It’s here! Spring break -- and the weather forecast for the next few days in North Texas looks great. So if you’re in the Fort Worth area, consider taking a spring break vacation in your home town. And if you’re not there -- go!
For the benefit of Dallas visitors, I made a preliminary trip to Fort Worth on the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) from the Union Station of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system (DART). (Fort Worth visitors may also follow these directions to access TRE/DART for Dallas attractions.)
Round trip rail travel between Dallas and Fort Worth requires a regional day pass, $10 at DART ticket kiosks. (Reduced fares for students, the elderly and disabled are available at more limited locations with specific photo I.D. See www.the-t.com for details.)
A day pass entitles you to unlimited travel on DART, TRE, Fort Worth public buses, and spring break shuttle service between downtown Fort Worth and the acclaimed Fort Worth Zoo. TRE trains run often during morning and evening commuter rush hours, less frequently during the middle of the day and on Saturdays. There are no TRE trains on Sundays. Check the schedule at The T site listed above. Union Station in downtown Dallas and the ITC station in downtown Fort Worth have spacious waiting rooms, with vending machines in Union Station and a sandwich shop adjacent to the ITC.
Some TRE cars have tables, if you need to give the kids a snack. Labeled cars also have Wi-Fi access. (However, for those with very young children -- I would feel uncomfortable trundling strollers across the tracks to board.)
The Safari Shuttle to the zoo leaves the ITC station at 1001 Jones St. each hour and half-hour starting at 9:30 a.m. through this coming Sunday, March 18. Board “Bus Bay A” at the ITC. For the return trip from the zoo, board where you got off. The last shuttle trip from the zoo leaves at 6 p.m. (The zoo closes at 5 p.m. See http://www.fortworthzoo.org for ticket prices -- Wednesdays are half-price days.)
Looking for a destination other than the zoo? The T’s Route 7 University bus leaves the ITC hourly weekdays and Saturdays, and will drop you at the front gate of the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. The gardens’ conservatory is aflutter through April 8 with exotic butterflies such as the owl butterfly perching on a visitor in the illustration with this post. See http://fwbg.org for information.
Note that to catch a return bus, you must cross University Drive at the pedestrian crosswalk near the Harley street intersection. This is a walk of slightly more than a quarter-mile from the gardens’ entrance, without paved sidewalks. Maybe a little much for those with young children.
A Route 7 bus stop serves the museum district -- Kimbell, Amon Carter, and Fort Worth Modern art museums on Saturdays only.
Or for travel around downtown, including Sundance Square, try Molly the Trolley. Service on the vintage trolley is free seven days a week, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For routes and maps, see www.mollythetrolley.com or text “Molly” to 38714. Take water and sunscreen -- and have a great time!
Showing posts with label spring break destinations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring break destinations. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Totally Texas -- Spring break destination: Dallas
To prepare you for spring break -- March 12-16 for many North Texas school districts -- I’ve gathered get away suggestions easy on family budgets, but that won’t leave children at loss when asked how they spent their break.
I’ve planned these around the Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s routes for maximum penny-pinching. The few incidents of violence on DART may have made you wary of bringing your children on board, although I personally have ridden DART trains and buses for more than a quarter-century without seeing a single violent episode.
But if you want to drive, especially if pressed for time, there’s parking at or adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Lots are also adjacent to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Sixth Floor Museum. The museum and aquarium parking lots take either cash or credit/debit cards. I haven’t parked at the Sixth Floor, but it’s only a few blocks from the aquarium, if you want to see both on one parking fee.
All DART train lines feed into downtown Dallas. (See www.DART.org for routes, schedules and ticket prices.) I’ll start from the east end of downtown and list attractions along the tracks.
First stop downtown is the Plaza of the Americas, at the Pearl Street DART station. Chill at the indoor ice skating rink, or just watch the skaters. As in the rest of downtown Dallas, there are plenty of fast, reasonably-priced restaurants open weekdays, catering to office workers.
Walk a few blocks north from either the Pearl Street station or the next stop on the route, St. Paul Street station, to reach the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Dallas Museum of Art. See their sites, www.crowcollection.org/, www.nashersculpturecenter.org/, and www.dallasmuseumofart.org/ for exhibits and family-friendly events.
Back on the DART track west through downtown, you’ll find Thanks-giving Square about a block from the Akard Street station. Eating places abound in nearby office buildings, or bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the tranquility of the enclosed square and its spiral tower.
The next stop after Akard Street finds you in the West End. (Yes, parents, there are public restrooms in the nearby West End Transit Center.) Dallas’s West End is home to both the Dallas World Aquarium at 1501 N. Griffin Street (about a block from the train stop), and the Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm Street, in the former Texas School Book Depository (about four blocks from the West End station).
The aquarium will probably be your most expensive stop, but it’s a place to spend a day. There are restaurants and a snack bar, or eat at nearby sandwich shops to keep costs down. See www.dwazoo.com for the aquarium, and www.jfk.org for Sixth Floor Museum. (Please note that some Sixth Floor Exhibits may be emotionally demanding for young children.)
Outside the Sixth Floor Museum is Dealey Plaza. Walk a couple of blocks to “Old Red,” the nineteenth-century county courthouse turned museum, and east to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza with its “open tomb” designed by architect Philip Johnson.
Continue on DART to transfer to the Trinity Railroad Express (TRE) to Fort Worth (more about that next week) or stay on red line trains to the Dallas Zoo, 650 R.L. Thornton Expressway. For zoo information, including registration for spring break camps, see www.dallaszoo.com/. The sight of lions lounging outside the floor to ceiling restaurant windows in the zoo’s Giants of the Savannah exhibit is awe inspiring. My grandsons love the bug house and the playground at the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo near the entrance, although I doubt the water feature will be open this early.
There’s more than I can list in a single post. For additional information, revisit posts for August 15, 2011, (Dallas World Aquarium); November 14, 2011, (Sixth Floor Museum); November 21, 2011, (Thanks-giving Square); and January 2, 2012, (Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Museum of Art).
(Next Monday -- Totally Texas visits Fort Worth for more spring break adventures.)
I’ve planned these around the Dallas Area Rapid Transit’s routes for maximum penny-pinching. The few incidents of violence on DART may have made you wary of bringing your children on board, although I personally have ridden DART trains and buses for more than a quarter-century without seeing a single violent episode.
But if you want to drive, especially if pressed for time, there’s parking at or adjacent to the Dallas Museum of Art, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Lots are also adjacent to the Dallas World Aquarium and the Sixth Floor Museum. The museum and aquarium parking lots take either cash or credit/debit cards. I haven’t parked at the Sixth Floor, but it’s only a few blocks from the aquarium, if you want to see both on one parking fee.
All DART train lines feed into downtown Dallas. (See www.DART.org for routes, schedules and ticket prices.) I’ll start from the east end of downtown and list attractions along the tracks.
First stop downtown is the Plaza of the Americas, at the Pearl Street DART station. Chill at the indoor ice skating rink, or just watch the skaters. As in the rest of downtown Dallas, there are plenty of fast, reasonably-priced restaurants open weekdays, catering to office workers.
Walk a few blocks north from either the Pearl Street station or the next stop on the route, St. Paul Street station, to reach the Crow Museum of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and the Dallas Museum of Art. See their sites, www.crowcollection.org/, www.nashersculpturecenter.org/, and www.dallasmuseumofart.org/ for exhibits and family-friendly events.
Back on the DART track west through downtown, you’ll find Thanks-giving Square about a block from the Akard Street station. Eating places abound in nearby office buildings, or bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the tranquility of the enclosed square and its spiral tower.
The next stop after Akard Street finds you in the West End. (Yes, parents, there are public restrooms in the nearby West End Transit Center.) Dallas’s West End is home to both the Dallas World Aquarium at 1501 N. Griffin Street (about a block from the train stop), and the Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm Street, in the former Texas School Book Depository (about four blocks from the West End station).
The aquarium will probably be your most expensive stop, but it’s a place to spend a day. There are restaurants and a snack bar, or eat at nearby sandwich shops to keep costs down. See www.dwazoo.com for the aquarium, and www.jfk.org for Sixth Floor Museum. (Please note that some Sixth Floor Exhibits may be emotionally demanding for young children.)
Outside the Sixth Floor Museum is Dealey Plaza. Walk a couple of blocks to “Old Red,” the nineteenth-century county courthouse turned museum, and east to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza with its “open tomb” designed by architect Philip Johnson.
Continue on DART to transfer to the Trinity Railroad Express (TRE) to Fort Worth (more about that next week) or stay on red line trains to the Dallas Zoo, 650 R.L. Thornton Expressway. For zoo information, including registration for spring break camps, see www.dallaszoo.com/. The sight of lions lounging outside the floor to ceiling restaurant windows in the zoo’s Giants of the Savannah exhibit is awe inspiring. My grandsons love the bug house and the playground at the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo near the entrance, although I doubt the water feature will be open this early.
There’s more than I can list in a single post. For additional information, revisit posts for August 15, 2011, (Dallas World Aquarium); November 14, 2011, (Sixth Floor Museum); November 21, 2011, (Thanks-giving Square); and January 2, 2012, (Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Museum of Art).
(Next Monday -- Totally Texas visits Fort Worth for more spring break adventures.)
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