Thanks to a great Southwest special back in the fall on winter travel, I was able to book flights to and from Dallas for extra cheap! This meant flying in the middle of winter on weekdays, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to fly to Dallas roundtrip cheaper than it would've cost to drive my own vehicle. I'm going to do something I haven't done in a while and return to my classic format for recapping my trip. I want to make sure you know what I did just in case there's anything you would like to recreate or do for your own day trip to Dallas, TX.
Transportation
I got a great deal on Southwest flights to and from Dallas for $29 each way. With current gas prices, this worked out to be cheaper and faster than driving. I got the points from the flights as a rewards member which is an added bonus! After 30 minutes in the air, I landed later in the evening on Monday so I could spend all-day Tuesday exploring the city before catching the first flight back to Austin on Wednesday. It was definitely less stressful to fly than try to drive to Dallas and back in the same day while doing all I did that Tuesday. Plus everyone on both the flights got to have their own row since few people were trying to fly at obscure hours early in the week!
Because I didn't have a vehicle to drive during this trip, I took Lyfts everywhere. From past experience when I have traveled to Dallas for business trips, I found that driving around that city is overly complicated. I was happy to let someone from the area drive me to my different destinations. I considered renting a vehicle at one point but between the cost and those flashbacks, I knew a ride share service was the way to go. I also had a Lyft cash back deal with my bank and my Hilton Honors is linked to Lyft. I was going to get a little cash back from all my rides and earn points towards future hotel stays with each ride!
Lodging
I'm a Hilton Honors member, so I knew I would be staying at a Hilton brand hotel that would be roughly halfway between Dallas Love Field and the downtown area. After some internal debating, I chose Homewood Suites. My bank had a 10% cash back deal that I didn't want to miss out on. Additionally, I wanted a suite because I could nap in the living room rather than the bedroom between activities. Another preferred feature was the dining table in the room where I could eat the food that I had delivered to the hotel.
Activities
George W. Bush Presidential Library & Museum
I started my morning with breakfast at the hotel and then caught a Lyft to the Southern Methodist University campus to tour the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. Last year, I went to the LBJ Library at the UT-Austin campus in Austin for my August 2022 Monthly Adventure and that began my quest to visit every presidential library. This visit makes 2 out of 15 and I have the stamps in my presidential library passport to prove it! Later this year, I plan to go the third presidential library in Texas. After I get to that one, I'll have to venture outside the state to continue collecting stamps.
One of my friends sells membership for the LBJ Library and Museum and she gave me a great deal. Now I have the ability to go to all presidential libraries for free! I highly recommend getting a membership if you plan to go to more than one presidential library because it's the more cost effective option. In 1-2 visits to presidential libraries, the annual membership fee easily becomes your money's worth.
This George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum was designed to follow the timeline of 8 years of the Bush Administration, focusing on the No Child Left Behind Act, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and what his family was doing throughout that time. It was a little strange walking around because I know I lived and witnessed the entirety of that presidency, but I was so young that I didn't even realize how much impact it had on what I was watching on TV or engaging with at school. It was very beneficial to chat with the volunteers because they were extremely knowledgeable about the museum and helped me better understand the flow of everything while providing some additional context.
This museum also has a complete replica of the Oval Office for visitors to walk around inside of, touch things, and sit on the furniture. They have a photographer who takes pictures of you at the desk that are available for purchase at the front desk at the end of your visit. The pictures were a little pricey at $35, but of course I had to purchase them because I write a travel blog that needs to feature these things. The Bush 43 library and museum was much smaller and faster to get through than the LBJ Library. It was also designed to be more child-friendly because there were several things that were meant for children to interact with -- which wasn't a focal point of the LBJ museum. As I continue this journey of visiting presidential libraries, it will be interesting to compare and contrast them.
Dallas Museum of Art
As the author of a travel blog, I think it's important to feature at least one free or low-cost activity that I enjoyed while on a trip. Whether you're traveling on a big or small budget, I want to show you that there are fun things to do at your destination that won't drain your bank account. The Dallas Museum of Art is one of those activities! Admission is completely free, but you can reserve a time to visit if you'd like and your visit would be still be free. Since I didn't know how long I would be at the presidential library, I decided to just go when I could get there instead of reserving a time. All I needed to provide when I arrived was my zip code and I was free to explore the museum. Rather than paintings, much of the artwork featured are sculptures, furniture, masks, or other 3-dimensional art and cultural artifacts. I thought this was very unique along with Spanish translations being available for the art throughout the museum.
I got through almost the entire art museum in about 90 minutes even though it should take closer to 120 minutes. It was starting to rain and I wanted to get back to my hotel before rush hour and the heavy rain arrived, so I quickly went through as much of the museum as I could. Reflecting back on the Dallas Museum of Art, it's an incredibly spacious museum with collections offering good variety and seamless transitions between global regions and cultures. It's definitely a place I would visit again!
Food
Whenever I travel to a place that's new for me or a place I haven't properly explored, finding local restaurants to eat from is a priority. Thanks to delivery services and knowing people from the area, I was able to do that with ease throughout my trip.
Arrival Dinner
My flight landed shortly after dinner time and that meant I needed to find some food quickly once I was settled in at my hotel. I decided to get some food delivered because my bank had a cool Grubhub deal where I would be able to get Grubhub+ free for an entire year and save money on delivery fees.
Once I had my account set up, I browsed local restaurants on the app and came across Lucky's Hot Chicken. If there's one thing I've learned about Dallas, it's that hot chicken is popular there! My food was quickly delivered to the hotel and I sat at the dining table in my suite to eat my Slider Combo with shake fries. The chicken was HOT and that's because I ordered spicier chicken. It was well seasoned and the combination of the bread and cole slaw were perfect. It was a tender slider combo: so one tender was by itself which allowed me to really taste the chicken and the other tender was in the slider bun. The shake fries left a lot to be desired though. They weren't bad, but they didn't really add anything special to the meal.
Breakfast
Since this is just a day trip, I didn't worry about getting items to keep in my hotel room for breakfast and hot breakfast was served at the hotel anyway. However, my sister and I made plans to get breakfast just a couple of days before I went to Dallas. She picked me up from my hotel and we got food from The Breakfast Bar. Pretty much all of the menu items sparked my interest, but I got a breakfast sandwich with sausage because the brunch burger wasn't available. Also in our order was chicken and waffles, shrimp and grits, and a cup of Kool-Aid. My sister and I brought the food back to my hotel since the restaurant didn't really have much seating and there wasn't any parking there either.
I enjoyed my breakfast sandwich a lot and had a wing from the chicken and waffles. The chicken wasn't the best. But the waffle? That waffle is one of the BEST waffles I've ever tasted! Oh, and the Kool-Aid was extra sweet -- something my brother would approve of. My sister and I wanted to order from a Black-owned restaurant (especially since it's Black History Month) and The Breakfast Bar has a really great menu overall that we were happy to support. If I go back in the future, I would call ahead with my order next time just because there isn't any designated parking around or nearby the building.
Lunch
My lunch plans were partially thought out, but there wasn't anything I was fully committed to. I knew I would be going to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum to start the afternoon and realized getting food at Café 43 would be a good idea. Café 43 is consistently ranked as one of the top lunch spots in Dallas. I ultimately didn't eat lunch there because I was still full from breakfast. I did get a water and a free slice of tiramisu though since the guy at the counter said he just had the slice of cake available! That was a nice, unexpected snack before I continued museum hopping.
Dinner
Before taking a nap on the couch in my hotel room, I ordered dinner to be delivered shortly after the time I planned to wake up. If you follow me on Instagram, then you know I have a "pocket food" series of posts where I feature the various types of pocket-style food that I eat. Like dumplings, empanadas are a type of pocket food and that's what I ordered for dinner. The Empanada CookHouse offered tasty baked empanadas with a variety of flavor options. I ordered the 2 empanadas meal and selected pork al pastor and beef chimichurri for each of my empanadas. I also ordered a side of cilantro rice and chose salsa spicy roja and extra chimichurri as my sauces to go with everything. This was a very affordable (about $13), filling, and tasty meal. Everything had excellent flavor and this is a place I want to order from again so I can try all of the empanadas on the menu.
Drinks
I was hoping to see my friends from Dallas while I was visiting and, fortunately, was able to see one of them. He knew of a bar that had all-day happy hour on rainy days and, a couple of hours after eating dinner, I found myself at Parliament. This is more of a table service bar with a curated menu of drinks and snacks. It's a neighborhood bar, so people were flowing in and out very casually and part of that might have been because it was a Tuesday and people weren't planning to be there all night. I think many people were there to get a happy hour drink or two and then return home in the pouring rain. I ordered the bees knees and a margarita -- both were very good.
At the end of the street in the same neighborhood was another bar called The Standard that my friend also recommended. We walked there in the frigid cold and rain and ordered house shots when we got there. I also ordered a peach smash. Both drinks were good and, after chatting for a while, I returned to my hotel for the rest of the night. I needed to get to the airport around 5:00 AM to fly back to Austin and go straight to work which meant I couldn't stay out too late.
Wrap-Up
After my day trip to Dallas, I realize there is still so much more to see and do. The State Fair of Texas is on my bucket list and there were some other places I had on my day trip list that I wanted to get to if time allowed. In fact, I have enough items on my lists that will require multiple short trips or one extended trip to Dallas beyond this one day. I don't think I'll fly again unless I can get another amazing flight deal, so it'll be a road trip the next time I go to Dallas. I'm looking forward to my next visit to Dallas and exploring more of the North Texas region!
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