Texas "what I wish is known " tips .

[almondflake]

Hi ,we're visiting Texas in about 6 weeks , 2 adults no kids and for 1 week we're staying on a dude ranch , we have flights booked and a car hired and now I'm looking for recommendations for what to wear in may and what not to miss in the Houston, San Antonio and Austin areas .
What shouldn't we miss and do any of you have any "what I wish I'd known" tips ?

Be prepared for traffic gridlock in Austin.

Blacks bbq in Lockhart is a must.

Definitely try and get to a vineyard.

Have an amazing trip!

Well of course the Alamo is a must in San Antonio!

San Antonio River walk is a must for lunch.
The Alamo is cool.
We stayed on a dude ranch too and it was the highlight of the trip. Food was amazing but bring a few snacks or drinks and books etc because you are seriously isolated (we had no mobile coverage)
We loved the hill County around San Antonio. Friedricksbug where we ate bratwurst and drank beer and looked at lovely little craft shops and then we stayed a night in Gruene and went to Texas oldest dance hall. Also in Gruene we went tubing on the Guadeloupe River.
Also drove to the Gulf of Mexico to the beach. Wear lots of suncream... trust me.
Eat lots and lots of Mexican food!

Enjoy the trip. It is honestly one of my favourite places I have visited, the people were so lovely and friendly .

Houston - visit The Heights for the architecture; Galveston for the gipulf/ history/ seafood; eat at the Back Street cafe ; visit jazz clubs in the Montrose ; lots of galleries; and of course Mission Control at the Space Center.
Austin - check out the music scene - who is playing where.
And if you are passing, the Bluebelle Ice Cream factory.
Texas is a great place - very friendly - but quite right wing and churchy. Just be prepared for some ‘in your face’ attitudes.

HEB - that is all

In all seriousness - in Austin the Capitol is well worth a visit. You can arrange a tour of the building which is pretty interesting.

San Antonio - River Walk & The Alamo. Great tex Mex restaurants with mariachi bands.

H-Town - Holocaust museum is beautiful and heart wrenching. Menil Collection & Rothko Chapel are stunning. Heights is a great neighbourhood to walk around and get a feel for old-Houston. If you can get tickets for a home game at Minute Maid Park, the Astros are a great night out.

For fancy Mexican go to Hugo’s on Westheimer. For casual Mexican go to Lupe Tortillo, The Original Ninfa’s or Pappasitos.

Galleria is the biggest high end mall. Several premium outlets dotted around which could be worth a visit if you want to shop too.

And I’m being serious… HEB

Oh, and as for what to wear - it’ll be hot at the beginning of May but not unbearable. Seeing as you’re going to a Dude Ranch then boots are a must. Cavenders Boot City is worth a visit. Be aware that everywhere indoors will have AC so take some sweaters to wear indoors. You won’t need them outside but may well want them for walking around a mall or museum. (No joke - I used to take a blanket to the cinema when we lived in Houston)

Dallas is very corporate but Fort Worth is cool & the Stockyards are fun, & well worth a visit. Yee-ha!

Oh so glad you mentioned the Menil & Rothko. Loved both. God, I miss Houston

Me too @Dearg, me too

I haven’t been to that bit of Texas. But the bits of Texas I have been to have been utterly useless for road signs. Nothing is clearly marked. DH is a Texas native and now finds it frustrating after years of living in the UK. So my top tip is have a decent sat nav! You can download google maps for the area on your phone and then be able to use it as a sat nav on flight mode - it’ll direct you, just won’t have traffic updates.

Do a bat tour in Austin. Fascinating.

The space centre in Houston was really interesting but traffic around Houston was something else! At one point we were in 8 lanes of traffic wondering where I'm earth we were going (signs are somewhat sporadic, or at least they were when we went some.years back).

We also stayed on a dude ranch (no boots particularly needed) and that was really cool. The one we stayed on though was basic meals at prescribed times, so if you're fussy or like specific snacks, maybe take some with you (ours did have a little shop though, but I don't know if they all do).

San Antonio is really pretty. There's the Alamo obviously, we did a little river cruise too. Also try a Lone Star beer if you like/drink beer.

Galveston is also nice. If you like fairgrounds, they also have some rides there.

HEB Pantry? That was my go to for Tetley tea bags. Was 20 years ago now though.

Houston: space centre at Clearwater, the zoo, Fine Arts museum (as well as the Menil and Rothko chapel), aquarium. We used to go out to Brazos Bend state park a lot.

A dude ranch!
Can you tell us about it afterwards, what it was like?
I would love to visit a dude ranch.

Thank you for your tips and advice I'll be sure to keep these in mind when we visit . @SkaneTos we're going to Dixe dude ranch in bandera . I'll let you know how it was when we get back 😁

@almondflake
Sounds awesome!
Happy travels!

@SkaneTos Hi , we're home now . Texas was a fantastic experience absolutely loved it .Dixie dude ranch was exactly as I'd hoped and we visited most of the highlights you kind mumsnetters suggested .
We visited the stock yards, fredricksburg , San Antonio. Austin and padre Island . Dallas we weren't keen on , it wasn't our sort of place .
Thanks again for your suggestions 😁

Oh I didn't see this time, my must do was get to a Bucees!!

Anti perspirant and lots of it lol.

We used to live in Memorial, Houston. Still miss it. Glad you had a great time x

great suggestions..I’m saving for our trip later this year

We were there in March last year - Houston has grown so much. NASA at Clear Lake has become part of the city - virtually all the rockets are part of their visitor facilities now, so no free photo ops.

Hadn't been to Waco previously so that was a nice surprise and would recommend.