Will be visiting Dallas so on. My bestie and I want to go for an overnight and have some silly girl fun. We a. Re in our fifties. Looking for something not too far, not too expensive. Maybe a little culture, good food, some wine. This will be July so the heat will be a factor. Any fun ideas?

Define "not too far" and "not too expensive" otherwise we are just guessing on how far you are willing to travel and how much you want to spend.

Fort Worth is 35 miles away (40 to 45 minute drive) - Several world class museums, a performing arts center and other cultural activities with relatively moderate admissions prices. Lots of hotels/motels in all price ranges.

Austin is 190 mile (about 3 hours by car) - interesting city worth an overnight visit. Again motel/hotel available in all price ranges.

San Antonio is 275 miles (4.5 hour drive) - you might enjoy staying on the Riverwalk and visiting the Alamo. City is a very popular tourist destination.

Ft. Worth Stockyards. Www.fortworthstockyards.org

I used to make training classes in the Dallas area 3-4 times a year, and you never know what you might run into there, including riding a longhorn, beer and steak on a stick during a tractor show, or Texas nightlife and music.

Fort Worth -- you can ride the TRE from downtown Dallas (Union Station).

Etta's Place - http://www.ettas-place.com

Sundance Square

Stockyards - has a rodeo every Friday and Saturday night -- http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/B...?bId=32&type=2

This is an interesting place a little over an north of Dallas. You have to make reservations in advance. Cost is $20 cash. There are a couple of neat wineries and some B&B in this pretty area Red River Valley area.

http://www.ancientovens.com/

Oh, and to see where millions of Texas dollars are going every day, drive a about 20 more miles north from Ancient Ovens into Oklahoma to the Choctaw tribe's gigantic, over-the-top Winstar World Casino. winstarworldcasino.com

Correction: Winstar is a Chickasaw tribe enterprise.

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Not on Sundays you can't.

And the TRE takes more than an hour for a 40-minute drive. If you're visiting your friend, she'll have a car because: Dallas.

Thank you everyone for these great ideas. Seems to be some very cool destinations within a few hours of the Big D. I was also thinking about Tishamingo,OK, because I LOVE Miranda Lambert. But that seems like a pretty secluded area. I want to go to her store.

Keep the suggestions coming.

Miranda has another store, The Pink Pistol, in Lindale, Texas. It's about an hour and a half east of Dallas. The store also has a winery, Red 55 Winery.

https://www.facebook.com/PinkPistolTexas
http://www.red55winery.com/

You might also enjoy a visit to Kiepersol Estates in Tyler, just a short drive from Lindale. They have both a winery and a distillery. They have tastings as well as public and private tours of both. In addition, they have a restaurant and a B&B that are very well regarded.

http://kiepersol.com/

There other thing things to do in Tyler if you've never been. If you like outdoor activities, there's Tyler State Park and Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge Center is less than 5 minutes from Tyler State Park. The Tyler Rose Garden is nice. There are several good restaurants, some with live music.

My MIL is from Tishomingo, OK! I think the scenery would be better toward Lindale, TX though

I will second the recommendation for Tyler and Lindale. I've been to both of those wineries, and they are good. Kiepersol is just gorgeous and they make excellent wine.

Fort Worth would also be fun. The cultural district museums, or shopping downtown, and the Stockyards would all be a good weekend day trip.

I also have heard great things about Kiepersol. As an alternative to spending the night in Tyler, you could drive just a little further to Jefferson, a charming Civil War era port city with an interesting past, fun historic downtown area, plus some good ghost stories. I have stayed at the Jefferson Hotel and Excelsior House hotels and enjoyed both.
www.visitjeffersontexas.com

All of these sound fun. I'm leaning towards ft. Worth. So many choices on where to stay and where to drink, oops,I mean eat.

We did grapevine last year. Stayed at the Gaylord a few nights. That was a fun area. Really liked the Gaylord. Very comfortable and pleasant place. Had great food too.

Heavens - downtown Fort Worth has Molly the Trolley shuttle that will take you around downtown and even into the Stockyards. If timing works, you could even take the trolley down to see the rodeo and be able to catch the last trolley back into town.

http://www.mollythetrolley.com/stock...uttle_key.html

Upthread I recommended Etta's Place B&B right in Sundance Square. Main Street in Sundance Square area has just recently been made pedestrian only. Good restaurants and bars nearby.

http://www.sundancesquare.com/

I highly recommend Four Day Weekend Improv -- buy tickets in advance.

http://fourdayweekend.com/

Reata Restaurant Rooftop Bar would be a great venue for drinks

Enjoy FW

This is very helpful info. Thank you. Not sure about a B and B. There might be three of us. I think we'd go more for the foodie approach (with drinks, of course), then the B and B, rodeo direction. I happen to live two blocks from a rodeo arena, haha...