Help! What to do in Dallas in October?

[RonnyL]

Finally I get to og over the Atlantic and see the Cowboys at Arlington!
Oct. 5. to the 15.me and a buddy are on a real boys trip to Texas.
We have tickets for the 'Skins and Broncos games!


But we have not found much to do in between yet.
We are staying in Dallas, but have rented a Camaro SS Convertible so distance should not be a problem


We are going to Six Flags in Arlington at least one day. And I heard rumours of an interesting war museum in Galveston, but that is all we have come up with so far.
Unfortunately we just miss the Cars and Coffee in Houston on October 5.


Our interests are football, guns, aircrafts, military hardware and cars.
Football is pretty much covered with the two Cowboys games, but we need suggestions of other fun Things.


Here is what we are looking for:
-Motorsport
-Museums etc. Preferably military or like.
-Aquariums
-Shooting ranges where you can hire exiting guns
-Hunting experiences
-Air Shows
-Car Shows
-Gun Fairs
-Good shops and stores
-Restaurants etc. We really love a good steak!



These are what we are primarely is looking for, but we are very open for suggestions!
As I mentioned, distance is not very important. We can easily travel 4 hours or so, even longer for the right occasion


So if any of you have some suggestions, we will be very happy!

Brg
Ronny L
Norway

 

[smokindog]

First off, driving four hours is going to the grocery store around here

Depending on where you're staying, places like the Fair would best be done by light rail. Look into it once you arrive.

We enjoy downtown Fort Worth at night far more than Dallas! Arlington is close to both.

Dining in the DFW metroplex is awesome. If you can't find something here, you don't really enjoy dining out

October is our "look forward" to time of year for weather.

Here ya go

• General tourism
  • State Fair Of Texas - Fair Park in Dallas - Sept 27 - Oct 20, 2013
  • Fort Worth Stockyards
  • Home - The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
  • Home | The Sixth Floor Museum
  • The Official Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas | Ranked one of the Best Texas Museums | Western History Museum
  • The Official Site of The Texas Rangers | texasrangers.com: Homepage
  • Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR and IndyCar Racing
  • Events Calendar - Hill Country Passport - Blanco County Visitors' and Newcomers' Guide
  • Elm Fork Shooting Sports
  • Quail Creek Shooting Range-Archery Pistol Rifle Site-Handgun Target Practice-Gun Range-Gun Shop-Lewisville, Highland Village, Flower Mound, Denton, Argyle, Texas
• Good Eats
  • Family Style Country Cooking at Babe?s Chicken Dinner House
  • Cristina's Fine Mexican Restaurant Locations
  • Fort Worth Stockyards
  • Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House - Fort Worth Restaurants

PM me if you want more info!

 

[PA Reb]

The only thing that ever interested me in Dallas was the John Kennedy assassination sight and museum (as "smokindog" mentioned above).

 

[Maddog 521]

While in Dallas be sure to stop at---
Ray's Hardware and Sporting Goods
730 Singleton BLVD
Dallas, TX.
214-747-7915
A very unique place.
Welcome to Texas and have fun.

 

[rojodiablo]

Ronny, you need to go hunt some hogs. Google is your friend.

 

[bettis1]

Good suggestions by Smokindog and Maddog. Add the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field to that list.

Bob

 

[WPWarhawk]

Sounds like a great trip. We just moved to Arkansas after spending 8 years in the Fort Worth area. Some great suggestions on here so far.

The ballpark in Arlington is next door to Cowboys Stadium, and is worth a visit. With any luck the Rangers will be playing the playoffs then.

I looked at the schedules for the Texas Motor Speedway (NASCAR) and they have a big race the first weekend in November, but nothing while you're there. I also checked the Texas Motorplex (Drag racing) and they don't have any big events in October, but do have a couple of smaller events while you're there. In any event, I would recommend a trip to Texas Motor Speedway, and take the tour. It's cheap and they will take you out on the track (in a van) and up into the luxury boxes.

There are two Cabela's stores in the DFW area, one of them is just a couple of miles south of the Speedway. Cabela's is definitely worth a visit, as is Bass Pro Shop.

I second the recommendation for downtown Fort Worth over downtown Dallas. Google "Sundance Square" for particulars. This is where I would recommend that you get a hotel.

Lots of good places to eat in the area. Texas is famous for it's BBQ, and Angelos in Fort Worth is very good. Some good places to eat in or near Sundance Square ... there are many more

- Del Frisco's steakhouse - excellent but pricey
- Razoo's - Cajun food
- Risckey's BBQ

The Texas Rangers museum in Waco is outstanding. If you go, take the time to watch the movie.

I enjoyed the Texas Civil War museum. It's not very big, but was very interesting to me as I have a lot of ancestors who served in the Confederate Army.

If you like warbirds, be sure to visit the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison. Nearly all of their aircraft are in flight worthy condition.

There is a nice flight museum in Galveston, but that's a long way from DFW. And I understand that it was damaged by hurricane Rita a few years ago and they removed a few of the rarer aircraft (B-58 Hustler for one).

Ray's Sporting Goods is an old time gun shop, but is in a very bad area. Be vigilant if you decide to do there. And remember that in Texas, even a non-resident can carry a firearm in their vehicle without any permit.

The Fort Worth Stockyards is a tourist trap, but still worth a visit. There are a couple of old time Saloons and Steakhouses there. My favorite is the H3 Ranch on Exchange Street.

Also at the Stockyards, they have a rodeo every Friday and Saturday night, and a herd of longhorn cattle that they "drive" down Exchange street several times a day.

If you want to experience some Texas music, visit Billy Bobs in the stockyards. A honky tonk with 3 acres under one roof. They don't have their schedule set for October yet, but they have live Texas music every Friday and Saturday night.

If you are interested in a wild hog hunt, or other Texas exotic hunting, shoot me a PM, I have a good friend who runs a game ranch about 100 miles west of Fort Worth.

 

[WPWarhawk]

Also, lots of indoor ranges in the DFW area where you can shoot rental guns. To name a few

- Elk Castle in Fort Worth
- DFW Gun Range in Dallas
- The Bullet Trap in Plano
- Lone Star Gallery in Weatherford

 

[bettis1]

These are all good suggestions, however, I will make some modifications that are more current in nature. First, don't be afraid to go to Ray's Hardware and Sporting Goods. There is a beautiful new Calatrava bridge across the Trinity River that leads directly to Ray's front door and a number of nice restaurants are opening up on that side of the Trinity. During business hours you will be perfectly safe at Ray's. There are always lots of folks, including cops shopping there. Ask for Chuck, the manager, or Pam, the owner and tell them I sent you.
Google Image Result for http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/1331068881-1-528x340.jpg

The posters are correct that Ft. Worth is more interesting to walk in than Dallas, however, there are developing areas of Dallas such as the "West End" and "Uptown" that have nice restaurants and are worth seeing if you are there. The "West End" is just across the street from the JFK Museum.

If you are into the fine arts, the Dallas Art District has world class museums (The Perot, the Nasher, and the Dallas Museum of Arts, just to name a few), the Dallas Symphony plays at the Meyerson https://www.google.com/maps/preview...LoT-UbCAGIeg2QWvo4GQCw&sqi=2&ved=0CJ8BEKIqMA0 and there are new opera houses and theaters.

A trip to North Park Mall is always interesting. One of the largest indoor Malls in the southwest.

As far as the gun ranges go, sadly, the DFW Gun Range is closed for rebuilding. Someone fired some tracers into the rubber back stop and burned it down a few months ago.

Finally, driving two hours southeast to Waco to visit the Texas Ranger Museum (that's the real Texas Rangers, not those who throw baseballs at each other) is very much worth the trip. While you are there, drive through the campus of Baylor University which is next door. Baylor is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas, having been chartered by the Republic of Texas in 1845. The campus is beautiful.

Bob

 

[NCTexan]

Eat good Tex/Mex dinners... That works for October and the other eleven months as well.

 

[Gunslinger808]

The Stockyards.
Reunion Tower, nice revolving restaurant at the top.
Six Flags over Texas.
Neiman Marcus
Deep Ellum.
Dealey Plaza, where LHO took the shots at JFK.

- Del Frisco's steakhouse - excellent but pricey

Yup, last time I was there it was rated best steak in Dallas.

Great town, I've spent a lot of time there.

 

[Gatofeo]

I've been to the Kennedy Assassination Museum twice. Very much worth the trip.
You get to stand near the window from which Oswald fired. Until I did that, I didn't realize at what a high angle he fired from. You can also walk around the "grassy knoll" from which, some believe, a second shooter fired.
It's a great place to visit because for the rest of your life, you'll view documentaries on the assassination in a different light. Familiarize yourself with the assassination, and its theories, and the visit will be greatly enhanced.
If you like history, how can you not visit one of the most historical and infamous places in the world?

 

[M3Stuart]

I've lived here for awhile. I was in Oslo last summer.

I would recommend;
The Cavanaugh flight museum; Aircraft Collection. It has the finest collection in the area.

We have a 1-hour version of Oslo's colossal all-day Heritage museum called The Heritage Farmstead: Home | Heritage Farmstead MuseumHeritage Farmstead Museum | Celebrating 25 Years of Preserving History in Plano, TX. For what it's worth, America isn't that old - so I figured your 'Heritage museum' was actually 'my' heritage museum - if I want to go back more than 150 years.

The Dallas Museum of Art is no longer the embarrassment it was. I've seen many of the major art museums around the world and I would say that the DMA is now good. I'm not a huge fan of the Nasher, and I've not yet been to the Perot. The symphony is very good and is worth the price of admission. The Dallas Ballet went broke years ago and had to merge with Forth Worth's. Not sure if that's still the case.

Personally, I wouldn't bother taking anybody to the JFK museum. It's a monument to the Warren commission and I think the 'one gun' theory has been disproved - but that's just me. I still take visitors there if they want to go.

I also do a 'welcome to America' tour for my international friends. I take them around town and show them the natural progression of the millions of immigrants that come to America each year. If you drive east to west from Garland to west Plano, you'll see it all. (many other opportunities for this - e.g. south to north from Irving to Valley Ranch/Coppell) The DFW area is a monument to immigration and is being rapidly transformed - as you will clearly see. (Hint: it wouldn't hurt to brush up on your Spanish.)

Then you can go out to the country, you'll get to see restaurants where you CAN still smoke. Curiously, one of the big attractions for visitors is going to a Wal-Mart - the ones out in the countryside seem to be the most interesting to international visitors.

 

[slammr]

The best steak restuarant I've been to is "Three Forks" in N. Dallas.

The Cavanaugh Flight Museum at Addison Airport is pretty good and worth a visit.

The Perot Science Museum downtown Dallas is worth a visit.

If you like music take in the Dallas Symphony. Excellent.

Take in a NHL hockey game with the Dallas Stars.

 

[M3Stuart]

Oh, for shooting: definitely go to Targetmaster on Jupiter road in Garland. $15 (84 Krone) will rent you every gun they have - one price, unlimited guns. You buy the ammo from them, but it's not ourtrageously priced. They'll have everything you need to shoot.

 

[leswad]

If I had an SS with time to kill, I think I would road trip the back roads from Dallas to Fredericksburg.... Back roads would be Dallas, Cleburne, Glen Rose (if you have $$$ go here to hunt and shoot Dallas Conference Center Fort Worth Conference Center Dallas Fort Worth Texas Wedding), Hico, Hamilton, Goldthwaite, San Saba (Harry's Harry's - Est. 1939 | San Saba, TX - Home), Llano (must stop at Cooper's BBQ), Fredericksburg (National Museum of the Pacific War, Luckenbach)

On the way back you could hit the Willow loop and Enchanted Rock.

 

[M3Stuart]

Fredericksburg would be my choice too. You can check out the best museum of it's kind in this part of the country and hike up Enchanted Rock while you're at it.

Oh, forgot to mention: in Dallas, you will definitely want to visit the strip clubs which have all been conveniently located to Walnut Hill and IH35. There you will enjoy all that modern cosmetic surgery can accomplish!

 

[Cyrano]

Amen to the Texas RangerMuseum at Waco. I spent two hours there one day and came back the next and spent 4 hours. You'll see lots of real lawmen's guns on display.

Also amen to the Texas Civil War Museum. Wonderful displays of period weapons, some of them vey rare, and uniforms, equipment, etc. A great memorial to a very unhappy time in our history, a visit there will help you understand it.

I don't know if the Dallas Gun Collector's Association is holding on of their gun shows during that time; I don't have a schedule in front of me. If they are, it's well worth seeing, over 1200 tables, and some excellent displays ( I remember one a few years back of Newton rifles; they must have had 35 of them, in all different calibers and designs of rifle).

 

[Texas Star]

Also, see Southern Methodist University (SMU), which has a beautiful campus. A pretty expensive university, but good. They have an outstanding gallery of Spanish art, one of the finest outside of Spain. El Greco, etc.

Nearby Snider Plaza has Jackson Armory, an upscale dealer with both collectors' and modern guns and edged weapons.

This stuff is in Dallas, near Mockingbird Lane and Hillcrest Rd. Snider Plaza has several restaurants, a book store, a grocery store, and a lot of fancy small shops.

One of the five Beretta Galleries in the world is in Dallas, really in surburban Highland Park. But you will think you're still in a fancy part of Dallas. There are some superb mansions nearby. Think of Bevery Hills in Los Angeles. Same architect.

You'll find Texans to be friendly people. This isn't Paris or New York. But most of us today don't dress like cowboys. There are some country-western bars with (according to a Yankee guest) more outstanding young women in just one big club than are in the whole of Buffalo, New York. The man who said this was from Buffalo. I guess he'd know. People in those clubs do dress like drugstore cowboys.

Dallas is a major fashion center and quite stylish. Visit Northpark Mall to shop.

There are a number of Red Lobster (seafood) and Outback Steakhouse (Austalian theme) restaurants in the area, and they offer safe, very good food at fair prices. Your hotel will have guidebooks to other restaurants and the Friday newspapers have a weekend guide.

I think you'll enjoy your trip, but if you leave the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, the drives will be long. Keep in mind that Texas is larger than some Euro countries and was once a separate country, itself. If you can get to San Antonio, the Alamo is a must-see. And they have a great zoo, as do Dallas and Ft.Worth. I think the Ft. Worth zoo also has an aquarium. The Dallas aquarium is in Fair Park, where the huge Texas State Fair is held in October. It is very congested during Fair time, and the Fairgrounds authority does not allow even ordinary pocket knives to be carried. You can carry them most places other than in courthouses. The fairgrounds are also in a dangerous part of town. I think I'd avoid going there. If you do go, there is a science museum, a natural history museum,and a Hall of State history museum. When the Fair is NOT in session, you can park within the grounds and see these places for little or no admission. But go in daylight and do not linger after dark. The museums close about 5:00 or 5:30 PM, anyway.

 

[axl911]

Do not miss the Cars and Coffee at Classic BMW on Oct 5th. The event is HUGE, and is held every first Sat of the month. Check out Cars and Coffee™ Dallas

They starts early around 8am and is usually over at 5pm. Last time I was there, several of the new McLarens showed up. It is pretty much THE place to see exotic and electic cars in DFW.