Ten Days in Texas

The Lone Star State really is ideal for a multi-destination holiday, and of course to include a road trip too. It’s very easy to drive and full of experiences that would suit any family or traveller. We flew into Austin, collected our hire car and drove the one and a half hours to San Antonio. We were recommended to make a stop at Buc-ees, a must for any road trip in Texas. It’s a huge gas station and when six locals you meet at the airport say you must go just for the experience, you go! It was such a fun start to our US trip. We stayed in San Antonio for a couple of days, famous for its Riverwalk and of course the Alamo, which was great to visit and where we learnt all about the Battle of 1836 and how important it was to Texas. We stayed on the Riverwalk, a great location for dining and evening strolls, however our visit to the Historic Market Square to savour the Mexican atmosphere and food was a highlight, as too where the margaritas! Next was our Dude Ranch visit in Bandera. There are a few ranches to choose from, all offering the chance to be a cowboy and some offering overnight stays with cowboy campfires. They are fantastic to visit, even if you cannot ride. Because we like to fit in as much as possible into our US trips, we opted for a day visit to Rancho Cortez, and what a day it was. We were the only tourist visitors that day as they had a Cowboy Camp running, which we had the pleasure of joining for a while, so our experience really was a unique one. From horseback riding, to roping, to swimming in their pool to cool down, it was a highlight of our holiday. That evening we stayed at my favourite small hotel that I have ever visited, The Kendall Inn in Boerne, a small town 30 minutes’ drive East of Bandera. This beautiful hotel offers 34 unique and luxury rooms with fabulous Texas Hill Country hospitality. Our large room was part of a small outbuilding in their beautiful courtyard. I could have stayed so much longer, but one night is all we had. The next morning we ate breakfast at a lovely coffee shop across the green before we had our day road trip to Fort Worth. We decided not to take the quicker route on the I35 as we wanted to explore a little. The route was easy and we found some great quirky roadside stops amongst the amazing countryside. We stopped in Llano for coffee, and then San Saba ‘the pecan capital of Texas’ for Pecan Pie of course. We arrived in Fort Worth in the evening and had a quick burger at a bar in the centre where we could sit on the balcony and watch the old American cars drive by. We spent the day at the Stockyards in Fort Worth, a national historic district where they have cattle drives each day, honky tonk bars and the most unusual antique stores. It was great fun, the Long Horns are amazing and I felt at home wearing my cowboy hat that I bought in San Antonio! Late afternoon we headed to our next destination of Dallas, via the AT&T Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys play. I would highly recommend a Stadium tour here, however Garth Brookes had beaten us to it and was playing that night so there were no tours available that day. Dallas is a great city, and we spent a couple of nights here just enjoying the neighbourhoods and food. We stayed in the Omni Dallas Hotel which I highly recommend. It’s super impressive from the outside as it has a 23-story canvas to showcase images made from over four miles of LED lights, and during our stay there was a large Mary K Cosmetics convention so their logo was on show. Saying that, there may well have been a large convention however this didn’t once hinder our stay, the hotel handled it perfectly and the atmosphere was brilliant. The hotel’s rooftop pool is fantastic, and we were within walking distance of some great eateries. Our favourite neighbourhood to visit was Deep Ellum, it was very hip with great street art and independent stores. Whilst at Dallas we went to the rodeo in Mesquite, about half an hour’s drive from our hotel. Whilst in Texas you just have to experience a rodeo and I chose Mesquite over the Stockyards as I wanted to experience a long-running rodeo that was not just for the tourists, and what a brilliant choice I made, it was impressive, entertaining and a true Texas experience. On our last day in Dallas, we drove JFK’s final route and then set off back to Austin for our final 4 nights. We drove via Waco and stopped at the Dr Pepper Museum and arrived at our hotel in the early evening. We opted for the Fairmount and chose to stay Fairmount Gold, with a private check in, a dedicated concierge team, upgraded room amenities and access to their Gold Lounge with complimentary drinks and food all day. The hotel is large so this meant that the Gold Lounge was large too, and the staff were brilliant, it was definitely worth the upgrade. The Fairmont is in a great location. It is close to the famous Rainy Street historic district, but far enough away not to be disturbed at the weekend when it comes to life. We visited early evening and the old bungalows, now bars, look great and so unusual. We didn’t stay later as it’s more suited to over 21s and we had a teenager with us! Austin is the capital city of Texas and has so much to offer. It’s laid back so was perfect for the last few days of our hectic holiday. We visited the Capitol (the free tour is a must and really interesting), went open water swimming in Barton Creek, went to numerous BBQs and enjoyed the amazing music, venturing outside the city one evening to a Bluegrass night. A great area to visit is South Congress, or SoCo, which has a distinct Californian feel. It’s full of boutique shops, great restaurants, coffee shops and bars and beautiful wall murals. South Congress Bridge is where you can see the famous bats too, a spectacle not to miss. We spent 10 days in total in Texas and loved every minute. We appreciated the famous landmarks we visited and really enjoyed getting off the beaten track wherever we stopped. Texas is incredibly welcoming and I’d return in a heartbeat.