and they have a train that you can ride on. around Dec. they are having a special North Pole Express event that may be fun.

http://www.grapevinesteamrailroad.com/events.asp

Depending on where you are staying in Dallas, Grapevine is about a 20-30 min drive from downtown Dallas in minimal traffic.

Hope this helps-have a good time!

[littlebear]

Definitely do the Dallas World Aquarium. The kids will love it.

Fort Worth Stockyards might be cool too. They do a daily cattle drive. http://www.fortworthherd.com/ There are also a bunch of museums out at Fair Park. They might like the Natural History Museum.

[karlatta]

I was going to suggest the Fort Worth Zoo too. I live in Houston now, and I pretty much boycott the Houston Zoo, because Fort Worth's is so much better!

[TriSigmaNC]

I used to live right next to the Aquarium, it is fantastic and they have penguins!

Dallas isn't truly a kid friendly place to visit IMO, but great for living.

I would say just simply walking downtown the West End would be nice, there's the JFK site if you'd like to see it and on the full other end would be the West End shopping or you could visit Deep Ellum shopping/eateries in the daytime (at night turns into a club atmosphere).

[ladybug0525]

Do you happen to know where in Dallas you will be, there are a lot of options and surrounding areas!

[mamax2]

Yay! Finally some takers! I was beginning to think I wouldn't hear from anyone. :p

We'll be at: The Hilton Anatole hotel is located on 45 lush acres just north of the downtown Dallas, Texas business district on interstate highway I-35E (Stemmons Freeway)

My kids will love the Aquarium - that's a great suggestion and good to know about skipping the Dallas zoo, since we probably would have gone there. The hotel's website indicates there's a children's museum - does anyone know about that? Is it worthwhile?

Off to check out some of those other links mentioned. Thanks for all the ideas, ladies!

[Rose]

Has anyone been to this museum:

http://www.fwmuseum.org/home/index.html

I am going to be visiting the Dallas area and I would like to take my nephews to a science musuem and I am wondering if this is better than the one in Dallas.

[aligirl]

DH is attending a conference in Dallas in April so DS and I have decided to take a few days off and tag along since flights to DFW are so cheap.

DS is 13 months old and will be 15 months old when we're in Dallas. Any ideas on what we can do w/ him while we're there? We're staying at the Hyatt Regency Dallas. I'll be bringing a yet to be purchased mei-tai carrier and probably an umbrella stroller too, just in case we need one.

I know there are lots of historical things near us but are there any touristy activities we should check out or good restaurants that are family friendly?

[mamax2]

I posted this exact question just a couple months ago, that thread might help you:

What do I do in Dallas w/my kids? (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26397&highlight=Dallas)

[southerner]

What to do in Dallas w/ kids (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26397)

oops, cross-posted

[aligirl]

thanks!

[mamax2]

What we ended up doing:

* Aquarium

* Fort Worth Stockyards - we took the train out there (fun since DD had never been on a train before) and then a bus to the Stockyards. We spent an entire day there and had a great time. They had a Christmas parade and festival going on so there was a lot happening.

That's basically all we got to though - our flight got in so late we missed a day and then left super early on our last day.

[lml41981]

The Body Worlds exhibit is in town at The Museum of Nature and Science (http://www.natureandscience.org/).

If you want to take some pretty photos and just spend time outdoors, Dallas Blooms is going on at the Arboretum (http://www.dallasarboretum.org/) (from March 10-April 15).

Where in Dallas will you be staying? I might be able to give some restaurant recs and stuff tailored to that area.

[aligirl]

We're staying at the Hyatt Regency Dallas on Reunion Blvd.

[MrsSmith]

We went to the warehouse museum where President Kennedy was shot from. I also drove over to Ft. Worth and saw a rodeo. Those were my top two. :)

[ellidew]

Can anyone recommend something to do over the weekend of April 19th? We'll be visiting family in Rowlett, TX. We've been down there several times over the years so we've done/seen most of the stuff already listed.

Is there a rodeo? What about Dixie Stampede? Anything? Our son is only going to be 5 months old so he wont really know the difference so suggestions don't need to be child driven.

[thedoorchick]

The Mesquite Rodeo (http://www.mesquiterodeo.com/) will be open then. I'd recommend it - I've been many times

[ellidew]

ooh, that sounds like fun thedoorchick. I'm not sure how adaptable ds is yet since this will be our first real test with him. My fam in TX said they are about an hour from ft worth so if we stayed for that rodeo we'd still have to drive home so i like that this is much closer. I know they are only 15-20 mins from downtown... at least from the airport (Love).

I emailed them about the stockyards, aquarium, and now the mesquite rodeo. We're there from Thurs night-Mon morning so we'll have 3 full days to plan.

[ellidew]

aligirl- I didn't even realize you posted the last question. Did you get the $49 flight on Southwest? I'm convinced the only affordable place to fly to from Stl is Dallas! We took SW to Dallas from the East Terminal at Lambert into Love in DFW last February and it was SO smooth. I LOVE southwest airlines. When we flew last the plane was only half full and we made it to Dallas in about 45 mins even though they say it's an hour and a half flight! The flight back was just over an hour. It's like flying to Chicago, you go up and then back down. lol. Have a fun trip.

[ellidew]

Where do you take a train to the stockyards from?

I need to get better about thinking my posts all the way through so i don't have to post 3 times in a row!

[aligirl]

ellidew -- we haven't booked yet because our company needs to book Jay's flight first and then we'll book mine/Alex's.... I found tickets on American for $110 so hopefully he'll fly American and we can just be on the same flight! We're actually going to be in Dallas the same weekend as you guys!

[ellidew]

aligirl- Was it $110 roundtrip? That's a good deal too! How funny that you are going down there the same weekend!

[am_81]

Where do you take a train to the stockyards from?

I need to get better about thinking my posts all the way through so i don't have to post 3 times in a row!

In downtown Dallas, the Union Station serves both DART and the Trinity Railway Express -- http://www.trinityrailwayexpress.org/dallasmap.html

[AHammer]

i just wanted to second the rec. for the mesquite rodeo. much fun!

also, if this kinda thing doesn't freak you out, you could see the body worlds exhibit at dallas's science museum. It's in town until May, I saw it last month, it's FABULOUS.

http://www.natureandscience.org/bodyworlds/

[ellidew]

We leave for Dallas on Thursday night. Can't wait to just get away! We'll be gone thursday-monday. We don't get in until after 9pm on Thursday so it doesn't really count. So far we have tickets for the Mesquite Rodeo on Friday and a Rangers Game on Sunday. Saturday we are going to the Aquarium. Anything else we're just going to play by ear. We also plan to eat A LOT of Mexican food :D

I'll give an update when i get back.

[JillyBean]

Bump!

Any ideas for couples without kids? We both grew up a few hours from Dallas, so we've done alot of the things already mentioned. We're looking into a Rangers game and a theme park for one day. I remember going to the Ft. Worth Botanical Garden with my grandmother when I was young, so I think I might want to do that. Any other ideas?

[lml41981]

Bump!

Any ideas for couples without kids? We both grew up a few hours from Dallas, so we've done alot of the things already mentioned. We're looking into a Rangers game and a theme park for one day. I remember going to the Ft. Worth Botanical Garden with my grandmother when I was young, so I think I might want to do that. Any other ideas?
I would do a Frisco Rough Riders (www.ridersbaseball.com) game instead of Rangers (or in addition to one). They're the minor league team and they're sooo much more fun than Rangers games (and cheaper, too).

You could do the Ft. Worth Botanical Garden, but the Dallas Arboretum (http://www.dallasarboretum.org/) is also really nice! It overlooks White Rock Lake and there's a lovely cafe attached to the Arboretum. They also will be having concerts throughout the summer.

If you aren't opposed to going out to the movies while you're here, you could go down south toward Ennis (on 45) to the only drive-in movie theatre (http://www.galaxydriveintheatre.com) left in the area (there might be one other in Granbury, but I'm not positive it is still open). It's $6/person and you get a double feature.

I'd do some nice dinners out... There's Houston's (http://www.hillstone.com/) (get the knife and fork ribs with fries and honey mustard for the fries), Fogo de Chao (http://www.fogodechao.com/), The Melting Pot (http://www.meltingpot.com) and Sambuca (http://www.sambucajazzcafe.com).

You could always check out Dallas Museum of Art (www.dm-art.org). Their restaurant Seventeen Seventeen is pretty good, too. Especially for brunch...

You could check out Addison Improv (http://www.improv2.com/v3/index.php) or Pete's Dueling Piano (http://www.petesduelingpianobar.com/), which I hear is a blast! You could check out Ad-Libs (http://www.ad-libs.com/) comedy club, which is true improvisational comedy. We enjoyed it, but it has been awhile since we went.

[JillyBean]

Thanks lml! Those are some great suggestions! I'm especially interested in the Drive-in and Dueling Piano. Definitely things we haven't done there before. Also, the restaurant suggestions are great :)

[am_81]

Pete's Dueling Pianos is always a guaranteed fun time; we actually had the second half of my Bachelorette Party there. :) Two things though -- be ready for a mass of drunken, loud people (its like one big sing-along half the time) and be prepared to stand most of the time. Theres hardly anywhere to sit and if youre in the path to the bar you get jostled a fair bit, but normally youre having a fun enough time that you dont notice any of it.