Discussion
Were off to USA next year, starting in Nashville then Memphis and flying out from New Orleans. In between this is Texas, from Memphis we could go through Texarkana (Smokey and the Bandit) or go up and down through Oklahoma. Really not worried about visiting the larger cities but would rather see smaller towns that aren't as touristy, although we do want to go to San Antonio and I'm thinking of Fort worth and Corpus Christi.
Has anyone had any experience of a similar road trip and, are we missing out by not going into Dallas, Austin or Houston?
Has anyone had any experience of a similar road trip and, are we missing out by not going into Dallas, Austin or Houston?
Fluffsri said:
Texarkana (Smokey and the Bandit) or go up and down through Oklahoma.
Having visited Tulsa last year, there's not a great deal to see . . . Off to Oklahoma city next week and hoping for a little more of interest, but not holding my breath.
(World championship Highland Games is taking place 12th and 13th October and daughter is representing UK)
San Antonio Riverwalk is great at night (especially Fri/Sat - make sure you book a restaurant in advance though), stay at a hotel on the walk if you can (we stayed at Hyatt Regency). The Alamo is under-whelming IMHO.
Fort Worth is fun for the StockYards and Cattle/Shows.
Dallas is just another big US city, but iconic for the JFK aspect.
Fort Worth is fun for the StockYards and Cattle/Shows.
Dallas is just another big US city, but iconic for the JFK aspect.
I lived in Austin for 6 months. It was amazing. I think it's full of w
ky tech bros who emigrated from California now, so can't vouch for it today, but I'm sure it still has plenty of its charm. Queuing up at 9am with a cooler of beer and some camping chairs to wait for Franklin's BBQ to open and chat with some locals - brilliant.
ky tech bros who emigrated from California now, so can't vouch for it today, but I'm sure it still has plenty of its charm. Queuing up at 9am with a cooler of beer and some camping chairs to wait for Franklin's BBQ to open and chat with some locals - brilliant.chopper602 said:
Having visited Tulsa last year, there's not a great deal to see . . .
Off to Oklahoma city next week and hoping for a little more of interest, but not holding my breath.
(World championship Highland Games is taking place 12th and 13th October and daughter is representing UK)
Well I hope she does very well. Let us know...Off to Oklahoma city next week and hoping for a little more of interest, but not holding my breath.
(World championship Highland Games is taking place 12th and 13th October and daughter is representing UK)
We visited Oklahoma City this summer for a night as we drove through - beforehand I was a bit meh about visiting OKC... however thought it was terrific - want to go back and spend longer there. Superbly clean streets, the tram was immaculate and the restaurants in Bricktown by the canal are awesome. The memorial is well worth a visit. Definitely recommended - probably my favourite of the big cities we visited.
As for Texas, we only did the northern bit as we drove through - but Big Texan Ranch in Amarillo - well worth a meal there if you get chance. The steak challenge is gruesome but go for a more sedate 24oz ribeye and you cannot go wrong (one of the best steaks I have ever had)! I wish I had longer to head south in Texas though.
Don't bother with Corpus Christi. A relative of mine used to live on North Padre Island which is fun, but it's a pretty long drive and there's not much to do there other than beach stuff.
I'd include Austin - good nightlife. Dallas is a bit of a much of a muchness but can be combined with Fort Worth pretty easily.
I'd include Austin - good nightlife. Dallas is a bit of a much of a muchness but can be combined with Fort Worth pretty easily.
Guyr said:
Dallas is just another big US city, but iconic for the JFK aspect.
Apart from the JFK stuff, it's one of the worst US cities I've been to. Crazy hot in the summer, insane levels of homelessness with drug addled and mentally ill people wandering around having fights with each other and imaginary people. Literally hundreds of them. It's like the set of a zombie apocalypse movie. And very little to do. Avoid. TwigtheWonderkid said:
Apart from the JFK stuff, it's one of the worst US cities I've been to. Crazy hot in the summer, insane levels of homelessness with drug addled and mentally ill people wandering around having fights with each other and imaginary people. Literally hundreds of them. It's like the set of a zombie apocalypse movie. And very little to do. Avoid.
Cheers, pretty much like San Fran and Vancouver then, theyre 2 cities that I doubt we will visit again. Fluffsri said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Apart from the JFK stuff, it's one of the worst US cities I've been to. Crazy hot in the summer, insane levels of homelessness with drug addled and mentally ill people wandering around having fights with each other and imaginary people. Literally hundreds of them. It's like the set of a zombie apocalypse movie. And very little to do. Avoid.
Cheers, pretty much like San Fran and Vancouver then, theyre 2 cities that I doubt we will visit again. You’ll love Nashville, downtown is packed with great bars (including the best of them all “Roberts”) it’s heaven for music lovers. It can get a bit frat party crazy though, we usually head to the Hard Rock Cafe for a quiet beer…….
Ryman Auditorium tour is amazing, even better if you can see a live show there. Country Music HOF is a must do and make sure you do the additional tour to RCA Studio B.
Rich Hall did a kind of a serious show (countrier than you) where he follows the history of country music, explaining the origins from Appalachia to Nashville & Texas, its available on YouTube, well worth a watch as a bit of research but he’s wrong about Taylor Swift
Just north of Nashville is the Corvette Museum at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
If your plan is to head westwards from Nashville visit the Loveless Cafe, it’s on the the outskirts of the city, then pick up the Natchez Trace Parkway, beautiful scenic drive with the bonus it takes you to Tupelo Ms and the shotgun boyhood home of Elvis, then it’s on to Memphis and Sun Records, 4th Wednesday of each Month is Bikes on Beale.
Carrying on westwards you could visit Dyess Arkansas, famous for the boyhood home of Johnny Cash, on farmland just outside the town.
Onto Little Rock and highly recommend the Flying Saucer for a beer or three.
Continuing onto Tulsa, there’s the Cyrus Avery monument, he was the architect of RT66, we had a great night at Hard Rock Hotel, there’s a live music venue there called Track 5.
Plenty of good advice already for Oklahoma City, onto Dallas for a selfie at Southfork Ranch and onto a tour of Deeley Plaza, I’m not a conspiracy theorist but it really does make you wonder…………
I was disappointed with Austin, maybe just caught it at the wrong time, having said that our hotel had a free beer happy hour then we ended up on Rainey Street so that’s probably why my memory is slightly jaded…..going back next April with a night out planned at The Broken Spoke, Bob Harris highly recommends it.
Love San Antonio, it’s a city that rarely comes up on travel shows, James Martin filmed outside “Margaritas “ mariachi bar / restaurant. We stay at the Emily Morgan, right beside the Alamo (apparently Phil Collins was a big collector of Alamo memorabilia) and walking distance to the Riverwalk.
Down to Corpus Christi and follow the coast and oil refineries to Galveston, immortalised in song and the city that started our whole love affair with travelling the US.
It’s strange but NASA tours always feel a bit low rent to me but seeing a Saturn 5 rocket up close and personal is a strangely satisfying experience, how mankind broke earth’s boundaries with not much more than slide rule is just incredible.
Down to New Orleans (in my head that sounded like Kris K) loved it during the day but at night it went all Animal House, st faced college kids everywhere, hopefully your experience will differ…….
Whatever you end up doing and wherever you end up going have a great time, be careful though it can become addictive
Ryman Auditorium tour is amazing, even better if you can see a live show there. Country Music HOF is a must do and make sure you do the additional tour to RCA Studio B.
Rich Hall did a kind of a serious show (countrier than you) where he follows the history of country music, explaining the origins from Appalachia to Nashville & Texas, its available on YouTube, well worth a watch as a bit of research but he’s wrong about Taylor Swift
Just north of Nashville is the Corvette Museum at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
If your plan is to head westwards from Nashville visit the Loveless Cafe, it’s on the the outskirts of the city, then pick up the Natchez Trace Parkway, beautiful scenic drive with the bonus it takes you to Tupelo Ms and the shotgun boyhood home of Elvis, then it’s on to Memphis and Sun Records, 4th Wednesday of each Month is Bikes on Beale.
Carrying on westwards you could visit Dyess Arkansas, famous for the boyhood home of Johnny Cash, on farmland just outside the town.
Onto Little Rock and highly recommend the Flying Saucer for a beer or three.
Continuing onto Tulsa, there’s the Cyrus Avery monument, he was the architect of RT66, we had a great night at Hard Rock Hotel, there’s a live music venue there called Track 5.
Plenty of good advice already for Oklahoma City, onto Dallas for a selfie at Southfork Ranch and onto a tour of Deeley Plaza, I’m not a conspiracy theorist but it really does make you wonder…………
I was disappointed with Austin, maybe just caught it at the wrong time, having said that our hotel had a free beer happy hour then we ended up on Rainey Street so that’s probably why my memory is slightly jaded…..going back next April with a night out planned at The Broken Spoke, Bob Harris highly recommends it.
Love San Antonio, it’s a city that rarely comes up on travel shows, James Martin filmed outside “Margaritas “ mariachi bar / restaurant. We stay at the Emily Morgan, right beside the Alamo (apparently Phil Collins was a big collector of Alamo memorabilia) and walking distance to the Riverwalk.
Down to Corpus Christi and follow the coast and oil refineries to Galveston, immortalised in song and the city that started our whole love affair with travelling the US.
It’s strange but NASA tours always feel a bit low rent to me but seeing a Saturn 5 rocket up close and personal is a strangely satisfying experience, how mankind broke earth’s boundaries with not much more than slide rule is just incredible.
Down to New Orleans (in my head that sounded like Kris K) loved it during the day but at night it went all Animal House, s
t faced college kids everywhere, hopefully your experience will differ…….Whatever you end up doing and wherever you end up going have a great time, be careful though it can become addictive
Edited by Essarell on Thursday 3rd October 04:19
I visited Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Galveston in April, coinciding the trip with the eclipse.
I liked Austin. We tried and failed to get a table at the famous Franklin's BBQ. We say patiently with hundreds of others at the at the S. Congress bridge to see bats but only saw one. Apart from those failures it's quite a walkable city and it's good if you like music, shopping and food. I can recommend the Lone Star Gun Range if you fancy firing some rounds.
San Antonio River walk is great, although it's more like a concrete Disney version of Venice or Milan Navigli district, but still great to stroll down and have a drink and meal. It does get busy! The Alamo will occupy an hour or two at most. A new visitors centre was being built when we were there. I didn't find much else of interest there.
We visited the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It feels a bit unkempt which adds to the character and it didn't have the same enthusiastic volunteers you get on others in the US but it's well worth the diversion.
Galveston has a few historic buildings, massive beaches and is like a British seaside town but massively spaced out. The Tropical Paradise was good, similar to Eden project but with wildlife. The NASA space centre is great although it felt smaller and more dumbed down for kids than the NASA locations. Book early to get a tour of the historic mission control centre.
Houston I didn't like as a city to walk around but the art galleries are great as are the tacos. Herman park is great for a stroll.
I liked Austin. We tried and failed to get a table at the famous Franklin's BBQ. We say patiently with hundreds of others at the at the S. Congress bridge to see bats but only saw one. Apart from those failures it's quite a walkable city and it's good if you like music, shopping and food. I can recommend the Lone Star Gun Range if you fancy firing some rounds.
San Antonio River walk is great, although it's more like a concrete Disney version of Venice or Milan Navigli district, but still great to stroll down and have a drink and meal. It does get busy! The Alamo will occupy an hour or two at most. A new visitors centre was being built when we were there. I didn't find much else of interest there.
We visited the USS Lexington aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. It feels a bit unkempt which adds to the character and it didn't have the same enthusiastic volunteers you get on others in the US but it's well worth the diversion.
Galveston has a few historic buildings, massive beaches and is like a British seaside town but massively spaced out. The Tropical Paradise was good, similar to Eden project but with wildlife. The NASA space centre is great although it felt smaller and more dumbed down for kids than the NASA locations. Book early to get a tour of the historic mission control centre.
Houston I didn't like as a city to walk around but the art galleries are great as are the tacos. Herman park is great for a stroll.
mattyn1 said:
Essarell said:
Whatever you end up doing and wherever you end up going have a great time, be careful though it can become addictive
We try to do a big road trip every other year although, this year we managed a Euro road trip, really looking fwd to this one. We were meant to do it for my 50th with 2 other friends who turned 50 but, too many cooks and all that and ended up NYC, Philli, Washington, Wilmington, Charlestown and Charlotte.
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