What to do for fun for 3 hours in Dallas? (San Antonio: house, traffic)

[Aibutiej]

My husband and I will be driving from San Antonio to Dallas on Sept. 29 and will probably have about 3 hours to kill before heading to the DFW airport. Any suggestions as to what we should do? I realize that the state fair will be going on (and I have never been to any state fair and I figure this is my opportunity) but I don't know if it would be worth the price of admission and parking to be there for only 3 hours (from about 1 - 4 p.m.) I was told about the Sixth Floor Museum and we might do that, but I don't know how enjoyable that would be. I also don't want to go to the kind of place (museum, zoo, aquarium, etc.) that is similar to what I would find in some other city. We are from CT so, if possible, I'd like to do something or go someplace uniquely Dallas so I can feel that I really visited Dallas (and not just the airport!)

Any suggestions?

[aceplace]

Yes. Take a bus to the State Fair. No other city has an exposition center that looks like that.

The Dallas World Aquarium is not similar to what other cities describe as an aquarium. Check it out.

Go down to the Bishop Arts District at Davis and Bishop in Oak Cliff, browse the shops and have a meal.

Go to the 6th Floor museum. As Far As I Know, Dallas is the only city where Kennedy was killed.

Try the Heritage Center in the Cedars, formerly known as Old City Park. It is a well-laid out village depicting Dallas' past.

[Lakewooder]

You really can't miss the State Fair --it's the largest in the world and also the Art Deco buildings are the last such exhibition buildings in the world. And of course there is Big Tex:

By lakewooder, shot with NIKON D200 at 2008-04-24

[momof2dfw]

Do the State Fair. That is a Monday so it won't be terribly crowded. Be ready for the weather to be any one of these: HOT, Humid, Drizzly, Rain. Or it could be PERFECT which any day at The State Fair of Texas IS perfect.

Every weekday also has some kind of "special" to get in at a discount price usually. One is like bring a Dr Pepper can and get in for like $2 another is 3 cans of food. Just keep tabs on the main website at BigTex.com for the calendar of events and what you can see while there as well as the specials.

Now if you have to be out at DFW Airport by say 5:00 pm give yourself plenty of time to get there though.

[Aibutiej]

Sounds like I'll be talking my husband into going to the State Fair .

So, just how much time should I give us to get from the State Fair to the airport? We'll be catching a 6:10 flight so I figure we need to be there by 4:40 p.m. (1.5 hours before). What time do you think we need to leave the State Fair by?

Considering that we'll start the day in San Antonio (Mapquest says it is a 4 hour drive??), it is going to be busy, I can tell. Guess we'd better plan on getting up early!

[lh_newbie]

San Antonio to Dallas in 4 hours? Uh, yeah, if you're going about 110mph the whole way... it's over 3 hours from DFW to Austin.

[Aibutiej]

Hmm. Google Map says Austin to Dallas is 3 hours 9 minutes and San Antonio to Dallas is 4 hours 23 minutes. I guess we should plan on at least 4.5 hours? Or is there a lot of traffice I'm not factoring in? (Maybe we'll get to Dallas just in time for the airport???)

[Spree]

You should anticipate traffic through Austin, actually from that Onion Creek area south of Austin until you are out of the Round Rock area, north of Austin - 9 times out of 10 it will be heavy traffic. If not, enjoy the extra time at the Fair!

[case44]

Oh, perhaps get stuck on LBJ???

Kidding aside, there's plenty to do even if you stick with one particular place. If you decide to go the State Fair, then you should drop by downtown and stop at the West End. You can walk on over to the Sixth Floor Museum or to the Dallas World Aquarium.

That's just a few places, but those are good places to begin. Enjoy your time!!

[momof2dfw]

Um, from my house in the northeast portion of Dallas to Temple which is NORTH of Austin has been a typical 2 1/2 hour drive to 3 hours EASY!!! I-35 between San Antonio to Dallas is BUMPER TO BUMPER all the way in both lanes in each direction and they typically go about 80 mph. If your scared to go fast then get up REALLY EARLY! Can you leave the night before maybe??? Monday morning won't be TOO bad of traffic but it doesn't matter on 35 nowadays.