Is Texas a good vacation spot?

Go visit Austin, especially if she wants to go look at a great school (UT). Tons of shops and restaurants to spend the week seeing and eating. Lots of outdoor spots and parks to pass the time during the week plus it's central so a few day trips you could take as well. (Fredericksburg, San Antonio, Enchanted Rock, float the rivers in NB/San Marcos etc)

-a longtime Austin resident

[quote]remember the alamo wrote:

it's central so a few day trips you could take as well. (Fredericksburg, San Antonio, Enchanted Rock, float the rivers in NB/San Marcos

Good advice...my only Texas visit was based out of Austin--got to see the gulf, hill country. Didn't have time to explore north

Thanks so far to both of you. What about beaches/fishing excursions along the gulf?

What about towns vs cities? I.e. Waco, Dallas/Forth Worth or Houston? Affordable colleges for out of state students?

No

As a rule, there are places in Texas that are fun to visit, but not great to live. A couple of people have already highlighted the better spots: Austin is a neat town with decent outdoor opportunities and a fun nightlife, the River walk and Sea World in San Antonio are nice places to experience once, the Schlitterbahn water park in New Braunfels is neat [as is the historic town of Gruene, Texas, although be prepared tubing on the Guadalupe is as redneck as it gets (Picture a 4 hour float that is packed bank to bank with tubes of lobster red skinned Texans and their floating coolers of beer. I swear the flow of the river at the take out in Gruene is a 50/25/25 mix of water, beer and urine. As my bosses son put it "I did it once, and I don't need to do it again)]. Padre Island is worth a visit, and the gulf side beaches are decent, but not what one would call a destination beach in terms of the raw beauty. I prefer up by Port Aransas as it is not as developed, but I have heard decent things about South Padre. Fredericksburg is a quaint old German town with good wine and shops. Lost Maples state park is a neat place to hike and a little unlike the rest of Texas. Big Bend National Park is in the middle of nowhere and has some natural beauty with it's desert and semi-mountainous terrain.

As far as affordable colleges go, look at the private schools. If your daughter is a good student SMU/TCU will often offer massive scholarships that actually makes the school extremely affordable. Look into each of those schools academic and need based aid and you might be shocked about how affordable they can be.

Texas sux. Half the people in Colo. Are from there and they brag about being from there to which I ask, so why'd ya move?

No answer ....from the usually loud, obnoxious a-holes.

Go visit Co. Instead, Pikes Peak, Boulder, Ass-pen.

If I owned Texas and Hell, I would rent out Texas and live in Hell.

Looking at your User Name sparked some curiosity.

If you're looking to visit some spots to listen to some country music from me an email. Texas Country and Red Dirt Country genre is one of my favorites and there are some very unique spots to check out some very talented performers. Luckenbach, John T. Floores, Gruene Hall, etc.

joedirt wrote:

As a rule, there are places in Texas that are fun to visit, but not great to live.

I'm a lifelong Texas resident who has always said the opposite - it's a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit.

There's some neat tourist stuff in Austin, San Antonio, the hill country, and the gulf coast. If a visitor never made it to DFW, they wouldn't miss much. DFW truly is great to live, but there's not much a tourist would want to see.

Although, one of the reasons it's a great place to live is rapidly changing - reasonable cost of living. Home prices have gone absolutely crazy in the last few years as more jobs keep moving here, attracted by an educated work force, low taxes, and pro business climate.

(Great-Lakes-region dweller with relatives in Houston area here....)

Agree with other posters about your need to find a focus/theme for trip, and making it Austin- or country-music-centric.

Since several visits to relatives over the last 20 years, I found to appreciate Houston's cultural opportunities (thanks to wealth [primarily oil]) and love the Johnson Space Center. However (and I've found DFW very similar), things are so spread out that driving chews into a lot of would-be vacation time.

Quip I like describing Houston (though it dismisses the region's inherent qualities of Texas-ness): "It's the love child of New Orleans and LA."

Dallas, Austin and San Antonio are cool.

Don't go west. West Texas is weird.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

Dallas, Austin and San Antonio are cool.

Don't go west. West Texas is weird.

Alan

There's no accounting for taste, but I work in Dallas and think it's basically just like any other generic large city. Nothing really distinguishing about it. Just...generic. Aside from the Kennedy memorial, not much a visitor would care to see.

I think west Texas is great. Friendly folks and wide open spaces. That doesn't make it a good vacation spot, but if I could find a decent paying job in my field there, I'd consider moving.

not Waylon Jennings wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

Dallas, Austin and San Antonio are cool.

Don't go west. West Texas is weird.

Alan

There's no accounting for taste, but I work in Dallas and think it's basically just like any other generic large city. Nothing really distinguishing about it. Just...generic. Aside from the Kennedy memorial, not much a visitor would care to see.

I think west Texas is great. Friendly folks and wide open spaces. That doesn't make it a good vacation spot, but if I could find a decent paying job in my field there, I'd consider moving.

That's Dallas for you, filled with transplants from other big cities.

Fort Worth is much better.

However, if I were to ever move back to Texas, I'd live in the Austin area. It's also my recommendation for visiting.

It really depends what you're into though. If you can provide more info on your daughter's interests (academic, athletic and social), that would help with the college search.

She likes country music wrote:

Thanks so far to both of you. What about beaches/fishing excursions along the gulf?

What about towns vs cities? I.e. Waco, Dallas/Forth Worth or Houston? Affordable colleges for out of state students?

Do you enjoy saunas? Do you enjoy 100% humidity?

Austin is the best Texas has to offer.

not Waylon Jennings wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

Dallas, Austin and San Antonio are cool.

Don't go west. West Texas is weird.

Alan

There's no accounting for taste, but I work in Dallas and think it's basically just like any other generic large city. Nothing really distinguishing about it. Just...generic. Aside from the Kennedy memorial, not much a visitor would care to see.

I think west Texas is great. Friendly folks and wide open spaces. That doesn't make it a good vacation spot, but if I could find a decent paying job in my field there, I'd consider moving.

I lived near DFW for a few years after college. A lot of nice, new, and well planned bedroom communities. But yes, very generic. Nothing but chain businesses and McMansions. I moved back west as soon as I found a job, even though the pay is less than I could get in DFW.

If I were visiting from out of state I think i would fly into San Antonio and base my trip from there. Its a reasonable drive to Austin, the coast, Houston, and west to the Frio River/hill country area.

not Waylon Jennings wrote:

joedirt wrote:

As a rule, there are places in Texas that are fun to visit, but not great to live.

I'm a lifelong Texas resident who has always said the opposite - it's a great place to live, but you wouldn't want to visit.

There's some neat tourist stuff in Austin, San Antonio, the hill country, and the gulf coast. If a visitor never made it to DFW, they wouldn't miss much. DFW truly is great to live, but there's not much a tourist would want to see.

Although, one of the reasons it's a great place to live is rapidly changing - reasonable cost of living. Home prices have gone absolutely crazy in the last few years as more jobs keep moving here, attracted by an educated work force, low taxes, and pro business climate.

I lived in Texas for a year, and while I was okay with it (I can find something that interests me in most any place I live), my wife absolutely hated it (ironically we were there for the benefit of her career). Things are affordable, but wages tend to be lower as well. Housing is kept affordable in part due to the higher property taxes (since there is no state income tax in Texas). Overall I prefer being back in Colorado to Texas, but I do miss the saltwater fly fishing from my kayak in the Lighthouse Lakes area by Aransas Pass.

I liked the Dallas Zoo.

West Texas with all the pump jacks EVERYWHERE is just weird. Smells like oil everywhere.

Alan

You have about four to six weeks to get down here before it gets really hot. As far as a tourist destination, San Antonio is pretty much the default in Texas for traditional tourist stuff. There is the Alamo, Riverwalk, El Mercado, Mission trail and amusement parks (Sea World and Six Flags). The San Antonio Fiesta is starting this week and runs to April 30. There are lots of events, but also lots of huge crowds and hotels are expensive and fill up fast. Even when it isn't Fiesta week, downtown around the Riverwalk gets pretty packed with people on the weekend. So, if you like hustle and bustle of big crowds, San Antonio would be fun on the weekend. If you want to be somewhere that is not as much of a tourist trap, keep reading.

The rest of Texas is not as much of a traditional tourist destination, although Austin is sort of becoming one. Austin is basically Portland, OR, but with sun and not as many homeless people. Downtown Austin is just north of Lady Bird Lake, which is a small lake made from a dam on the Colorado River. You can take out kayaks, canoes, paddle boards and pedal boats on the lake. The Harry Ransom center is kind of a Texas version of the Smithsonian and is pretty neat. But the real fun in Austin is going out to the Hill Country. Within about a 1-2 hr drive, you can get to some really great state parks. The best one is Enchanted Rock. But be ware that you have to get there early on the weekend as park capacity is limited. There is also Pedernales State Park, Colorado Bend State Park and Longhorn Caverns State Park. Fredericksburg is a touristy small town near Enchanted Rock.

Dallas and Houston just aren't tourist towns. They have nice museums, a few interesting parks and neighborhoods and lots of great restaurants. But if you want to have a fun weekend in late spring, the Hill Country (Austin/San Antonio) is the best. Save a visit to Dallas and Houston if you are narrowing in on a college choice.

If you put off your trip until later in the fall or early winter, take a look at Big Bend. Right now it is getting too hot to really enjoy Big Bend with temps pushing 100 in Terlingua. But when the weather is good in the spring and fall, it is a pretty magical place.

As for nursing schools, there are tons. For the traditional college experience, UT Austin has everything. For a more focused program, take a look at specialty nursing programs in the Med Center in Houston. But there are great programs all over the state. Texas Woman's University in Denton (just north of Dallas) has an excellent program. Thanks to a big music program at UNT next door, Denton has a great live music scene and is a fun little town for college kids.