Out-of-Stater Traveling from Houston to Dallas (Austin, Fort Worth: how much, price, store)

[ncarmon909]

I am surprising my boyfriend with a weekend trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the Cowboys game and we are flying into Houston (saving a lot of $$$ than flying into DFW). Are there any places worth stopping off of I-45 to break-up our 4 hour trip to Dallas?

I appreciate any suggestions! We are from the Northeast and this is our first trip to Texas.

Thanks,
Nicole

[texas7]

There just isn't much of anything of note between Houston and Dallas. If you need to stop and stretch your legs, take a restroom break, buc-ees is a fun and clean convenience store to stop in. It's huge, quirky souvenir type stuff, foods, and clean, big bathrooms. I think it is in Centerville - other than that - its just highway.

[stillkit]

You can stop and see the giant Sam Houston statue in Huntsville or tour the prison museum.

Farther up the road is one of the best pig-out joints around: Sam's all you can eat buffet in Fairfield. Pay once, and gorge on all the chicken-fried steaks, BBQ, veggies, pies or whatever else suits your fancy. Take the first Fairfield exit going north (I think it's exit 197), go straight through the light and there it is, right in front of you.

[chris_ut]

Sam Houston statue is about it. Sam's is over rated. Best rest stops are the ones near Huntsville.

[DanielWayne]

Not much along that route unless you enjoy small hole-in-the-wall places. As noted above Buc-ees is a good place to stop. Kinda like the Wal-Mart of gas stations. Clean restrooms everytime!

Personally I do enjoy small town stops and our regular stops are at Woodys Smokehouse in Centerville and Navarro Pecan Co in Corsicana.

[Univ_Texas_Alum_30]

How much money could you possibly be saving on airfare to justify a 4 hour drive???

Just don't speed through the small towns. Check your road signs to inform you when you are in one.

[jennifw]

Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville is worth the stop.

Watch your speed through Palmer (north of Coriscana).

[Malvie]

Another vote here for Woody's Smokehouse in Centerville (it's not much, but it's about the only reason to stop between here and Dallas).

I"m not surprised about the savings, though; airfares are funny things. I was searching flights for San Diego not long ago, told the site to search for nearby airports. Fare about the same between Hobby, Intercontinental and San Diego. The other airport it searched was Austin and it was something like $2,000!

[texas7]

Originally Posted by Univ_Texas_Alum_30

How much money could you possibly be saving on airfare to justify a 4 hour drive???

Just don't speed through the small towns. Check your road signs to inform you when you are in one.

It's really odd, but depending upon what airport you are departing from the price can really vary between the cities within the state you are flying to. To leave out of Hobby to fly to Memphis, TN is much more expensive than to leave out of Hobby to fly to Little Rock, AR. Know a couple of different people who travel to Memphis but fly to Little Rock and drive. Could be the same w/Dallas and Houston for the OP traveler.

[debzkidz]

It's a pretty boring drive, but I would agree with Woody's. It's about the only place to stop except for just the basic small town McDonalds stops. They sell all kinds of beef jerky, as well as bar-b-q. I'm not a huge fan of their bar-b-q though. The last time I had it, it was pretty fatty.

As for the airfare, it is true that flying in and out of Dallas can be more expensive. One of my son's is flying to Colorado in a couple of months. He thought it might be cheaper to fly in and out of Dallas than here in OKC. Turns out, his fare out of OKC was $50 cheaper each way and he still connects through Dallas on the same exact flight he considered driving to Dallas to catch.