Family Vacations w/in a day's drive from Houston

B

burdine88

25+ Posts
My wife and I have a 7 yr old daughter and a new baby and we live in Houston.

We are trying to come up with vacation ideas for Spring Break and the summer.

We kind of want to drive since we have the baby and all his stuff and we'd like to keep it to a day's drive or less.

Nothing in the State of Arkansas as my wife is allergic to all things Arkansan.

We go to South Padre regularly so we are looking for something different.

Something where we could spend a most of a week enjoying ourselves.

Any ideas?
 
You could do the Hyatt Lost Pines resort in Bastrop. Lots of fun for the 7 year old and you can go into Austin if you get tired of the resort.
 
San Antonio is always a lot of fun for us as a family. We stay at the Radison next to SeaWorld quite a bit. The Hyatt is more upscale and is right there as well. La Cantera is across from Fiesta Texas and we stay there sometimes too. Great golfing at La Cantera. San Antonio also has a really nice zoo.

There's also Schlitterbahn in New Bruanfels or Galveston, Moody Gardens in Galveston, Great Wolf Lodge (indoor waterpark) in Grapevine.

If you're looking to spend a week, I would recommend San Antonio. We kill lots of time there. On top of what's above, Natural Bridge Caverns and Safari is 20-30 minutes. Plus you're close to Austin, New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, etc. so you can take multiple day trips from there.
 
For all of the grousing on this site about how much SA sucks, it's a simple fact that it is the most visited tourist destination in Texas. The reasons have already been discussed -- it's a great "base" from which to explore some of the prettiest parts of Texas, and there are things that appeal to all sorts of people within easy driving distance.

If you decide to come out to the Caverns, let me know. Spring Break is a crazy time for us, but if you let me know ahead of time I can help you out there. Take the Illuminations Tour -- it was my project and I think you'll enjoy it a lot.

If any of the rest of you ever head this way and want to see the cave, give me a shout. We're a quality attraction and we'd appreciate your business.
 
Thanks for the ideas.

I am actually from San Antonio so I know and like that area.

We have stayed at the Radisson by Sea World and had a great time.

Unfortunately, some family obligations can occur when we are in SA but it's under definite consideration.
 
If you consider a "day's drive" to be 8 plus hours, you should consider far West Texas.

Balmorhea State Park
McDonald Observatory
Fort Davis
 
Coushata!
wink.gif
 
Not knowing how you define "day's drive", I'd say Destin unless you are tired of the beach from your time at Padre. Very family oriented beach front resort, with plenty to do. It's 600 miles east on I-10, turn right 17 miles.

It's about 950 miles to Pidgeon Forge/Gatlinburg and there's plehty of family entertainment there. Bargain hunt the hotels.
 
If you want to look at Destin, I would recommend two things:

1) call the Destin Log and have them send you two issues of the paper - it's semi-weekly;

2) Contact Abbott Real Estate. They produce a book on properties for sale or rent, long or short term. Best book on Destin I've seen. Then you can choose Emerald Isle, Sandestin, Santa Rosa, Choctahatchee (sp) Bay, etc.
 
The Hilton SanDestin sent me an email the other day saying they have spring break rooms from 150 a night-- which is a good deal for them. It's a really kid-friendly resort, but lots of adult fun too.
 
i second or third the Hyatt Lost Pines. It is only 2 hours max drive and once you get there, you have no clue that you are only two hours from home. there is a buttload of stuff for the kids to do while you relax. if you go, take a cooler and a bunch of your own beverages and snacks for the kids.
 
Well, I was going to suggest Arkansas and South Padre.
There is always Big Bend. I have never been, but it's still there nonetheless.
Most of Florida is within a day's driving distance for most Houstonians.
Much of New Mexico is as well. There is a lot to do in the Albuquerque area and parts north. South is more desert, but there are some mountains. if you are into fly fishing you can find some in NM. Plenty of "enchanting" landscape to explore, and Carlsbad Caverns E of El Paso/Las Cruces. Plenty (Pueblo, George, Mountains) in Taos area if you want to drive that far (or go to southern Colorado).
 
A new baby might be limiting. We backed out of a vacation with a three month old.

Consider short hopping some towns close in on your way to Lost Pines:
Brenham (ice cream) and
Round Top (pie).

Sample from at least three smoke houses along the way. Authentic smoked jerky and dried sausage are a good change of pace for city locked types. I can't think of one smoke house in Austin or Houston.

Somewhere between Bastrop and Austin on 71 is a fossil shop. I haven't been in it yet, but if any of the fossils are local, you can expect lots of petrified wood chunks and perhaps even the rare shell embedded in flint. The shells in lime stone are a dime a dozen, but in flint are a prize. There's a museum north of the UT football stadium with a pterosaur, fittingly the largest ornithopter ever to be discovered on earth, from you guessed it, the Big Bend area.

If you think you can do a longer trip:
Fredericksberg (peaches and quaint shopping),
Sonora (caves),
Alpine (culture, shopping, and mountains),
Marathon (Big Bend, Ouachita mountain remnants),
Fort Davis (McDonald Observatory and lady bugs),
Marfa (art) and even that cold as heck slimy but scuba diving deep pool in Balmorhea.

If you can go the distance:
high tail it out to Alpine for starters,
then to the Guadalupe mountains,
Carlsbad Caverns,
Roswell (museams),
Cloudcroft (Sun spot observatory),
Ruidoso/Capitan (Smoke the Bear museam and grave),
Carrizozo (recent lava flows),
Albequerque (tramway),
Santa Fe (square),
Taos (Mabel Dodge Luhan House and square but not the pueblo),
Los Alamos (nuke museum and pueblos),
Alamosa (Great Sand Dunes) and finally
Breckenridge and Dillon where the wife can shop and watch you fly fish in the Blue River all from the same outlet mall in an alpine setting that rivals Europe's best.

Well okay, that last list was perhaps a once and future vacation for my family. Stick to Lost Pines to preserve sanity.
 
New Braunsfels- you can try "The Other Place Resort" but it was sold out on September 15th for the Summer but you might find a cancellation.

Lost pines or Hill Country Hyatt would work.

No matter what you do the baby is the limiter.
 
Cloudcroft (Sun spot observatory)

Driving summers from hot West Texas into Cloudcroft was always a highlight.. alpine-esque, elevated, pine trees, cooler weather. The contrast was sublime.
 
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