Spring break is a great time to travel together as a family. It’s also a great time for a family reunion to invite grandparents or cousins along. These are two favorite trips grandparents, parents and kids will enjoy experiencing and remembering.
Go Big ¦ or ¦ just go to Texas!
For families looking for big memories, a trip to Texas is a great getaway! Our family enjoyed an amazing time in the Fort Worth and Dallas areas.
Full-Day Excursion
For a celebration of the state’s rich Western heritage, a day exploring the Fort Worth Stockyards Historic District is a must. Home to the famous longhorn steer, the Cowtown Coliseum, steakhouses, authentic Mexican dining, Western wear shops, souvenir shops, saloons, Billy Bob’s Texas-the world’s largest honky-tonk-the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and other entertainment, this scenic district is a family favorite. Don’t miss the signature event in the district: the twice-daily longhorn cattle drive (FortWorthHerd.com).
Our favorite cowboy experiences, however, were the shows at Cowtown Coliseum. At the rodeo, watch bull riding, tie down roping, team roping, barrel racing, bronc riding and break away roping.
Half- to Full-Day Excursion
The Fort Worth Zoo has been ranked the fourth best zoo in America by USA Today. The standout favorites were the flamingoes, bears, tigers and zebras. The Texas Wild! area of the zoo was a great place to learn more about the state. This area features a Wild West-style village with a shooting gallery, ice cream shop, animal exhibits, a hands-on museum and a 4D theater presentation on Texas weather and the environment.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s Western Currency Facility
Half-Day Excursion
Learn how U.S. currency is printed on a free audio tour along an elevated walkway overlooking the machines and staff who print bank notes. After the tour, explore two floors of interactive displays sharing history and information about printing money, how counterfeits are caught, how money is preserved and more.
Full-Day Excursion
Grand Prairie is about half an hour from Fort Worth and, in true Texas fashion, offers big fun as home to Texas’ largest indoor waterpark. This park, which opened in 2018, is home to 12 incredible waterslides, a lazy river, a FlowRider surf experience, a splash pad and dump bucket for little ones, delicious food and an indoor arcade. Epic Waters lives up to its name as home to the Lasso Loop, America’s tallest indoor aqualoop body slide; the Yellow Jacket Drop, an enclosed water slide accommodating two riders on an inner tube winding through the slide to an open drop up onto a wall and back into the water creating a zero gravity sensation and more.
Half- to Full-Day Excursion
Displays on engineering feature robotics and hands-on exhibits to create your own bridges, towers and designs; exhibits on nature include skeletons, animal displays and geology. The Gems and Minerals Hall houses exquisite samples from around the world, including a show-stopping 5-foot-tall purple geode. Tip: Science City Kansas City members enjoy free admission to this museum.
Discover MORE tips for your Texas Trip here!
Go to the Beach ¦ Orange Beach, AL
The Gulf of Mexico is the shortest drive to the ocean for Kansas Citians, and in one long day of driving (or two days) the views and family fun are worth the trek!
Half- to Full-Day Excursion
We visited this remarkable zoo on our Gulf Shores trip, and the entire family fell in love with the animals. The standout experience at this zoo is their offering of animal encounters. Families may purchase encounters affordably to tour animal exhibits and interact with them. Sloths, lemurs, kangaroos and other animals participate in encounters. We participated in the lemur encounter, and it was a highlight of our trip. Learning about and experiencing the animals in a memorable way is the specialty at this zoo, where you can feed giraffes, watch an alligator feeding swamp show, participate in keeper chats, and learn more about the animals up close and personal.
1.5-Hour Tour
My girls love dolphins, so we took a tour of the Gulf aboard a glass-bottomed boat with Dolphins Down Under. The tour guides educate visitors on the habits of dolphins and help your group watch as the amazing mammals swim and play in their natural habitat. Children get a chance to help pilot the boat on the tour, making this a great family outing.
Half- to Full-Day Excursion
The 350,000-square-foot museum offers free admission and houses more than 150 aircraft from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Guides offer tours throughout the day telling the history of the aircraft. A can’t-miss experience is the Virtual Flight Deck, where visitors experience the sights, sounds and sensations of standing on the deck of an aircraft carrier. For a fun photo-op, visitors may sit inside Blue Angel cockpit trainers! Additional fees are charged for simulators and IMAX films.
Half- to Full-Day Excursion
A self-guided tour of the WWII-era battleship tells the story of the ship and the crew who lived aboard her. Visitors are able to explore every deck of the 680-foot-long vessel, from living quarters where servicemen slept, ate, groomed and even enjoyed ice cream, to necessities like medical rooms, laundry, sewing, mail, and shoe repair. You also can explore ship operations and warfare history. In addition to the battleship, the museum is home to the WWII submarine USS Drum and an aircraft pavilion. This museum is a great stop en route to the Gulf from Kansas City.
For more great sites to see in the area and tips for your trip, visit the Vacation Guide on KCParent.com.