Texas Road Trip (Explore TX) (Houston, Dallas: home, live, garden)

[Statz2k10]

Planning a trip to Texas later this summer.

This is a very brief overview on how I initially view the trip
Fly into Houston on a Friday and between Friday/Sat go to an Astros game.
Drive north towards Dallas/FTW. Rangers game.
Drive north to OKC. Hoping to check out OKC since it's not to far from Dallas.
Then head south towards the west part of Texas towards Odessa.
Continue down to San Antonio. I have friends in SA so this would be the last place I really stay at before getting back to Houston to fly out.

Looking at flying back home the following Saturday so between Friday-Saturday its 8 full days to explore Texas.

I feel like that's enough time to do what I need to do.
Def want to see the 2 baseball stadiums as it's a bucket list.

But outside of that within that type of route through TX I need other things to see.

Looking for suggestions on that type of route that might be over interest.

My interests:
Love to take pictures of amazing looking things.
I'm single guy in my 40's. Not into the arts to much. I am down for good zoo's. Botanical gardens? Good history things? Alamo?
I do like to go hiking but not sure if that would be feasible unless it's a common place where I wouldn't get lost and not get destroyed by the heat.
Sports Museums? Great views?
LOVE to go through older looking towns. I'd be willing go drive an hour or two of the way to go through a town that looks like something from the past.

Obviously any areas to def avoid safety wise is welcome.

[zenith32]

Oh man Texas has so much to see for those who have time. If you're gonna detour to OKC, Turner Falls near Ardmore and the OKC Memorial downtown is an absolute must, plus we have a botanical garden a few blocks away from there as well. From there I would suggest heading to Amarillo and walking around downtown a bit (very eclectic mix of old western, plains, and southwestern vibes) before doing to the Caprock Canyons a short distance southeast of there for some excellent views and hiking (although you could skip Amarillo for a drive across the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma before going to Caprock). Most of the older towns in the western OK/TX panhandle/northwest TX region (Hobart, Altus, Childress, Wichita Falls, etc) have very visually historic old town districts, and Hobart specifically has gone beyond that to maintain some old traffic equipment into the modern era.


In Dallas itself there's Dealey Plaza (JFK assassination) and the Trinity River greenbelt offers relaxing hiking trails with most excellent views of downtown.


I've always enjoyed just cruising around the Hill Country and the panhandle regions. Lots of relatively untouched farmsteads and ranches that you just don't really see anywhere else.

[mkwensky]

Why Odessa? There's nothing worth seeing in that part of the state.
If you're going to Amarillo stop by the Palo Duro Canyon. Probably the prettiest part of the state despite what you might hear about Big Bend or the Hill Country.
If you're going to San Antonio then you might as well visit the more famous Hill Country towns like Fredericksburg or Bandera.

[Monello]

Do a float trip down the Guadalupe or Comal rivers when you are in SA. An outfitter will pick you up at a take out point and drive you back to your vehicle. If it hasn't rained for a few days, it will be a nice party on the river. If you do that either before or after visit the town of Gruene. And make sure you stop in the Buc-ees convenience big box store.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by mkwensky

Why Odessa? There's nothing worth seeing in that part of the state.
If you're going to Amarillo stop by the Palo Duro Canyon. Probably the prettiest part of the state despite what you might hear about Big Bend or the Hill Country.
If you're going to San Antonio then you might as well visit the more famous Hill Country towns like Fredericksburg or Bandera.

Well I don't have to go there but would like to at least venture out to that part of the state PLUS I was a big fan of Friday Night Lights. I don't have to go there but figured it was the only town/city that I can think of out that way.

[LocalPlanner]

Honestly the San Antonio area will be the most productive area for you in terms of the activities and sights you describe, though I don't know about sports museums, and it doesn't have major league baseball. There's a reason San Antonio is easily the top general tourism destination in Texas.

And to be brutally honest, unless you know you are particularly heat-hardy, you should avoid hiking in TX in the summertime. The heat is just too much. In some places like East Texas, the mosquitos will also be terrible during the "cooler" morning and evening hours. You will be much better off targeting tubing rivers and swimming holes (again, San Antonio area).

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

Honestly the San Antonio area will be the most productive area for you in terms of the activities and sights you describe, though I don't know about sports museums, and it doesn't have major league baseball. There's a reason San Antonio is easily the top general tourism destination in Texas.

And to be brutally honest, unless you know you are particularly heat-hardy, you should avoid hiking in TX in the summertime. The heat is just too much. In some places like East Texas, the mosquitos will also be terrible during the "cooler" morning and evening hours. You will be much better off targeting tubing rivers and swimming holes (again, San Antonio area).

I have 3 friends in SA so it's very possible that could end up being the case. And yea hiking happens in So Cal when I go but it's a lot more friendly in terms of weather. I just figured I'd mention it in case maybe there are places that are a "Short" hike to something cool.

[bluescreen73]

We went to the Alamo when we lived in Texas and found it to be underwhelming. They did a really terrible job of preserving the building. It was an afterthought for roughly 75 years after the battle, so the exterior looks nothing like it did when the battle occurred.

If you're into hiking your best bets will be Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo or the Hill Country. Forget hiking around DFW. It's terrible. The natural setting is fairly unremarkable. It'd be like visiting Colorado and choosing to go hiking in Greeley.

If you're coming in July or August, though, I'd skip hiking altogether. The Texas Triangle is very hot and humid. Most days it'll be well into the 80s by 9 or 10am.

[Pilsn3r]

Second Palo Duro for a visit. There are easy to difficult rated hikes there. In SA, they have the mission trail (4 or 5 missions to visit), but biking it would be better depending on heat level and it's almost 14 miles.

[Statz2k10]

Thanks for responses so far. Hiking is out of the question now that I think about it. I guess my thing is if there was a relatively short hike/walk to some interesting thing I'd be okay with that but literally saddling up with water/gear and miles of hiking is not what I would be doing. I just know some places have a relatively short hike to some awesome place (Maybe less than a mile). I'd be good with that.