06 Mar EASY FUN AND EASY ON THE WALLET-WEATHERFORD, TX
Hey ya’ll! On your next good weather day, head over to Weatherford, Texas! It’s an easy 45-55 minute drive from the DFW metroplex. In my mind, Weatherford sits right on the edge of the wild wild west. I had always driven through Weatherford on my way road tripping, but never took the time to stop and look around, This time we stopped and sure glad we did! Weatherford has quite a selection of activities to choose from, whether you bring the family for a day of fun, or are looking to catch up on quality time with your significant other.
Our first stop was at Chandor Gardens. There wasn’t a hint of the wild wild west anywhere to be found there. In fact, half of the garden transported you straight to a castle in England. The koi ponds, fountains, waterfalls, gazebos, and a perfectly manicured lawn were very tranquil and peaceful. I’m not going to lie, I was envisioning myself coming back for some me, myself, and I time to unwind and meditate! I was completely surprised at how beautiful the grounds were considering Spring hasn’t officially sprung. I can only imagine all the colors once everything is in bloom. The other half of the gardens had more of a Japanese garden feel with dragons and statues guarding the paths. The walkways seemed to lead in every direction which kept my kids quite engaged. Across from the garden was a nature trail through the woods. We took our time and explored for a good bit. My daughter told me atleast five times that she never wanted to leave this place. HA! I could never have guessed something so enchanting existed right there in the city. The cherry on top was the fact that our admission was FREE! Normally there is a $5.00 admission for 12 yrs and up, but since there is construction happening (at the time of this post) on the property they are letting everyone in free right now! So now is the time to visit!
Next we took a short five minute drive over to Doss Heritage and Culture Center. We found the wild wild west! It’s here at this museum! HA. This beautiful museum displays artifacts and exhibits teaching about the history of Texas, but also history specific to Weatherford’s particular region and county. At the time of our visit some of the indoor exhibits were closed as well as the outdoor pioneer cabins which was a bummer, but it just means we will have to come back. Maybe October? I was told a large festival is held at the property every October. I’m in! Even though we didn’t get to see everything, there is good news..FREE admission for everyone! Yay! The kids had fun pushing buttons, learning about life along the Chisholm Trail, and digging for treasures, literally. Check out that saddle! This place is really cool, and their website (listed below) really showcases all the incredible activities they create for families and kids. You can have camp crates sent to your house with activities if you can’t make it out to one of their camps in person. Love that idea!
To keep with our theme of FREE, we decided to picnic at a nearby park instead of trying a new restaurant for lunch, It would have been wayyy too difficult to decide which place to try anyway, they all looked so good! If you have a favorite, let me know and I’ll come back and try it next time! We drove downtown and saw the very impressive courthouse, and all the shops and eateries. But wait…did that sign just say sweets?? We must stop.
No matter the day or time it is ALWAYS worth spending a few bucks on gelato! And that’s exactly what we did! We tried a variety of flavors, including popcorn flavor (who knew?!) at Sweet Emilia’s Gelato, Popcorn & More. My favorite flavors (which aren’t pictured because I was busy eating them) were the strawberry flavor and the chocolate flavor. We broke our FREE streak, but it was totally worth it.
There was one more spot to check out before we were done for the day, and it happened to be within walking distance from our sweet stop.
We made our way to the Vintage Car Museum & Event Center to peek at their collection of vehicles. My boys are obsessed with vehicles, so this was a must see. Definitely a blast from the past! Some of these cars date back to 1911! My kids had never seen vintage cars like this before, especially that Taxi car. It was fun to look inside each one and talk about how cars look different today. NO touching though! Keep those cars beautiful. I was very impressed with our overall experience at the Vintage Car Museum, and how interested my kids were. And guess what!? It was FREE! No admission to see the collection of cars. Yay! This has to be the biggest bang for our buck on any day trip thus far. I feel like we got to know Weatherford a little bit better on this trip, and now we are friends. God bless Weatherford and God bless Texas!
Quick Notes:
For more details on any of these places, click the quick link provided.
Chandor Gardens: bathrooms-yes, concessions-no, link: https://weatherfordtx.gov/170/Chandor-Gardens
Doss Heritage and Culture Center: bathrooms-yes, concessions-no, link: https://dosscenter.org/
Sweet Emilia’s Gelato, Popcorn & More: bathrooms-no (not open to public), concessions-yes, link: https://www.sweetemiliastx.com/
Vintage Car Museum & Event Center: bathrooms-yes, concessions-no, link: https://vintageweatherford.com/
If you plan to visit any of these places I strongly recommend checking their website or calling for up to date hours of operation and cost. Double check to see if anything has changed since my visit.
This was a half day trip for us. We arrived approx 9:30am and left town approx 2:30pm.
I made sure to pack snacks, a picnic lunch and extra clothes for the kiddos just in case!
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