Ya’ll come join us for a road trip through Texas to watch some baseball games and dive into some Texas history.
We started our getaway by flying into Dallas from LAX. You can find flights in and out of Dallas relatively inexpensive using Google Flights. We ended up on Frontier Airlines (the greenest airline) and are Discount Den members, making the flights for all five of us under $500 round trip. You do need to pay for luggage. On the way there we paid for 2 bags ($69 each) and coming home we added an additional bag. We each get one side of a suitcase and my son is able to use a backpack carryon. We have become efficient packers and it makes it easier on the trip as well, not having to deal with too much “stuff” and easily fitting into rental cars. We strategically put hotels in the mix with laundry in case we need to refresh our available wardrobe.
When we arrived in Dallas, we picked up a Chevrolet Tahoe from Enterprise (using Priceline) and headed north to Frisco. We wanted to check out the Frisco Rough Riders stadium and they were in town, so it was the perfect way to start the trip. At the stadium, there is a lazy river for guests, plenty of places to eat, fun shops and an overall fun environment. We stayed at a Marriott Springhill Suites that night in Arlington and were able to upgrade to two rooms using points. This hotel was on the trolley route for the Texas Rangers stadium, which is in Arlington. It is also right next to Six Flags if you wanted to add that to your itinerary as well. Although we didn’t go, we checked out kids passes from Southern California and they could have gone. The Rangers stadium was one of my favorites. You sing “Deep in the Heart of Texas” during the seventh inning stretch at both Texas stadiums, which was fun! We sat in the outfield and were able to catch two balls. The section we were in offered all you can eat hot dogs, burgers, chicken, nachos, popcorn and peanuts, as well as soft-drinks. Out of both of the Texas ballparks we went to this trip, the Rangers was my FAVORITE. Being a Dodgers fan, the Astros was not going to make the list, however I truly enjoyed the experience watching the Rangers much more. Houston did have some fun fans; shout out to our seat neighbor that was spreading his Dads ashes on the bricks of the stadium during the 9th inning. He kept reminding his crew (who had definitely pre gamed at a bar) that his Dad would want them to be respectful and they sure were! Your Dad would be proud! I hope your blur disco ball made it home safely;)
The next morning we booked family pictures in Ft. Worth. It gets busy so Larissa Frias Photography suggested a 9am start time. We parked in the paid public parking lot and took amazing shots all around the stockyards. That same lot is where we would park as hotel guests later that day, so it was perfect that I opted for the overnight parking option.
That night we stayed at Hotel Drover in Ft. Worth. It is an adorable hotel with an awesome western ambiance. If you have seen the show Landman, it was filmed there. After our pictures we watched the 11:30 cattle drive with the longhorns. Every day, there are two cattle drives at 11:30 and 4:00. Ft. Worth was the last stop before heading into a 600 mile trip to Kansas, so cattle drives were common here. It is a great photo op, a wonderful history lesson and on the weekends you can watch a shoot out, following the cattle drive. We were also able to meet up with my musician cousin Lauren here and explore an old record shop and see the folks she has played with and stop in at Billy Bobs to see all the handprints of the sold out shows. I loved placing my hands in Riley Greens and Lainey Wilson’s.
That night we celebrated our daughter’s 15th birthday at a cute Mexican restaurant in the stockyards. There are so many shops, restaurants, coffee shops and even a hat bar walking distance. My husband and I ended the night with a night cap at the hotel bar. The men were in cowboy hats and the lady’s looked like Beth Dutton. I loved it!
The next day we loaded up the Tahoe and headed to Waco. We stayed at the Residence Inn Waco in a two bedroom, two bathroom unit with a kitchen. They also offered breakfast, if you aren’t going to the Magnolia Silos for that! While in Waco we visited the Dr. Pepper museum and had Dr. Pepper floats, with the famous Blue Bell ice cream you see all over Texas. We actually had this ice cream at both stadiums, too. Of course we had to stop by the Magnolia Silos. While I shopped, the kids and my husband found a baseball diamond and used the wiffle bats and balls available to play. They also played corn hole and enjoyed the beautiful weather in the ample seating all over. That evening we went to the suspension bridge over the Brazos river and took sunset pictures (we have teenage daughters, if you know; you know). We had dinner at Terry Blacks BBQ and got the small family meal that serves six. It was so good, but much more than we could finish. Luckily, our hotel had a refrigerator and we had pork ribs and sausage as part of our breakfast. The next morning we grabbed a Dutch bros and headed to the Mammoth Fossil site. Colombian mammoths (not woolly mammoths) were discovered here by two boys trespassing and looking for arrowheads. When they found a bone, they took it over to Baylor University and realized there may be more and they found a group of mama and baby mammoths that may have been killed by a flood. It was one of the largest nursery burial grounds and was a short 30 minute guided tour and interesting. I feel like this museum was definitely much more worth the cost, than the Dr. Pepper museum, although it was a fun experience.
After the tour we loaded in the Tahoe and headed to College Station, but not before stopping at Buc-ees for some lunch. If you have not had their gas station pulled pork, you sure are missing out! We got some beaver nuggets, candied pecans, cherry sours and peach rings, along with our DIY swig style drinks (because that was too far off the highway) and kept on trucking! My husband even bought me a Justin cowboy hat at Buc-ees. It doesn’t get much more Texas than that!
Our next stop was Bryan, Texas where we stayed at one the of Historic Hotels of America, The La Salle. We had a gorgeous one bedroom with a separate living area (again, always a Marriott) and had the best bagels at the cutest market, zegmans. We played top golf and went into College Station to explore the Texas A&M campus. While in College Station we ate at Dixie Chicken, walked through Bottle cap alley, explored Davis Diamond and shopped in Century square.
The next morning we headed south to Galveston Island. That first night we stayed at the newly built Residence Inn. The rooms were spacious and easily fit our family of five. There was a kitchen, breakfast, pool/spa and fire pit for the cooler evening. We did some laundry here and purchased our detergent at H-E-B and extra suitcase at Marshall’s in the same lot. That night we ate at the Spot and had gorgeous view of the gulf after a day at Babes Beach. We finished the night off at the Rainforest Cafe river ride and called it a night before heading to the Grand Galvez the next day.
The Grand Galvez is one of the oldest luxury hotels in the US. It was built after the hurricane of 1900 to encourage visitors to come back to Galveston. They say it is haunted, specifically room 501. When we were walking to check out that room, the ice machine did release ice on its own.
The Grand Galvez offers complimentary beach service with padded chairs and umbrellas and a gorgeous pool, with amazing pins coladas, and chips and salsa. During the day, we sat on the porch at Murdocks and had pina coladas as we watched the dolphins in the gulf. We walked up pleasure pier, but it reminded us of a dirty Venice beach pier and charged $12 just to go in the pier, so we decided not to go. Instead we headed to the other side of the island, near the cruise ship terminals and had the best pizza. We happened to be there on a Thursday, which was $3 wine night. What a deal…and the house Cabernet was not bad!
We extended our stay here an extra day (reducing our time in Houston), to enjoy the gulf, go crab hunting under the pink moon and just relax.
We had tickets to the Texas A&M softball game against LSU for the night (and should have been in Houston), so not as far of a drive, but opted to relax and watch it on TV instead.
Our last hotel was in Houston and was the Marriott Marquis Houston. This is a huge hotel with a Texas sized pool. We checked in, went straight to the M-club for some waters and snacks and grabbed a tube and enjoyed the lazy river before heading to the Astros game at 6:10. The hotel restaurant opened 2 hours before the first pitch and the line was long. There is a great happy hour and the hotel is across the street from the stadium, making it an easy walk to and from the ballpark.
The morning we left, the “Tour de Houston” bike race was literally outside our window. I woke up early worried about the street closures affecting our ability to get to the airport and return the Tahoe in time, but as it always does, everything worked out and we were good to go.
I treasure these moments so much and realize as we have a high school freshman now and plan stops at colleges that soon enough we will not have as much time for these magical memories, so I am beyond grateful to have them now. Our lives are so busy and these moments of being together, exploring and learning about new places are so incredibly important.
Trip Trek Go 