Lately it seems like more and more families have been making San Antonio their vacation destination. The Alamo, Riverwalk, and fabulous Mexican cuisine all bring visitors to this vibrant Texas city. However, the surrounding Hill Country is gorgeous and equally worthy of your time. So rent a car and explore the land outside San Antonio city limits. Here are five day trips to consider adding to your Texas itinerary:
Live the Strange Life in Austin:
You can’t pass up the opportunity to visit a place whose motto is, “Keep Austin weird.” Check out the stunning State Capitol Building or take a stroll through the University of Texas campus. Or, for a wide variety of activities all in one place, spend a day at Zilker Park where you can ride the miniature train, swim in Barton Springs pool, eat a picnic lunch, check out the walking path that hugs the river, and run around at the playground.
Explore the shops and waterways of San Marcos:
Just south of Austin, you’ll find the town of San Marcos, home to Texas State University and their glass-bottom boats. A tour guide will tell you all about the spring-fed waterway and the plants and animals that inhabit it. While you’re there, check out the small aquarium near the boarding area. On the way out of town, do some shopping at Prime Outlets and Tanger Outlets, two malls located just off I-35.
Mosey on Down to Bandera:
The Cowboy Capital of the World, Bandera is a must-visit for families who have an aspiring cowboy or cowgirl. Stop by the old-fashioned general store located downtown and have a soda or an ice cream (Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie visited this spot a few years ago!). History lovers will want to take a look at St. Stanislaus Church and the Bandera County Courthouse, both of which are Texas Historic Landmarks. Be sure to visit the Frontier Times Museum, where you’ll see everything from 19th-century dental equipment to seashells.
Enjoy the German Charm of Fredericksburg:
This is one of my favorite towns in Texas. The downtown area is filled with historic buildings, including the birthplace of Admiral Nimitz. The beautiful Vereins Kirche, a 1935 recreation of the 19th-century church that used to stand in the town’s Markplatz, is a perfect place for a few family photos. With lots of interesting shops and places to eat, you’ll find plenty to do in this Hill Country town.
Take a drive up US 281:
Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination. If you’re in the mood to hit the road, try driving north on US 281 from San Antonio. You’ll see open fields, old abandoned gas stations, and small towns with friendly people. This route will take you all the way to the Dallas/Fort Worth area (about a 5 hour drive without stops), so you can go as far, or stay as close, as you’d like. If you’re driving in the morning, stop by the Blue Bonnet Café in Marble Falls for a delicious old-fashioned breakfast.
Sarah V. is a San Antonio based blogger who loves to write about her family’s journeys in Texas an beyond on her blog, Wandering Off. Her site is a great resource for those planning a trip to San Antonio or looking to add a little bit of Texas to their life. You can also find Sarah chatting away about travel on Twitter, via the user name @wandering_off .
This giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Trekaroo member Bubblace for winning!
Its hard to believe that a little over a month ago, my family and I were on a one week, two thousand mile adventure thanks to Country Inns and Suites. We saw seven states in seven days and were able to try out some really cool products along the way. Here is a quick run down of the products we were given to road test:
The Car- Ford Flex provided by Avis: I had never even heard of a Ford Flex before this trip, let alone driven one. But by the end of our journey, I sounded just like one of those cheesy Ford commercials on American Idol- I just couldn’t stop singing it’s praises. There was plenty of leg room, which is important to a tall family like ours, and the trunk held our ridiculous amounts of luggage with plenty of room to spare. If you need to rent a car while on vacation that is big enough for a family of four or five, I think this car is a great option.
The Video Camera- GZ-HM320 HD Video Camera by JVC: We loved this camcorder! It is so much smaller than the HD camcorder we had at home and it takes great video. We learned how to use some of its fancy features, including time lapse. The camera was portable enough to actually use on vacation and will become a permanent fixture in our camera bag.
The Phone- Samsung Moment provided by Sprint: It had alot of cool features, including a touch screen and a keypad. We did have to load quite a few videos and found that the phone slowed down considerably if too much memory was used. That being said, as long as the user keeps the memory from being bogged down, the phone works pretty well.
The Charger- Duracell Rechargeable Instant USB Charger: This little guy rocked! When your smart phone or IPod dies all you have to do is plug the device into the charger and you have a new charge while out on the road! I love it!
The Water Bottle- Polar Bottle: What I loved about this bottle is that cold drinks actually stay cold. What a concept! We used this to keep our kids’ juice cold while driving across a very hot country. It worked great and kept beverages cool all day long. If only they could create a filtered version of this bottle I would be in heaven!
The Kid’s Entertainment- Travel Kiddy: Travel Kiddy makes activity kits for kids that are specifically designed for different age groups and perfect to take on road trips. All the goodies come packed in a pouch which is small enough to fit neatly inside a suitcase but still jam packed with lots of fun! My kids especially loved the Bath Kiddy. Normally, I don’t pack bath toys on the road and the kids are bored in the tub, but now they look forward to being able to use their special bath toys when we take trips.
The Steal: Win a Road Trip Prize Pack!
Summer is in full swing and its the perfect time of year for a family road trip. To get you started on your adventure, Trekaroo will supply one lucky family with some road trip goodies, including a few things I used while on the Country Inns and Suites 1K.
Number of Winners: 1 winner
Prize:
- $200 worth of Dining Cash from Country Inns and Suites ($200 value)
- a Duracell Rechargeable Instant Charger ($34.99 value)
- a Polar Bottle Insulated Water Bottle ($8.95 value)
- Family Table Topics, Kids Table Topics To Go, and Road Trip Table Top To Go ($43.00 value)
- and my favorite book to take on the road, National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States ($26.00 value)
That’s over $300 worth of road trip goodies!!!!
How to enter:
Leave a comment telling me which routes are your families favorites for road trips. We want to know where Trekaroo families like to head to on the road!
For additional entries, feel free to do any or all of the following. Each one counts as an extra entry but be sure to LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ONE.
- Write a review on Trekaroo and post a link to it in the comments (include your Trekaroo username) one entry per review.
- Subscribe to the Trekaroo Blog
- Tweet a link to this Monday Mad Steal via @Trekaroo
- Post this on your Facebook Wall using the Facebook Share link above
- Fan Trekaroo on Facebook
- Follow Trekaroo on Twitter
- Post this giveaway on your blog
- Subscribe to Trekaroo in your reader
Rules and guidelines:
- 18 years of age or older
- US Residents only
Deadline to enter: Sunday, August 1, 2010 at 11:59PM PST
What is Monday Madness?
Every Monday, Trekaroo announces on our blog, either a fantastic giveaway or an incredible deal. It could be a green water bottle, a hotel stay on Maui or theme park tickets. Return every Monday to the Talking Trekaroo Blog for the details. Want a reminder? Become a Trekaroo member or follow us on facebook or twitter.
Thanks to Contest for Moms, Online Sweepstakes, CashNet Sweepstakes, and Sweepstakes Advantage.
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Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Today we are excited to be starting a new series on road trips with kids. The following post on a California Central Coast road trip was written by Carolina. Carolina’s son claims he hates long road trips, but she has plenty of photographic evidence to prove otherwise. When she is not busy exploring the Western United States with her trusty eight-year-old companion, she is busy writing about it at her blog, Kids Go West.
With 450 miles of some of the most beautiful coastline and hillsides in California, the area between San Francisco and Los Angeles creates the perfect setting for a family road trip. There’s so much to do that you could easily stretch the road trip out over a week. But less time on the road, means a more affordable family trip, so I’m going to give you some ideas for how to cruise California’s Central Coast in just three days.
Many would claim, that if you’re driving the California Coast, you should do it along the famously scenic Highway 1. Those people probably haven’t endured a drive with a crying baby, a vomiting toddler, or an impossibly whiny child. If your family can endure the winding two-lane highway, then by all means take that road less traveled. My suggestion is to stick mostly to Highway 101, which will still take you through some beautiful scenery, and then pick and choose when to hop on Highway 1 since the two highways meet up multiple times.
Day 1: San Francisco to Monterey
Estimated Time on the Road: 2- 2 1/2 hours
The first stop is the Monterey Peninsula, otherwise known as family
heaven. Here you can take your kids to visit the sea otters and jellyfish at the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium. If you can drag the kids away from the aquarium, rent some bikes or walk along the coastal trail that leads south to Pacific Grove or north to Fisherman’s Wharf (grab some clam chowder in a bread bowl while you are there!). The Dennis the Menace Playground is also an excellent option for those kids that need to burn off some steam with its multiple play structures and giant locomotive to explore.
Want advice for places to stay in Monterey from parents in the know? Be sure to read about family friendly lodging in Monterey Bay.
Day 2: Monterey to Cambria/Pismo Beach
Estimated Time on the Road: 3-4 hours
Here’s where you make the big decision: you can head along Highway 1 past Big Sur all the way to Cambria, or you can go back to Highway 101 to Pismo Beach. If you take Highway 1, you will want to hike at Point Lobos State Reserve or Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and make a stop at Hearst Castle. If you take Highway 101, you will want to spend some time exploring the sand dunes or pier at Pismo Beach or hiking along the coastal bluffs of Montana de Oro State Park.
Excited about a road trip down to Pismo Beach but don’t know where to stay? Check out family friendly lodging in Pismo Beach.
Day 3: Cambria/Pismo Beach to Los Angeles
Estimated Time on the Road: 3-4 hours
First, start with a small detour to the kitschy, recreated Danish town of 
Solvang for some ebelskivers treats. The head a bit further south to Santa Barbara. In Santa Barbara, you can spend some time cruising with your bikes along the beautiful coastal trails, with a stop at Chase Palm Park for a picnic and a ride on the carousel. Your kids will also enjoy a stop at the Santa Barbara Zoo. For the final stretch of road into Los Angeles, Highway 1 and 101 merge and hug the Southern California coastline with plenty of beaches such as Carpenteria State Beach and Pt Mugu to stop and take a stretch. My tip is to always have a beach bag packed and ready in the trunk. Play your Beach Boys tunes on the stereo, roll down the windows, and ignore the whining coming from the back seat. You’ve just earned yourself a California cruisin’ license.
Check out the Trekaroo site for more recommendations on hotels, restaurants and kid-friendly attractions for your California Dreaming road trip.
Did you make it all the way down to LA but don’t have a clue where to stay? Check out family friendly lodging in Los Angeles.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
The day had finally come. We were on the last leg of our adventure and anxious to see where we were going to end up. We woke up early, well early for us, and eagerly listened to our first clue. We were to head to the sculpture of the Mustangs of Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. Once again, my expectations were exceeded; the sculpture was incredible. The mustangs ran through the waterscape with such realism that it wasn’t hard to picture the actual mustangs that provided inspiration for the sculpture as they ran across a creek somewhere in North Texas.
Our second Suite Stop of the day was only a couple streets away from the first. It was the Flower Clock, which is located alongside an unassuming intersection across the street from a gas station. The clock itself was almost too pretty to be in such a mundane location, but it brought beauty to a spot that would have never otherwise received a second glance. I ran across the street and snapped a shot of the clock while Paul fueled up the car. We were amped and ready to receive our next clue of the day.
Clue number three lead us to visit a place that this diehard San Francisco 49ers fan never thought she would visit. We were heading to Cowboys Stadium. Yes, it is impressive with its 11,520 square foot HD television screen and the world’s largest dome enclosing its immaculate field, but in my mind, it was nothing more than the Death Star. We chanted the Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme) as we pulled into the stadium lot and accepted our fate. Ben was feeling exceptionally grumpy (he was still fixated on that rocket ship) so he was unwilling to pose for a picture, but Mari was happy to oblige. Without prompting, she chose to make a silly face in front of the statue of Tom Landry. Coincidence? I think not!
After our quick visit to the hated Death Star, we decided to head across the street to another place I hate, Walmart, to finally appease my rocket obsessed son. I would personally like to thank whoever is behind the Toy Story Three mass marketing campaign for making a rocket small enough to stuff into my son’s carry on suitcase. Bless you! Bless you! Bless you!
After our short time in Arlington, we received our final Suite Stop. We were to head to College Station, Texas. I have to admit, at first I was dissapointed. We had driven two thousand miles in seven days to end up in College Station, Texas. But I continued to have faith. The trip had been fantastic thus far, why wouldn’t it have a great ending as well? We drove through the vast agricultural expanses of eastern Texas dumbfounded. Then we received another message. Suddenly it all made sense. We driving to College Station to help celebrate the opening of the 500th Country Inn and Suites!
We arrived at the Country Inn and Suites, College Station, in the afternoon heat and happily joined the Williams family in the beautiful new pool. We all had a blast splashing around in the water and reminiscing about our journey with our fellow road warriors. Soon the Svebacks rolled into town and we all gathered to toast our successful journey with the people who helped make it all happen (thank you so much Emily and Dave!). We had some excellent Texas barbeque and celebrated the opening of Country Inn number 500. It was a great way to end a great week.
Its hard to believe its all over. 7 states. 7 days. TWO THOUSAND MILES in a Ford Flex with two three year olds and a GPS that had a mind of its own. Yes it was crazy. Yes there were moments where I wondered how we were going to survive the next one hundred miles. But 95% of the time we were having a great time exploring the Midwest. Would we ever do it again? Absolutely! As I sit in the Houston Airport typing up this post, I am constantly interrupted by two little travelers asking if we can go to another hotel instead of going home. My children have wanderlust, and I couldn’t be prouder.
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Today was a day filled with contrast. We got in touch with our inner cowboy, cried for the tragic loss of so many, and enjoyed the beauty of one of our countries National Recreation Areas. It all started with our first Suite Stop clue of the day (watch it here) which directed us to the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. The museum is filled with western art, cowboy memorobilia, and rodeo regalia. I literally could have spent all day wandering it’s massive halls. While some of the art exhibits weren’t exactly toddler friendly, there was definitely plenty of great exhibits to keep children entertained for a couple of hours. Prosperity Junction is a replica of a turn-of-the-century cattle town which was built inside the museum. Walking around the town made us all really feel like we were in the Old West. Prosperity Junction had everything any respectable western town could need including a livery stable, saloon, church, mercantile, bank, jail, and railroad depot. We all absolutely loved it.
There is also a separate building housing a Children’s Cowboy Corral. Here, kids can pretend to build a fire near the chuck wagon, try out different saddles, and even put on chaps and boots in the dress up area. Mari especially enjoyed the pink cowboy boots. I personally loved the sections of the museum dedicated to the rodeo and paying tribute to famous movie and tv stars who played western roles. I am still in disbelief that there was entire exhibit dedicated to displaying 1300 different kinds of barbed wire! The National Cowboy Museum really is a great place and definitely worth visiting.
After a couple hours of exploring, we knew that we had to say happy trails to the museum and watch our second clue (here) which led us to Bricktown near downtown OKC. Our mission was to ride the water taxi. It sounded like alot of fun and we were eager to come aboard. Unfortunately, things went downhill quickly. Ben is on the autism spectrum and from time to time he has episodes where he can’t stop fixating on something. Today’s episode involved a toy rocket that he saw at the Kansas Aviation Museum. While we were at the museum, he didn’t even want the stupid rocket but today, it was all he could think about. We were stuck on a water taxi (which, by the way, was more of an advertisement for all the businesses in Bricktown than anything else) in a canal with a child who was freaking out about a toy rocket. I am sure everyone on that water taxi wanted to kill us. Luckily, the taxi makes a stop in front of Toby Keith’s restaurant so we quickly hopped off and opted to walk back to the car with a kid who was hysterical over a toy in Kansas. I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes when you travel with children. It can’t all be sunshine and rainbows.
Even though it wasn’t part of our mission for the day, we just couldn’t leave OKC without visiting the Oklahoma City National Memorial which is located where the tragic Oklahoma City bombing occurred, killing 168 on April, 19, 1995. Words can’t describe the emotions that I felt when I stood on those grounds. The memorial itself is poignant and beautiful, with a reflecting pool, survivor wall, and field of empty chairs to represent the lives lost. We didn’t have time to visit the museum (and it probably would have been too much for a three year old to understand). My children don’t understand the concept of death yet so we didn’t explain to them why we were visiting the memorial, only that we needed to be quiet because some special people were being honored there.
The memorial also includes a children’s area with chalk and places for kids to draw to share their emotions about the tragedy and leave images of hope and comfort in honor of those lost. I asked my kids what they wanted to draw. Mari drew a whale (its her favorite thing to draw) and Ben told me he wanted to draw a cross. I couldn’t help but be emotional over his choice. The memories of the emotions we felt while standing on the former ground of the Murray Building will definitely stay with us forever.
We got back in our car (not without being reminded that Ben wanted a rocket no less than 150 times) and then listened to our next clue (here). The news that we were going to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area got this National Park junkie very excited! I will be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Chicasaw is located in southern Oklahoma so in my mind, I imagined a prairie. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Chicasaw was filled with lush green forest and beautiful creeks pouring over travertine terraces which served as perfect swimming holes. We knew we only had a short time to explore this beautiful oasis but we couldn’t leave without taking a hike. The rangers at the Travertine Nature Center suggested we take the 1.2 mile roundtrip out to Antelope Springs. We were surrounded by thick forest during the entire walk which helped keep us a bit cooler in the sticky heat. We followed the trail to the outcrop of rocks from which the spring flowed. Butterflies seemed to flock to the water and put on quite a colorful show for the family. Ben even forgot about his rocket for a few minutes! We lingered a bit longer than we probably should have, but we are an outdoorsy family and at Chickasaw NRA, we were in our element.
Finally, we dragged ourselves back to the car and listened to the fourth clue of the day (here). Just as we had suspected, we were headed to Texas. When we reached the border, we sent a tweet out announcing our arrival per the Suite Stop’s instructions, then received our fifth clue (here). We were to head to Denton, TX and take a picture out in front of its 114 year old courthouse. The courthouse itself is gorgeous and seems to be a popular gathering place for the local college crowd. We ate dinner at a pizza place across the street and then listened to our last clue of the day instructing us to go to the Lewisville Country Inn and Suites which is just outside of Dallas.
Now as I sit here writing this post in the bathroom of our hotel room (its late and the rest of the family is sleeping), I can’t help but feel a little bitter sweet about tomorrow being the last day. Yes, we have spent many hours on the road and every day has been very full, but it has also been incredibly fun. I have really enjoyed spending time with Ross, Kara, and their families and will be sad to have to say goodbye. I am extremely excited to see what the final day has in store for us and where exactly we will end up. I am imagining it must be somewhere in Texas, but Texas is a big state so who knows exactly where our weary heads will rest tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion of the Country Inns and Suites 1K Adventure!
I hope this post has inspired you to take your own Road Trip Adventure. For more information on how to create your own trip to remember check out http://www.countryinns.com/1kcountry.
Want to follow us on the adventure as it happens? Be sure to follow @doubleadventure on Twitter and the hastag #CIS1K to see what all the families are up to every day of the Country Inns and Suites 1K!
Disclosure: A significant portion of the costs and resources for our family’s participation in the 1K Country Adventure was provided by Country Inns & Suites By Carlson.
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Sharlene Earnshaw (aka doubleadventure) is Blogger-in-chief for Trekaroo and the blogger behind Double the Adventure.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
