T
exas? Why on earth are
you vacationing in Texas?”
demanded my American
friends. The truth: we’ve
watched too many episodes of
Man
v. Food
and wanted to eat Texas-style
barbecue! As Brits living in Hong
Kong, our annual US road trips/food
pilgrimages provide a fun contrast to
our usual easy option of Thai beaches.
Yes, road tripping with a baby and
a toddler can be painful, but with
careful planning, it’s a trip to beat all
others. And you get to drive a BIG
car and eat BIG food – something we
don’t often do in Hong Kong.
Cowboy-style in Dallas-Fort Worth
As the second biggest and second most
populous state in the US, Texas has
big things to offer its tourists. Our
adventure started in Fort Worth, a
neighbouring city to Dallas. Here
you can visit the historic Stockyards
and mosey around cowboy-style, with
pony rides, mazes, saloon visits, and
meeting real Texas Longhorns. For
any little girls, the National Cowgirl
Museum is not to be missed – you
can even saddle up to ride a pretend
bucking bronco.
We took a 30-minute side trip
to Dallas, a city that evokes painful
memories for the Kennedy generation.
Whilst the famous Sixth Floor
Museum offered us a fascinating
insight into John F Kennedy’s life and
the events of 22 November, 1963, my
toddler preferred to watch
Tangled
on
the iPhone whilst our baby crawled all
over the floor. It seemed only fair to
follow up the museum with a trip to
Dallas World Aquarium – its name is
grander than it really is, but it’s a good
way to kill a few hours.
Eclectic Austin
After collecting our big hire car (in
picking the car, my only rule is that
my husband needs to be able to park
If you want a holiday that is big on adventure, fun and food,
Texas has it all, writes
Nicola Burke
.
it), we were off on the four-hour drive
south to Austin. My strategy for
taking kids on long car journeys is to
provide plenty of entertainment – toys,
snacks and DVDs – and allow for
some stops – in our case a brief stop
at Waco. This is a small town, sadly
remembered by most as the scene of
the cult massacre, and now also by us
as the site of a big fight over directions.
It’s bound to happen on a road trip!
As well as being the capital of
Texas, Austin is also known as the
“
Live Music Capital of the World”.
It’s a very cool, colourful city, with a
vibrant food scene, beautiful historic
landmarks and quirky shops. To
orient ourselves, we boarded the
Duck Adventures, a unique way to
tour the city in a truck that turns into
a boat. For meat lovers, you must
visit Franklins for the world’s best
barbecue. We spent the afternoon
snoozing off our gluttonous feast
of ribs, brisket and sausage in the
travel-writing
contest finalist
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