Road Trip
Lake Travis, Waco, Dallas
This 4th of July without doing much planning we ended up going on the perfect Texan Getaway.
Starting from San Antonio we decided we wanted to go to Dallas for the weekend, which is a 4.5-5 hour drive, but if you add the traffic leaving the city (being San Antonio in this case) and entering Dallas such an important holiday can be crazy and add a couple hours to your trip.
So, due to pure convenience to try and avoid the traffic leaving San Antonio but still leave on Friday so we didn’t waste another day on the road. We thought why not stop at Lake Travis on Friday and then leave Saturday for Dallas (cutting down the trip to 3 hours (ish) That way we get some sleep, go to the pool, relax a bit before hitting the road again. Then Saturday we hit the road again, and while we were heading out I remembered (being a Fixer Upper fan) that the Magnolia Silos are now open in Waco (about 1.5 hour from lake Travis) and so we did! From there to Dallas it was only a bit over an hour and a half … made the drive so easy and fun! And i've listed what we did in every stop.
Lake Travis: Perfect for a bit of Rest, went to the pool, laid down in the sun, if it had been a longer weekend we would have loved to stay a few more days, especially during summer. We spent the night at the Lakeway Resort, and I really liked it! Pools are very nice, they have adult pools, plus a family pool with water slides, spa, and restaurant. Although I have to be honest the food from their only restaurant is not good (sorry) I actually wanted to like it, because the place is beautiful and has a great view, but here’s an example of what we got: I ordered what said “three cheese Mac’n cheese” and I was at least expecting a homemade version of this dish, I am not kidding I got a plate of Kraft Mac’n cheese (yes the box one, with the powdered cheese, just add milk one) topped with pre-shredded, bright orange cheddar cheese. (Kind of like the one we get in a bag at HEB (grocery store) this is pretty much what we go in all our plates (although my salmon was cooked perfectly… and we paid stake house prices for it. But I really loved the hotel and since we only ate there once, I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and maybe they just had a really, really bad day in the kitchen.
Waco: I must confess I don’t know Waco very well, except for Baylor (university) but when I found that the Magnolia Silos were in our path we just couldn’t resist! And I highly recommend stopping by, if your close or maybe driving up. It’s perfect for getting some lunch (food trucks are awesome!), do a little shopping, and let your kids or yourself (not judging) run around a bit and stretch their legs.
Dallas:
Hotel: One of my favorite areas in Dallas is Uptown; it’s part of downtown Dallas but with more of a chic new vibe. This time we stayed at “Le Meridien – The Stoneleigh” and I highly recommend it! Such a cute place! Mixing 1920’s era but with all the comfort of modern times. And its location is perfect to go out for a walk or use their complementary bikes (which I loved!)
Food: as you may know I love sushi! So we had dinner at Ra Sushi” our first night, and although the food is good I don’t really recommend it, the service was slow and orders were not complete (even though our server was a sweetheart) another reason why we didn’t love it is just a personal matter. I’m one of those who loves basic sushi menus, and I really wanted fried rice (yakimeshi) – They don’t do fried rice, at all! –
Brunch: Filament – This was a recommendation from a friend and I am extremely grateful for it! This place is SO good; it’s in Deep Ellum area, which is about 5-7 min from our hotel. Must try Eggs Benedict! (Some of the best I’ve ever had)
Dinner: Top Knot – One of the recent top restaurants in Dallas, which just happened to be right across the street from our hotel (literally) this is a Japanese/Latin fusion menu (sounds a bit off but trust me its amazing) Reservation is recommended though. Please try their hand rolls, yucca fritters, fried chicken bun, and pork bun. Basically try it all. Just, keep in mind some of their menu items are small so you end up ordering more than one of each.
Filament
Top Knot
Shopping:
The uptown shopping area is my favorite!! It’s such a cute outdoor part of Dallas, with restaurants, coffee shops, and smaller local boutiques. More for lunch, and walking around, maybe stop at a boutique buy something cute (not for hardcore shopping)
Highland Park Village: This is a beautiful up-scale outdoor mall concept, but with all the designer boutiques like Hermes, Christian Louboutin, Stella McCartney, etc … but it’s also nice to spend the day there, it has good restaurants, a movie theater, starbucks. And it does have stores like Anthropologie and Tory Burch and more. Just don’t go on Sundays if you plan on shopping, most of the boutiques are closed.
Northpark Mall: Now this is your hardcore shopping destination, like it way more than galleria and it has all you shopping needs.
Uptown
Highland Park Village
