If you like waterparks, Visit The Schlitterbahn in New Braunsfel. Best one ever!!!

I'm a little confused by your reference to Dallas. Do you mean that that could be your indirect route from Houston to San Antonio? It surely would be indirect, but lots of driving between the cities without too much noteworthy.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but you will be coming to Texas at a pretty hellacious time of year. Temperatures in August range from the upper 90's to over 100 F daily. Even Texans don't like Texas then! You'll have to work with the heat, doing your outside activities as early in the day as possible. I would suggest you take your 4 or 5 days in areas surrounding San Antonio--Austin, and/or Hill Country drives west/northwest of San Antonio providing you enjoy rural scenery. If you prefer cityscapes, then concentrate on Austin.

If you didn't come from an area with such incredible beaches, I might have suggested South Padre Island, but you do, so I'm afraid you would be disappointed with that, but water offers a little escape from the heat.

I hope you have an enjoyable trip, tho wish you could be coming at almost any other time of year than August! Again, I don't mean to be Debbie Downer--everything is air conditioned of course, even outside dining in San Antonio often has misters making al fresco dining entirely comfortable. Have fun, be ready for heat, and just make the best of it.

Thanks Spriobulldog.

OO no choice on timing I am afraid as I have a four day work conference in San Antonio at the end of August. Perhaps we are best just to do Houston, Austin and San Antonio? We just thought driving may give us the chance to take a look at the coutryside. I fully understand is is going to be extremely hot, Perth in Summer is just as hot and very dry with temperatures in the 40's very common and Mauritius is not an humid for a large part of the year. Personally I find the really hot and dry heat easier to do things in than the high humidity we get in Mauritius. We live our whole life in summer weather so we will be fine.

We like Musuems, historical sites, great food, wine and music and are also hoping to seeing a Rodeo.

Any suggestions on highlights for Austin and Houston?

Just a quick reply right now until I have time to write more later. But, there used to be a rodeo in Simonton, which is a small town outside of Houston. I live in Clear Lake, close the Space Center Houston, and have often wanted to drive out to Simonton to see the rodeo, but haven't gotten to one yet. I am not sure if it still is held and I am not sure even if it is in the summer. Maybe someone else knows about it?

Thanks Kkukura. Just having a look at the map and certainly if we want to go to Dallas we have plenty of time, maybe two nights in Dallas, 2 nights in Austin and on to San Antonio. We don't mind driving 2 to 4 hours a day in a nice air conditioned car. Understand we will need to do everything in air con but we know what severe heat feels like.

So if we do drive Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio what (if anything) should we stop and see between cities?

Stop in Luling for good BBQ.

City Market BBQ @ 633 E. Davis St., Luling, TX 830 - 875 - 9019.
http://www.lulingcitymarket.com/menu.html

To be honest with you I think you would enjoy spending time driving around the Hill Country than driving between the big cities of Houston and Dallas. I do not find those drives to be interesting...just a way to get from one city to another. Now, staying put in the Austin-San Antonio-Hill Country area gives you more options for wonderful country drives on back roads that wind up and down and around. Plus, that area can offer you a lot of varied activites to do. That is one of my favorite parts of TX to go to.

What dates will you be in the area?

Here are some rodeos in the general vicinity. There aren't any large rodeos at this time of year but there are some small ones in the small towns. I haven't been to any of these except the first one. And it's a Ranch Rodeo and they are very fun. Not the traditional rodeo events.

Hotter Than Hell Ranch Rodeo
Presented By: Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce
& Produced by: Triple R Rodeo
August 19th & 20th , 2011
City Park Arena - Pleasanton, Texas (30 miles south of San Antonio)


PALOMINO FEST PRO RODEO, Sanctioned: CPRA/UPRA, UVALDE, TEXAS, AUG. 31, SEPT. 1 & 2, 2012. Uvalde is on U.S. highways 90 and 83, eighty-three miles west of San Antonio.

LIBERTY HILL PRO RODEO, Sanctioned: UPRA/CPRA, 2 Perfs: Aug. 31 - 7:30PM; Sept. 1 - 7:30PM. Liberty Hill is on State Highway 29 in the Hill Country fifteen miles west of Georgetown and thirty-three miles northwest of Austin.

If I'm reading correctly this one has a weekly rodeo every Saturday night until August 25th. http://twinelmranch.net/rodeo.htm. Bandera, TX is 40 miles (64 km) northwest of downtown San Antonio.

Thanks for the information on the rodeos. I might just check one out myself this summer!

Dallas is waaaay out of the way. I'd stick to the original plan of Houston/Austin/san Antonio. Tell us what interests you and we can make better suggestions.

Sorry, just saw your likes... If you know the dates you can google rodeo, Texas and see what dates they are. Not a lot in the deep heat of August.

If you like music then Austin is your best bet. Late August will have college football so may keep that in mind when coming to Austin. The Blanton museum is a gem as well as the Bob Bullock Texas History museum (almost across the street from each other). Austin has so many good restaurants too, and lots of wine bars. Really sounds like you would enjoy Austin!

Dallas is about 5 hours from San Antonio and Houston. I wouldn't venture this far north. Stay in the San Antonio / Austin area.

Fredricksburg and New Braunfels would be good stopover destinations.

You mentioned that you don't mind driving 2 to 4 hours in a air conditioned car, but, as jill_h pointed out, it's about 5 hours from San Antonio to Dallas. The driving would eat up so much time on a four or five day trip. I'm assuming you're flying into IAH, so I would recommend keeping to the Houston to San Antonio and Austin area.

For the drive between Houston and San Antonio, you might enjoy stopping at the Painted Churches of Schulenburg. http://schulenburgchamber.org/tours/churches/

In San Antonio: enjoy the Riverwalk, tour the Alamo and other missions, eat at Mi Tierra or La Margarita in the Market Square.

As you are leaving San Antonio towards Austin, make a stop at the Natural Bridge Caverns. http://www.naturalbridgecaverns.com/

In Austin, visit the Capitol building and Bob Bullock Museum, walk the Zilker Hike and Bike trail by Lady Bird Lake (early to avoid the heat of course), watch the bats emerge from the Congress Avenue Bridge, enjoy the music scene and more. http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get-involved/visit-a-bat-location/congress-avenue-bridge/subcategory/51.html

Oh, forgot to mention that you might enjoy stopping for some great barbeque.

Lockhart is a popular place to stop. http://www.lockhart-tx.org/web98/visitors/bbqcapitaloftexas.asp

Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood is also popular. http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

Houston has a lot of great museums from the small Art Car and Buffalo Soldier to the large world class Natural History and Fine Art Museums. The Holocaust, Menil, Printing History as well as many others are all worth a visit depending on your interests. NASA I think is a must see when coming to Houston. To satisfy your interest in history you could combine NASA with a swing by the San Jacinto Monument which is where the Texans avenged the Alamo, which is of course is a must see when you are in San Antonio.

To the suggestions you have already received for Austin I would suggest a tour of the Capital building. All these museums are within walking distance of each other. Of course the opportunities for music are endless on 6th Street. It is pretty crazy with college kids on Thursday nights as well as Friday and Saturday nights especially if there is a home football game. Just a heads up in case you are seeking, or not seeking, that experience.

On the drive to San Antonio you might enjoy detouring through Fredricksberg. The Admiral Nimitz Museum details the US involvement in the Pacific during WWII.

One last thing, it is lucky you are use to high humidity as that is what you will find in Houston in August. Austin and San Antonio are less humid relatively speaking. Have a great time when you visit!

Barb is correct- Capitol, Blanton and Bullock are literally within blocks of each other. But then again, each requires a few hours. Also agree that 6th Street is crazy on weekends. Might be something to walk up and down once, but I don't recommend it to anyone anymore - unless you are young partiers. They are so many places to enjoy music. Let us know your preferences and can make better suggestions.

Another Austin area to enjoy is South Congress Ave. Stores, music, trailer food. Bats are plentiful in August. If u like the outdoors, the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail is great early in the morning in the summer. A visit to Barton Springs Pool (spring fed, a landmark) would be great too.

And a Sunday morning (or any time, really) along the 2nd Street area, especially the W Hotel is a super cool, upscale vibe with people, food, music, shopping, wine bars and Mimosas....

Thank you again, all the responses are really appreciated. We are Australians living in Mauritius and we are in our 40's so not 'young party goers' and have never been to Texas so to us it was I guess just the thought of "In Texas better go to Dallas" In Australia it would not be a big deal for us to drive 5 or 6 hours for a weekend.

We will arrive in Houston on the afternoon of Saturday 18th of August after 28 hours of travel so not sure we will be up for much that night except a nice dinner. We would love to hear your recommendations on good Houston Hotels near shops and restaurants. We want to visit the NASA centre (and hopefully one of the musuems mentioned) and have a couple of hours of business to do on the Monday.

We could depart Houston for Austin and San Antonio on the Tuesday (yes we are listening to the give Dallas a miss recommendation) and only need to arrive in San Antonio on the Friday or Saturday.

We love the idea of great BBQ's and would also love to eat crawfish. We once heard a story about how it is cooked up then thrown down on the table to eat true or not?

As far as music is concerned we really like blues style. For accomodation we can spend up to $200 per night but are also open to smaller Bed and Breakfast type establishments that might give us a more local experience.

So please do recommend the following:

Houston Accomodation
Austin Accommodation (Will have a look at W Hotel thanks Austin)
In Sanantonio we are staying at the Westin Riverwalk as it has been booked by the company.
Houston and Austin and San Antonio great eating experiences
Music - blues venues
Must see tourist spots

Thanks again.

You will enjoy the Westin Bwino! It's a very nice hotel on a quieter section of the Riverwalk, but still easy walking distance to the middle of everything. My favorite middle-of-the-road costwise restaurant on the Riverwalk is Boudros. I like Saltlick for barbecue when you are in the Austin area. It's out from downtown, but kind of a pretty drive IMHO.

Someone has mentioned seeing New Braunfels when you are near San Antonio, but really it's just a little town with not a lot going on (also the town where the kids in our neighborhood go to school). There is one really fun section to it though, which I highly recommend. It's called Gruene, and has Gruene Hall, an old dance hall still in operation with live music most days, and most days it is free. It is SO Texas,, picnic tables for sitting around, big windows to let in breezes (and tolerable even in August we find). Janis Joplin got her start singing there and new artists are still being discovered there. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings have both sung there (if those names mean anything to you) among others. Behind Gruene Hall you can eat at the Grist Mill overlooking the river. Very casual with both inside and outside dining. Gruene is a don't miss while you are in San Antonio with free time! It's one of our favorite places to go on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Crawfish is a very LA thing, but perhaps Houston is close enough that they have some good authentic Cajun restaurants. I've only seen it dumped out on newspaper when we lived in New Orleans and its really hard to find them cooked properly (we have found anyway) outside of Cajun country. Most don't cook it with near enough crab boil, and they can be pretty bland unless spiced up properly. Cooked properly though, they are some kind of good!!

You've got a good attitude about the heat and that's half the battle. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

You want to go somewhere that does a crawfish boil. Crawfish are also known as mudbugs.

Sometimes Pappadeux's or Pappa's Seafood has crawfish boils or shrimp boils available. This is a chain restaurant, but we enjoy them.

Boils are usually served with potatoes and corn on the cob. Boiled in the pot with onions, usually garlic, and then slathered in butter. A lot of places do just dump it on the table on butcher paper and everyone at the table eats from it.
The real boils are in Louisianna, but can be found at spots all thru the south.

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Crawfish+Boil&find_loc=Houston%2C+TX

Above is a link to several places in Houston that do "boils"

I think the prime period for this is March and April. They may be frozen the rest of the year, I'm not sure.

You would probably want to see the bats in Ausin. I can't remember the name of the bridge. Several hundred thousdand or even in the millions fly out nightly from under the bridge.

I would see the Alamo in San Antonio and we even enjoy seeing The Menger(tho I wouldnt stay there). It's a historic hotel with lot of history.

You might try Boudro's on the Riverwalk. They possibly might have crawfish too. I've never understood this place as it can't make up it's mind if it's cajun or tex-mex. Perhpas just what iv'e eaten there. It is popular.

A lot of people do a "progressive dinner" on one of the boats in the riverwalk. I would think August would be brutal to attempt that. I don't really like it anyway.

If you drive from Houston to San Antonio, see the Painted Churches of Schulenburg as suggested above and time it so that you can have lunch at the Luling City Market ( ~mm 335 ). . best BBQ you will ever flap a lip over!

The RiverWalk in San Antonio is a great place to spend a day or so. Many Hotels and Restruants to choose from:

http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

You can spend a day or three in the Hill Country from there on the way to Austin if you want to go there. Bandera, Boerne and Fredricksburg are nice places to visit

http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/

http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2008-06-01/feature8

The Houston Astros host the SF Giants August 28 - 30 and the Cincinatti Reds on the 31's if you are interested in Baseball. The Inn at the Ballpark is a nice hotel right across the street from the stadium.

http://www.innattheballpark.com/

Blues in Austin:
Antones. http://www.antones.net/
Continental club http://www.continentalclub.com/Austin.html
the Driskill Hotel has the best Happy hours, with music.
Check out ACL LIve downtown near the W. The best live music. U can check their calendar a couple Months out. Acl-live.com

Bats: congress ave bridge at dusk, nightly in the summer

Hotels:
Hotel San Jose- funky, awesome location -on SoCo, across from Continental Club
SAnjosehotel.com

Really lots of good hotel choices: hilton, hyatt, embassy suites, I think you can get some of the best prices late August, especially that its not a football weekend.

My favorite hotel on the Riverwalk is The Hotel Contessa. Each room is a suite and their prices are great. Sign up on their website for emails and discounts. http://www.thehotelcontessa.com/

For hotels in Houston, I would recommend based on area. Anything in the Rice Village/Museum district or the Galleria would give you options for dining with in walking distance or short drives. Do not get sucked in by prices outside the interstate 610 loop. You will end up stuck in traffic driving to any of the museums or restaurants.

For crawfish, I would highly recommend the Rajun Cajun on Richmond Ave. For a nice steak dinner, Pappas steak house in my opinion is the best in Houston. It would be too hot in August to spend too much time outside so I would avoid outdoor patios, but quite a few restaurants close them off in the summer with fans to keep cool. Another fairly unique and well priced lunch or dinner option in Houston is called Cedar Creek on 20th street. Very unique.

Thank you again for all the information, tips and links, sounds like some great options for hotels, dining and music. We have lots of research to do.

Cheers.

Hi Rich, we will in Houston the weekend of the 18th and 19th August and may like to go to the Astros game on the 19th. Never watched a baseball game in my life but up for it. Looked on line for tickets - http://www.gotickets.com/sports/mlb/nl/houston_astros/houston_1182054_TT.php would you recommend a good spot? We are happy to buy top end tickets for what may be our first and only baseball game. Last time we were in the US we went to our first hockey game in NYC and loved it.

Anywhere along the base lines on the lower level wlll be good seats. We had season tickets for a while in the Crawford boxes ( 124 - 104 )and liked that view . .We also like first base side ( 112 - 127 ). . as close to the dugout as possible or same on Third Base side ( 112 - 116 )

We have sat behind the plate (118 - 120) a few times but I did not like that angle as much as the others, although some prefer it

GReat thread!

Between Austin and San Antonio, stop at GRUENE (pronounced "Green") Texas. Great little town, lots pf character, antique shops, good dining, esp. right on the river. There is a famous Texas Dance hall there called the Gruene Hall "Texas' Oldest Dance Hall". Many people stay overnight in Gruene over the weekend, just to go there on Fri. or Sat. night, It is a Texas classic dance hall, old wood floors, great Swing or Country or Southern Rock music, and dancing, and cold beer. Cant get more Texan than that place, INO, and I lived my 1st 30 yrs in Texas.

Google "Gruene" and you'll see!

Thanks Rich, tickets are priced much lower on the Astros website so we will book there.

Thanks emd3, a few people have mentioned Gruene to us so we will take a look for sure.

Bwino, I will write more later but you may want to combine your trip to Gruene with some tubing on the Comal or Guadalupe Rivers. It will cool you off since Grist Mill and Gruene Hall aren't air conditioned.

http://www.riversportstubes.com/

I like the cheap seats high up at the Astros games behind the home plate. You get a great view of everything in the ball park from up there. I like sections 418-421.

Bwino, it depends on how far into history you guys want to go, but are you interested in the Alamo and that time period? You may want to look a little into it and decide. There's a lot of history in San Antonio, but some people are disappointed that it was not all preserved as in the past. SA continued to be thriving city and the area around the Alamo has been built up. But there's a church near the courthouse where the bones from Alamo defenders are interred. My husband just read a book on Col. Jack Hays, who was heavily involved in this area around the time of Texas independence, was one of the first Texas Rangers, etc.

Thanks FYB, we are interested in History and will do some research. will also check out the tubing, thanks for the link.

Thanks kkukura - we are looking forward to our first Baseball game.

You will enjoy TX, especially the area you plan to visit. It is a wonderful state! Keep your questions coming because I am sure we can help you a lot!

Thanks kkukura, can you recommend any samllre boutique type hotels or B&B's in Houston close to the ball park, Nasa and shops. We have looked at some of the big hotels and some look nice but just wondering about smaller places that may give us a more local experience.

Cheers

We really like the boutique hotel Inn at the Ballpark, which is a block down and across the st. from Minute Maid baseball stadium in Houston. It is baseball themed (photos of baseball legends in the lobby and bar, lifesize bronze statue of a baseball player in the lobby, lots of wood and plaids) and is tastefully done.

For weekend of August 17-19 there are big junior suites for $179, deluxe king for $149. I believe you will have a car, so you can drive to other parts of Houston. Downtown area (where the Inn and ballpark are) has a light rail that goes to the museum district also. You might want to check out the Downtown Aquarium area, an entertainment district. Inn at the Ballpark has a special package w/tickets to Downtown Aquarium, and they have other packages (Bed and Breakfast package gets you parkign included, as does the Downtown Aquarium package) you might want to look at on their website. A good restautant, Vic and antony's Steakhouse, is attached to the hotel, and the hotle has a good cafe that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner also.

http://www.innattheballpark.com/index.cfm

We really like staying downtown. It is no longer a ghostown like it was when I lived in Houston many years ago. Downtown is vibrant now. There are lots of restaurants and entertainment options. Take a look at this site below, which breaks downtown in to several districts for shopping, art warehouse district, theater, historic district, parks, etc.

http://www.downtownhouston.org/news/article/neighborhood-nuances/

Here is the light rail map for downtown, to the museum district, and beyond:
http://www.ridemetro.org/SchedulesMaps/RailSched.aspx

Thanks emd3, I looked at this hotel from another recommendation as was a little concerned that it may be 'old and dated' from the pictures on the website. Maybe the pictures don't do it justtice? Also they mention ceiling fans in the rooms, do you know if they also have air conditioning? I believe it will be very hot in August

Thanks for the rail link, that could definitely be something we would use. We will likely only start driving when we leave Houston.

Every hotel and/or B & B place in TX has air conditioning.

Of course they have air conditioning! No hotel in Houston could survive without air conditioning. They just also have ceiling fans, which we really like, as it keeps the air flow going all over the room.

We stayed at Inn at the Ballpark in 2011 (and in 2009, and in 2007) and each time it was very nice. It is not "old and dated." It has classic styling. Nothing about the hotel was dated, in our opinion.

It is designed to look classical . . not dated in the least.

I you like good steaks, Vic and Anthonies is right across the street . . be sure to make reservatons in advance

Great thanks, glad about the air conditioning, might have sounded like a silly question but ..........

Perhaps the Inn's website does not do it justice. We will certainly put it on our list for consideration. It gets very mixed reviews on TA but of course that is subjective as well.

Thanks Rich, yes we do like good steak.

BTW, another what may seem silly question, what is a AAA card that gives hotel discounts?

Your questions are not silly. When I travel to other countries I always have a lot of questions too! It is the American Automobile Association, I think- http://www.texas.aaa.com/en-tx/Pages/Home.aspx?zip=77036&stateprov=tx&city=houston&devicecd=PC

Have you looked at this website on TX? http://www.traveltex.com/

Thanks Kkukura, I will take a look.

If you are keeping a car in San Antonio, you might be interested in the National Park missions, which are in southern edges of the city (well, it keeps spreading so not really at edges anymore! But not near the Alamo, at least not walking distance.) They make quite a contrast to the Alamo. And the oldest working aquaduct in the US is near one of them. LOTS to see and do in San Antonio. It's my favorite US city.

In Austin the bats aren't always a great sight, depending on month, weather, etc. I've seen video of spectacular great plumes of them, but when I was there in early June in a dry year they only trickled out in the dusk and then we couldn't see them when they poured out in the dark. So if you're even considering this, you want to get current prognostication of worth. Austin is great, too.

If you are still playing with itinerary and want to see the Gulf of Mexico beaches, head from Houston toward Corpus Christi (takes about 4 hours or bit more) and go to Mustang or Padre Island. These are not the lovely beaches of Destin or Hilton Head, but they will give you a flavor of Texan waterfront! San Antonio is about 2.5 hours north (and Austin about 4ish, but obviously not between Corpus and San Antonio so to see it too would take backpedaling!)

Just a thought. Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi have 4 distinctive Texan "flavors"--Corpus is unique given its Gulf location. But you don't want to rush and may only have time for 3 and may prefer the city-stuff the other 3 have to offer. Enjoy Texas whatever you decide!

Stop at the Bluebell Creamery in Brenham, Tx. Take the factory tour and have some great TX ice cream!