Q. Nate C. of Longview, Texas asks for fresh vacation ideas for a 4-day Texas getaway over Christmas for his wife, baby and toddler.
A. Thanks for your request for help on your upcoming trip around Texas. As you know, it’s such a big state that 4 days is not a lot of time to see much. And since you’re traveling with a baby and toddler, we can’t recommend you spend much time in the car.
So, we first suggest that you look at the FTF State Directory of stories about Texas. Families in the FTF community have written reviews about San Antonio, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi, Houston, Galveston and several resorts in depth, and we suggest you pick one place to be your base for exploration.
With preschoolers, we think that San Antonio is one of the most fun places to visit. The riverfront is great for strollers and at this time of year, many of the small boats that go by are decorated with Christmas lights.
The Old Town district is small and walkable, and if the weather is good, you can all sit outside at the riverfront cafes and people watch. There are a lot of good restaurants in town. San Antonio has several wonderful museums, and your kids will certainly enjoy a day at SeaWorld, where they can meet animal friends and learn from the hands-on interaction with the staff.
We know you’d like to have a pool. But we can’t really predict the Texas weather over the Christmas holidays, and most of the lower priced hotels have outdoor pools. One chain we recommend is the La Quinta Inns, which offer big rooms (many with sofabeds as well as a queen bed), free breakfast, a workout room, and often a hot tub by the outdoor pool. When we checked our FTF Booking site, it said that rooms at the San Antonio La Quinta Inn were $79/night.
Our next choice is a much bigger city, but it’s got a great zoo, and you and your wife might enjoy all the Cowtown history if you haven’t seen it. Fort Worth is another popular family destination because of its historic cattle district, The Stockyards, its great zoo and the nearby Six Flags Arlington themepark, that should be open with Christmas shows.
So that’s another alternative you might be interested in, though some of the attractions will be too sophisticated for a 1 and a 3-year-old. Please let us know where you decide and how it goes, and happy holidays!
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