Texas cities or regions you've never been to (Houston, Dallas: place, drive)

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by whereiend

I like my home state for what it is but I have to say that I don't go any place in Texas with expectations of it being particularly great... Port Aransas is not the prettiest beach but I think it can be a lot of fun.

I like Port A, but the town of Port Aransas is too car centric for my tastes as far as beach towns go. I wish the businesses were all closer together and right along the main drag with parking in the rear/street parking....so that one doesn't have the feeling of having to drive from one business to the one right next door.

For me, the best vacations are when I can ditch the car.

[whereiend]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

I like Port A, but the town of Port Aransas is too car centric for my tastes as far as beach towns go. I wish the businesses were all closer together and right along the main drag with parking in the rear/street parking....so that one doesn't have the feeling of having to drive from one business to the one right next door.

For me, the best vacations are when I can ditch the car.

True, Port A the town isn't much. We always get a condo with a kitchen when we go there. The only thing resembling a beach town in TX is Galveston and South Padre.

[RMESMH]

Laredo

Marfa

Brownsville/McAllen/Edinburg area

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

Brownsville/McAllen/Edinburg area

I assume this also means you've never been to South Padre Island?

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

I assume this also means you've never been to South Padre Island?

No, I haven't.

Last week I went to Corpus Christi for the first time.

I drove down to Sugar Land and then went out 69/59 to 77, and then 77 to Refugio. I wanted to come across the bridge into Corpus Christi, so instead of continuing on 77, I turned right on FM 774 to FM 2678, then right on FM 2678....which becomes FM 136 and went through Bayside to 35 to Portland and then to Corpus Christi.

On the way back, after Portland, I took 361 to Ingleside, then through Aransas Pass, and then Palm Harbor. I stopped in Rockport. After that, when I left Rockport, I went through Fulton and Lamar to Tivoli, and then took 239 out of Tivoli back to 77, and then retraced my steps back to Houston.

Before I left I thought about doing what I ended up doing and also going to Brownsville/McAllen/Edinburg etc. in the same trip, but I decided to break it up into two different trips.

Before deciding to break it into two trips, I did research lodging down there, and there were some great deals on SPI....much better than/much better values than the best ones I saw in either Brownsville, Edinburg, or McAllen .

[malcorub16]

^^ It's too bad Texas' nicest beach (and nicest mountain and nicest national park) is so far out of the way for most of the state.... or maybe that's a good thing.

I would definitely stay on SPI over Mcallen and Brownville any day, but these last two are also worth visiting.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by forestgreen

Don't know if you're serious or not, but I think Houston is a city that should be seen at least once. I can understand why someone would have no interest in returning, but you might be surprised. I've visited countless times since I was a little kid and I still haven't figured the place out.

Yeah, I usually agree with StealthRabbit, and most of his posts are wonderful nuggets of information, but I obviously don't agree re Houston, as I live in the Houston metro.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by walker1962

Never been to areas west of Abilene/Fredericksburg /LLano or south of Corpus Christi. Been to Midland once for work and Lubbock out of curiosity.


I have a related question. What city/area has anyone visited that was the most disappointing? For me, easily, it was Corpus Christi! I expected the area to be more vibrant and not look so beat up! Nearby Rockport wasn't any better. That's saying a lot when I've been to Midland, Lubbock, Wichita Falls, and Waco, none considered garden spots.

I've driven over much of the continental U.S. for pleasure.........all 48 continental U.S. states...lots of rural, mountain, out of the way places, lots of parks, lots of out of the way places, as well as 308 of the 331 cities in the U.S. with a population of 100,000 or more.

Big chunks of I-20 between the western end of I-20 to past Midland = probably the ugliest stretches of highway I've driven in the U.S.

[JWilliams45]

Easier to list where I have been: The Big A (lived there for a year for work), Dallas for Cowboys games, and Houston and Galveston to visit family. All 50-55 years ago.

[godrestores]

Never been to the Panhandle, far South Texas, West Texas (aside from the I-10 corridor) or Deep East Texas. So I've pretty much covered the whole horizontal stretch of the state; the north and south expanses not so much