ChristieP

Depending on what time you arrrive at DFW, the MAX time it will take to drive to downtown Dallas (unless there is a freeway shut down for a major wreck) is 30 minutes! I drive from just north of DFW to near downtown every day for work!

Again, if you want to see "real" Texas with cowboys and cattle, you need to come to Fort Worth.

aren

Hey Jedivader, For a cowboy experience, you might want to go to Bandera, not far from San Antonio. There are dude ranches where you could stay if you like, or just spend a short time in the town which still has a very cowboy look to it. A great trip would be San Antonio to Bandera to Kerrville to Fredericksburg to Austin. San Antonio downtown has the Riverwalk and Missions, Mexican restaurants in nearly every block (try El Mirador, Rosario's, or Mi Tierra). Drive west into the Hill Country to Bandera, ride a horse if you want, then head to Hunt and Kerrville, beautiful cypress trees along the river (many summer camps are located here), then a short hop to Fredericksburg, a German town with a quaint downtown and known for peaches, as well as more recently wineries and restaurants, then on to Austin. Go to Barton Springs to swim.
For tumbleweeds, Amarillo, El Paso, and Las Cruces should work. El Paso and Las Cruces have mountains. Big Bend is another beautiful sight. Have a great trip!

yk

jedivader-

I know you probably will not put Dallas on your trip, but I just want to point one thing out. If you fly to Dallas on Southwest, they fly into Love Field airport, not DFW as some posts above states. Love Field is much closer to Dallas downtown than DFW. Just FYI in case you are considering Dallas.

jedivader

Thank everyone for all the info.

We booked our flight. We are flying to San Antonio and driving to Austin for a few days then back to San Antonio for a few days before leaving for South Padre.

I will definitely check out the cities between Austin and san Antonio. I wanted to see El Paso, Lubbock, and Amarillo but we decided not to try and cram too many things in. We figured we could plan another trip at some point and do those three cities and include Las Cruces.

So, any more suggestions for these cities or anywhere around or in between are welcome.

What about crossing the border to Mexico while in South Padre? Safety concerns?

LDLee

This week's edition of Road Trip on the Travel Channel features Dallas to Corpus Christi if you want some more ideas. It's on Tuesday's 10 pm EDT, 9 pm CDT. Here's a link to a schedule.

http://travel.discovery.com/schedule...37&channel=TRV

Also, look for Texas Monthly's guide books for road trips in and around your targets.

Barblab

In Austin go to Ester's Follies on 6th St one night for the show. It is kinda like Saturday Night Live, with a magician and other acts too. Arrive early for a seat, you will love it. The Tx State Museum and the LBJ Presidential Library are both at U.T. and worth a visit. Kayak or walk along Town Lake and watch the bats fly out from under the Congress St. bridge at sundown. We usually use Priceline for a 4* hotel there and pay $50. -$60. a night in the downtown area.

San Antonio go to the Alamo and be sure to see the IMAX on Texas (accross the street at the mall) before going to give you an idea of why Texans are so fiercely proud of their state. Visit the Mexican Market (take the trolly from the Alamo) and have a meal at Mi Tierra. If you don't get down to Mexico while in S. Padre this market is a close second for shopping. (I think crossing the border is safe, just be aware of your pocessions and surroundings just like anywhere you travel.) Stop in the Hall of Horns for a cold beer, it's interesting..

I think the Banderra suggestion was a good one for the cowboy adventure thing. Enjoy your trip and please post a message after you go so we can hear how it turned out.

mikemo

Mostly good advice, but I would stress that the Hill Country W/NW of San Antonio and Austin and the Big Bend National Park (not in Summer) are great! An overnight at the Gage Hotel in Marathon (before or after driving to the BB Park) will give you enough West Texas to skip Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, Amarillo and El Paso.
The Cowboy Art Museum outside Kerrville is different. Las Cruces is about 40 miles from El Paso.
There are a couple of state parks with small hotels near Ft Davis and Balmorhea which are interesting should you go to Big Bend.
I have lived in Dallas for 24 years and it's really not "Texas" (just a big city with lots of traffic) anymore.
Ft Worth is great - Bistro Louise has wonderful lunch. Houston can be skipped without guilt.
Tex-Mex is everywhere as has been mentioned.
If you want MX, why not go to Mexico - San Miguel de Allende/Guanajuato are recommended and lots of posts suggest Oaxaca is amazing.
M

Jayne1973

In Austin, Chuy's is good Mexican food. Like another poster said, there's plenty of good Tex-Mex. Just try to avoid the chains because there are just too many good authentic places out there. Check the local papers in each city or ask at your hotels.
South Padre is so nice! Be sure you stay on the gulf side if you want to be on the beach. They have fireworks every Friday night on the bay side. We took a nice evening boat ride which culminited with the fireworks show. You might also enjoy visiting the sea turtle place. Crossing into Mexico isn't a problem. There's a place to park near the Brownville visitors center and then you can just walk across the bridge. You can get more information at the visitors center in South Padre.

jedivader

I would like to thank everyone for the assistance. I will let you all know how it went. Our trip is in Novemeber so it will be a while. If I have more questions......I'll be back!

LDLee

Wish I had known you were going to be here in November. South Padre can be chilly that time of year, but it is definitely offseason. You may remember the Garth Brooks concert on CBS several years ago. 40 degrees and sleeting. If you fish, maybe Rockport.

If you like wine, while you are around San Antonio/Austin, you may want to go by Fredericksburg and visit some of the wineries. Not quite Napa, or even Central Coast, but there are some interesting wineries developing there.

If you like sports, one thing I suggest you do is go to a college football game. Personally, I would say a UT game in Austin (Go Horns), but any NCAA Division I game will do. Not to be chauvinistic, but no place else in the country has the pageantry and ceremony that you will see and experience at a football game in the State of Texas.

ChristieP

Yes, I wish I had known that, too. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Be glad you decided to postpone that trip to the Panhandle. It gets COLD there in the winter, especially when the wind gets going!!

skunker

Hello Jedivader,
I may too late, but wanted to say that you made some excellent choices. I think that maybe you should spend a bit more time in the "Rio Grande Valley", the area around South Padre Island. There's a good website here with photos of the area: http://www.southtexasfilm.com/

Be sure to click on the LOCATIONS GALLERY link. Good luck!

jedivader

Thank for the extra info. Everything I have read said that South Padre on average is around 70 degrees or so in November. Is it too cold to swim?

AnnaR

Just wanted to say while in San Antonio

"REMEMBER THE ALAMO!!"

jedivader

Do tourists visit the Alamo and ask if it has a basement (Pee-Wee)?

ChristieP

For most people, 70 degrees is a little chilly for swimming at Padre. The water there is often cool, too!

crzyjodi

Jedi..as a transplanted Austinite ( I live in NJ) I must tell you some of my favorites..

Tex-Mex tour
Breakfast at Guerros on South Congress
Lunch, dinner at Chuy's or Trudy's, both also on South Congress (if you go to Trudy's be sure to get a Mexican Martini)
Take a walk around town lake on a weekend morning to see Austinites in their natural habitat.
Gotta go to Amy's on Guadalupe and get Mexican vanilla Ice cream with a mix in.
yummm. Man, i miss Texas

mceranowski

Currently living in TX I would say skip Amarillo and Lubbock altogether...most likely El Paso as well based on the experience of a friend who moved after only living there 6 months and just couldn't take it anymore. Spend more time at the other places! San Antonio is a big city with a bit of small town attitude. Also, unless you are really fascinated by history, the Alamo is much smaller than the stories that are told about it. Every visitor I've taken there has been disappointed.

Myke

I've been to South Texas a couple of times in November and December. If a norther comes thru, it can be pretty raw! Most time the weather is beautiful and sunny, around 70 degrees.

A tip for South Padre Island- there is a stable that has morning and evening horse rides thru the dunes and on the beach. I did the late afternoon horse ride five years back; it was one of the best memories of that trip!

LindaW

If you haven't been yet, several Mexican restaurants in San Antonio should fit your request: in the Market (Mercado) area downtown is Mi Tierra, which is a tradition for both natives and tourists; and La Margarita, which is touristy but food is good and inexpensive. Across the freeway from the Market is Pico de Gallo, which was recommended by a local the last time I was there. The Landing on the Riverwalk has great jazz so plan on sitting there, sipping a drink, listening to good music and people watching.

If you are in San Antonio on a Sunday morning, go to the Mariachi Mass at Mission San Jose at noon. It is a little touristy but nice. The locals' mass is earlier.

If you drive up to Fredericksburg from San Antonio or from Austin, you will pass Stonewall and on Texas Road 1 you can bypass Stonewall and see the Texas White House of LBJ.