Having visited Dallas just once five years ago to run the Dallas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon – the last year it took place coincidentally, I am by no means an expert on the area. However, if you’re interested in a non-extensive visitor’s guide to Dallas, Texas with several of my favorite quick picks, you’ve come to the right place.
What are “Quick Picks”? They are my go-to travel recommendations for places I have visited: often completely unrelated experiences that I find via internet research, reading old guide books, or stumbling across something in person and deciding on an impromptu adventure. They may be off-the-beaten-path, or obvious tourist traps that I think are surprisingly charming or worthwhile. You may not enjoy them at all, but I sure do enjoy putting these lists together.
My Dallas, Texas Visitor’s Guide:
What to do within Dallas city limits:
1. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza:
Being married to a history buff, I knew one of the first places Bryan would want to go was the old Texas School Book Depository. Now a museum dedicated to the people and events associated with the assassination of JFK, the Texas School Book Depository was interesting enough to hold both our attentions for the several hours it took to walk through, check out the exhibits, and enjoy the guided audio tour.
It should be noted that we’ve both read books on JFK (even if they were fictionalized versions of history – specifically 11/22/63 in my case), so we had some background knowledge going in even though 1963 was well before either of our times. I’m not sure kids or even those not quite as interested in history would enjoy this stop too much as it is rather heavy on the history and fairly specialized.
Not so much a specific place as it is an entire neighborhood, Deep Ellum is one of those places I visit on vacation and wish I was cool enough to frequent in regular life. It’s trendy, filled with unique niche restaurants, made up with street murals that are so hip I can’t understand them, and populated with people who are much better dressed than I am.
We had some excellent food here during our visit, squealed over the cute pups at the dog park on the outskirts of the neighborhood, and ate several slices of pie from a walk up that serves delicious pies with excellent names. If you find yourself near Emporium Pies, I recommend trying at least two different kinds. I’m a fan of the literary-named “Lord of the Pies” slice. This pie place, while amazing, is the type of locale you only find in big cities. No small towner would be audacious enough to open a place so hipster and so niche – and I say this with all the love from being a small towner for most of my life.
What to do as a day trip out of Dallas:
In 2017 and 2018, we were, like so many other people, obsessed with Chip and Joanna Gaines. I was a Fixer Upper devotee, and couldn’t wait until we moved out of our well-kept, no maintenance needed apartment and into a falling down dump that we could make our own. That is not sarcasm that you detect – I was so naive having never owned a home that I thought flipping houses looked like the MOST fun. Oh to smack 2017 Erika upside the head and tell her to get a grip on her home ownership/fun level expectations.
Since we weren’t quite ready to buy a house at that point, I figured the next best thing would be to visit Waco, eat the fantastic food that Joanna was cooking, and buy some souvenirs from The Silos. Magnolia Table was still pretty new when we ate there on our trip, but it was everything I thought it would be. I have the Magnolia Table cookbook, and while I’ve made several delicious recipes from it, I am still not at the level of a professional kitchen staff. I don’t remember everything we ate (though there was a lot of it), but there were these lemon lavender donut holes (third picture below) that I still see sometimes floating through my vision when I’m particularly hungry. Definitely recommend a trip here.
Of course, if you’re driving into Waco, you might as well check out the main event as well: The Silos. Housing several shops, manicured grounds with built-in photo ops, and the Bakery, The Silos makes a great stop for both devotees of Fixer Upper and for families looking for a place to hang out for a few hours. Grab a cupcake and a lemonade, hang out and play some yard games, or walk around the shops and stare at home decor until Joanna’s farmhouse aesthetic rubs off on you.
3. Touring the Dallas Cowboys stadium:
This stop (if you couldn’t immediately tell) was at the request of Bryan. Although I genuinely enjoy sports memorabilia and tours, I’m usually a bit more excited about the more historic venues (old Yankee stadium, Fenway Park, Lambeau Field, etc.), but I agreed to a JerryWorld visit since we were in the neighborhood anyway. Honestly, it’s a mammoth and (in my opinion) kind of hideous structure. The highlight of this tour was by far the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders locker room. I once had a two second dream of being a DCC, but alas I cannot do a jump split.
Honorable Mention:
As a frequent romanticizer of underdogs, Disney villains, and yes, minor criminals, I’ve been intrigued by Bonnie and Clyde for years. After reading Jeff Guinn’s excellent book Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, I was keen to see their gravesites. I can never quite decide if grave visits are strange or not. They seem to be popular enough among travelers, so there’s clearly some psychological reason we enjoy visiting these kinds of places.
Clyde’s grave is in a private cemetery and I read repeated warnings not to try to visit as A. You have to jump a fence to see it (so very Bonnie and Clyde) and B. You are likely to get ticketed for trespassing at the very least. Since that was out, we decided on visiting Bonnie’s grave, which appeared to be a popular site based on the coins and other items left on her headstone. You can find exact directions to find her grave using the link above – it’s quite easy to find once you get to Crown Hill Memorial Park.
If you enjoyed this guide even a little, check out my recommendations for what to do in Denver, Colorado, how to spend a weekend in New York City here, or how to find family-friendly fun in South Dakota here.
If you did not enjoy this guide, let me know what you would put in your own Visitor’s Guide for Dallas, Texas in the comments!
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