great takes on family travel in the U.S.

What can a family of four do in Dallas for $20 a day?  Here are some ideas.

The best inexpensive fun is practically free and right around the corner from you, no matter where you are in Dallas.  Find the nearest Dallas park and take your family for the day.  Pack a picnic lunch, arrange for a water gun fight, and blow bubbles and let the kids try to catch them.

We almost always have a soccer ball in the trunk or a Frisbee.  The kids can climb or swing on a playground, feed ducks, fly kites or you can send them on a nature scavenger hunt.  Can they find a stick shaped like the letter “y” or a stone shaped like a heart?  A nature stroll is healthy and aerobic and while you’re at it, pick up trash or wash graffiti off play equipment, teaching your children an important lesson about nature and taking good care of our Earth.  The only money you need to spend will be on the picnic lunch.

In historic Fair Park many museums offer free admission.  Also within the park is a hidden gem called Texas Discovery Gardens, which contains ten themed garden areas for parents and kids to explore together and learn more about nature on their own, through workshops or guided tours.  Admission is pretty inexpensive at three dollars an adult, a dollar and fifty cents for children ages three to eleven years old, and children under three years old are free.  They have a butterfly habitat, a native wildlife pond, a scent garden, a shade garden and an heirloom garden.

The historic M-Line Streetcars that run along McKinney Avenue in Uptown Dallas are also free, and a great inexpensive way to explore that area of the city.

Five your children a free art lesson at Nasher Sculpture Center.  Adult admission is $10 but children twelve and under are free.  The indoor and outdoor galleries contain a comprehensive collection of masterpieces with rotating and special exhibitions.

Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has an area in their Founders Plaza called Observation Station where you can watch the thousands of take-offs and landings in one of the busiest airports in the world.  A graph board helps you identify the many different types of aircrafts while you listen to live audio straight from the control tower.  This area is currently closed but scheduled to open up again in September.

Who says you can’t have inexpensive fun?