Texas Travel – Getting Reacquainted With Home Part V

North Texas (not the Panhandle) is a another very different region from the others in Texas. In the country side the region is full of prairies and small man made lakes (fun fact there is only one natural lake in Texas and that is Caddo Lake). This region is home to probably the most famous city in Texas and the large metroplex around it. The area is a huge business hub that is home to many fortune 500 companies. beyond the large Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex there are some nice small cities. While most of our visits to North Texas have been to Dallas and Fort Worth we have visited some of the other cities in the area. Our most recent visit to North Texas was in 2021 to visit my grandmother.

Corsicana, TX

The relatively small town of Corsicana is around 50 miles South of Dallas on I-45. The city is an Oil and Gas town but has a very nice downtown area and some unique attractions. We like stopping in Corsicana especially if its on a week day to visit the Pearce Collection Museum located at the Navarro Community College. The museum holds a great collection of Civil War artifacts and tells about the State’s Civil War History. It also contains a great Western Art Collection that is great to see and depicts the great Western Heritage that Texas is so well known for. The college also has a planetarium but we have never been able to visit as showings are not very numerous. Like many smaller towns it has a nice downtown area with antique shops and you can take a nice walk. The museums are not the only things to see in Corsicana. There is also the famous Collin Street Bakery that has been around for over 100 years and is home to their fruitcakes. They have two locations in Corsicana and have some great products. They also have one of the furthest South locations of a great fast food restaurant we visit when we can. Braum’s is a unique fast food restaurant that has a small grocery store in it and has a great selection of deserts. Its kind of like a mix between a Baskin Robbins and a Dairy Queen. Its really good but sadly they do not have any locations really South of Corsicana.

Dallas, Texas

In Texas the most well known city to the world is probably Dallas. Its know from TV shows like “Dallas” that portray nefarious dealings of a Texas Oil Tycoon and their dysfunctional family and “America’s Football Team” the Dallas Cowboys among other things. The city does have its share of Oil Tycoons and other business moguls but there is more to this city than just that. In relation to other large and small cities in Texas Dallas is probably the most classy and to many people a more “snooty” city in Texas. If you drive in or if you fly into Dallas Love Field as we have you automatically see a multitude of companies headquarters. American and Southwest Airlines have large headquarters complexes. Many restaurant chains such as Chili’s has there headquarters in the Dallas area and ExxonMobil’s headquarters is in the Dallas area. There are many other companies located in and around Dallas in the suburbs. The city is also home to great museums, shopping, sports and of course to a terrible event that effected American and World history.

In downtown Dallas there are a number of great places to visit and you do not have to drive in and fight with parking to get there. Whenever we travel to Downtown Dallas we usually take the very well done Dallas Area Rapid Transit trains that feed in from the suburbs. Compared to any other city in Texas their commuter train system is by far the best. You can ride to both airports, downtown and many of the suburbs. They drop off right in the middle of downtown and to places like the State Fair Grounds where we saw one of my favorite musicals “Les Miserables”. Most other cities in Texas the rail systems either do not exist or are small and dirty so this is a good one to use. The Dallas road system can be confusing and there is not a real direct way to get to anywhere in the city. The toll costs can be high on the toll roads so when you can use the trains.

Going back in history to November of 1963 a moment that shocked the world occurred on the streets of Dallas. As President John F. Kennedy was finishing up a political trip he and his motorcade drove through Dallas to wave to people lining the streets to see the young President. On the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository a man was waiting and fired several shots killing President Kennedy and wounding Texas Governor Connally. This terrible moment in history is memorialized at Dealey Plaza. There are two X’s marking where Kennedy was shot. In the former Book Depository building is now home to the great Sixth Floor Museum that chronicles Kennedy’s life and his road to that terrible day. You can see the spot in a recreation where Lee Harvey Oswald committed the assassination. While a sad museum its worth visiting.

Not too far from Dealey Plaza is a much different kind of museum. The Ross Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Its a highly interactive science museum and gives people a chance to learn about the past and world around them. There are a few more great museums in Downtown Dallas such as the Holocaust Museum, The Old Red Museum of Dallas County and the Dallas World Aquarium.

Another item in Downtown Dallas is the Reunion Tower. It is the building with the large ball of lights you see easily in any Dallas picture. We have been up to the top a couple times to see a great view of Dallas and the neat exhibits up there. One thing that seems to set Dallas apart from other cities in Texas is while other cities design buildings to be practical and there aren’t as many monuments around, Dallas has buildings like Reunion Tower and monuments for Kennedy and for the city in general. A nearby bridge is a work of art. I like the care made in making areas artful and not just practical.

Outside of downtown we visited the George W. Bush Presidential Library that goes over his Presidency and the times when he was President. Agree or not with his presidency its a part of our history and the museum does a great job showing all that occurred during this time. We visited this before the coronavirus pandemic and there was a great exhibit about Christmas at the White House while we visited. The library is at the very nice SMU campus and there is a rail stop near by or you can park in a small parking lot.

One last great museum we have visited is the Frontier’s of Flight Museum at Love Field. The museum starts at the early days of flight with the Wright Brothers and goes to the current age with the real Apollo 10 Capsule, Shuttle tires and modern fighter jets. On one side of the museum hometown Southwest Airlines has a full 737-300 and part of a 737-200 you can tour and learn about the history of the airline. There is also a great exhibit on the now defunct Braniff Airlines.

Suburbs of Dallas

The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has a myriad of suburbs surrounding the area. Many of the great attractions are in those suburbs around Dallas. I’ve visited many of them. My grandmother lived in the very upscale City of Plano so we explored the Northern and Western suburbs of Dallas mostly pre-pandemic.

Plano, Frisco and Carrollton

North of Dallas you will find very upscale cities and where the expansive Dallas Cowboys HQ and minor league sports teams. There are many companies also located in in these suburbs in the never ending business area that Dallas is. Beyond the businesses, restaurants and shopping that you can find in large malls like the Stonebriar Centre in Frisco there are some attractions you can tour and learn more about Texas. Not far from Plano you can tour the Southfork Ranch that was used as JR Ewing’s ranch in the hit TV show “Dallas”. You can get a guided tour and see where all the craziness that was the life of a Texas Oil Tycoon and CEO. You can tour the Star in Frisco (we have never toured it) that is the headquarters for the Dallas Cowboys. In Carrollton you can visit the Cavanaugh Flight Museum and view vintage aircraft from World War II and Beyond. For me most of my time in these suburbs was visiting family but we did see different things in the area. As you drive around you see huge mansions and gated communities. Many unique and pricey shops can be found around. While they are great places to visit you would pay a pretty penny to live in this area. Even my grandmother’s nursing home facility was fancy. These suburbs are mainly for those who has a good deal of money but they are nice for sure.

Arlington

On the West side of Dallas is the suburb of Arlington. Its been a long while since we have visited this suburb but like nearby suburbs there is a lot to do. Its the home of the Texas Rangers MLB team and you can visit Six Flags over Texas. Its a great park and one of the best in Texas to visit. If you are a roller coaster enthusiast you can find plenty to In the surrounding suburbs like Irving there are other business headquarters in the area that continues the heavy business trend that area has.

Grapevine

Between Fort Worth and Dallas is another well off suburb with some unique places you can visit. Grapevine is home to a huge mall not much different from the Katy Mills Mall near Houston called Grapevine Mills Mall. The major attraction in Grapevine is the mega hotels and resorts located in the city. You can stay at the Gaylord Texan or the Great Wolf Lodge with its huge water park in the hotel. We have only stayed at the Gaylord Texan but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Inside the huge atrium they have landscapes from all over Texas. A miniature San Antonio River Walk, a huge canyon like in the Pan Handle or West Texas, a Spanish Mission and a cattle ranch on the plains. The Gaylord Texan has plenty of shops and restaurants at the hotel. They have their own water park but we did not have time to visit. We did visit one of there multiple pools. We also visited the Glass Cactus club that ended up being a Disco concert that was something we had never done. You never know what you might find when exploring. In the winter time they have an Ice Carving show that features a Christmas related movie or story. We visited one at a Gaylord property near Washington DC that depicted the Grinch in Ice. Its very cold so they give you jackets as you walk through. Its well worth going to see it.

Fort Worth and its Suburbs

As we move away from the high end business area that Dallas and its suburbs have you get a different vibe in Fort Worth. Its a much more laid back and Western culture. A big part of that comes from its history with cattle at the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. The Stock Yards have been around since the 1860s and today you can still see the cattle pens and brick streets. You can see gunfight reenactments and herds of cattle being put into the pens. I’ve only been there once many years ago but I’d like to visit again. Another place to visit in Fort Worth is their wonderful Zoo. As a kid I visited the zoo and have fond memories of the miniature trains and how well done it is. The city also has a great Natural Science Museum and other museums. Fort Worth also has some big business within the city like many defense contractors and helicopter and aircraft manufacturing. The aircraft manufacturing goes back to WWII. Located in Fort Worth is one of the busiest airports in the country and the headquarters of American Airlines. At the American Airlines headquarters I have visited the CR Smith American Airlines Museum several times. They have great displays that talk about the airlines history and interactive exhibits that show you the complexity of running a world wide airline. They have an American Airlines DC-3 aircraft from the 1940s era. On the West side of Fort Worth is another great museum I have visited on several occasions. The Texas Civil War Museum is the largest Civil War Museum West of the Mississippi River and shows both sides and how the war effected Texas. Fort Worth of course has ample BBQ and steak restaurants you can eat at going with the Western Heritage. The city is not all Western and is very modern but is very different than Dallas. I have not visited Fort Worth in a few years but its somewhere I will visit again in the future.

My Take on the North Texas Region

The Good

There is a lot to do in the North Texas Region and even beyond the areas I have visited with many lakes and small cities to visit outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. There are plenty of resorts (Grapevine), theme parks, and museums in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. If you are looking for one of the most diverse city economies in the state with many company headquarters from anything from travel, finance, defense, hospitality and much more you will find it in Dallas-Fort Worth. The Dallas-Fort Worth area and North Texas is in general cleaner than other major Texas cities and the some parts of other regions in the state (although the state in general has a cleanliness issues). The Dallas-Fort Worth area has an excellent public transportation system that is far better and ahead of other major cities in Texas. This area is a sport power house that has many very well known teams and the suburbs have minor league teams. Dallas is the only city in Texas that has an NHL team. If you are looking for a more ritzy lifestyle some of the suburbs ,especially Plano and Frisco) are the place to go in Texas. The city of Dallas as a whole has more interesting modern architecture than other areas of the state such as the Margaret Hill Bridge, many monuments and buildings like Reunion tower. Its not to say cities like San Antonio (The Hemisfair) and Houston with its Aztec and Bank of America building are completely void of interesting buildings and monuments ,but for the most part Dallas seems to take art and beautifying their city a little more seriously than some other Texas cities. Dallas Love Field is one of the newer terminal buildings and is very well designed compared to other medium sized airports. You can easily find your gate with the high tech computer screens even if you are just changing planes there.

The Bad

The road system to me in Dallas and Fort Worth can be confusing. There is no real direct way to get to many areas of the city that doesn’t take you on a relatively expensive toll road. Like Houston the land area is massive so finding your way to a place across the Metroplex can take a lot of time and frustration. With the many high class areas some say that Dallas is more “snooty” and looks down on other areas of Texas. I have personally not encountered this while traveling in the area but I know there is a rivalry between Dallas in Houston. The area being heavily business oriented and there being so many companies leads to a lot of traffic and higher home prices compared to cities like Houston and San Antonio. Like most major cities in the US downtown Dallas does have some issues with homelessness. While North Texas doesn’t have to deal with Hurricanes like the Gulf coast it sees its fair share of severe weather and is more likely to see Tornadoes than other areas due to being closer to tornado alley. Like anywhere in Texas you have to keep a watch for weather. As of this writing travel delays at Dallas Love Field are very common due to being down to one runway.

In Conclusion

North Texas has a lot to do in regards to entertainment and museums and also has its fair share of small Texas towns, takes and prairie land to explore. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex dominates the region and is the main place to visit if you are going to North Texas. Dallas and Fort Worth and business juggernauts that has a very diverse economy. In Dallas the culture is a little more high class and the vibe in Fort Worth is a more Western culture. Things like the public transportation system are great but the road structure can leave a little to be desired. Its a great region in Texas and one that many people know of from fiction like Dallas the TV show and from its business prominence.