On your initial or next trip to Texas, if you are going to be in the general Dallas/Ft. Worth area, you may want to save the expense of traveling to Houston, or going to see the Alamo, or doing any of the other usual tourist traps, and instead look into a few more low-key places to visit in Texas. Smaller communities and towns offer a wide diversity of places and events that may surprise you. Here are just a few suggestions of places to visit in Texas on your next trip out.
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Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary. Located in the town of McKinney, this sanctuary has a lot to offer everyone in your family, especially your kids. There are exciting hiking trails to take advantage of, lots of live animals to look at and enjoy, tons of exhibits in and around the museum itself, and for the more botanically-inclined, a native-plant garden.
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Southfork Ranch. The city of Parker offers the home of the television show which in the mid-1980s prompted millions of television viewers to ask, “Who shot J.R.?” The series, “Dallas,” was filmed here and the original set, a house, is intact and tours are offered. There’s lot of space for festivities here, as well, so this is probably a must-see for the aging boob-tubehead.
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Garland Opry. Everyone has heard of the young country music superstar Leann Rimes. She got her start at the Garland Opry in Garland, one of the better places to visit in Texas because it features a musical venue that offers unbending competition between performers, but awards liberal prizes and scholarships to contestant winners. A great place to go if you want to hear a lot of live real country and gospel music.
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Dallas Area Train Show. Plano, Texas is one of the great places to visit in Texas not just because it’s famous in film, but because it offers the penultimate show for the train aficionado, whether raised on Thomas or a fully mature train expert, this event offers a multitude of exhibits and educational opportunities for people who love trains.
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Wildflower Festival. If you make your way over to Richardson, Texas, be sure to wear a wildflower in your hair. Okay, it isn’t Haight-Ashbury circa 1968, but it is a great family festival with musical entertainment, art, a petting zoo, food, and various talent competitions.
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Scarborough Renaissance Festival. Dress up as a knight in shining armor and drive on over to Waxahachie for the faire. You’ll find people getting medieval on each other there in scores, whether jousting, fencing, dancing, falconing, or doing complex juggling and acrobatics. There’s also the making of glass, the fine art of pottery, weaving that doesn’t involve traffic, and a hundred or more local blacksmiths doing their blacksmithing thing. Great dress-up fun for everyone.
