A Travel Texas Two-Step
From Work Meetings to Weekend Meaning
When work sends you somewhere, don’t just ask, “When can I fly home?” Ask:
What or who is within three hours that I must see?
That’s how a business trip becomes a memory: Good friends we should see more often, a Grand Dame hotel, a beach town with history, and two World Cup host cities.
This month, work took me to Texas. Meetings came first, as they should, but once the calendar opened up, I had a three-day holiday weekend and no intention of wasting it in an airport lounge (even though I do love a good airport lounge!). In true Texas Two-Step fashion, I went quick-quick through work in Dallas, then slow-slow into the weekend through two cities I’ve always wanted to experience.
Important note: You don’t just casually “pop over” to Texas. As the saying goes, everything is bigger…
My husband & son flew in so we could celebrate Father’s Day together. It’s an exciting time because both Houston and Dallas are 2026 World Cup hosts. No, we didn’t make it to a game but would have loved to!
My husband did however meet some folks that looked like soccer fans in the airport. He asked where their game was, and they responded, “Texas.” 😬
This occurred in Dallas. Their game was in Houston. We hope that they made it.
We also made the trek from Dallas to Houston, by car, but weren’t under a deadline like those fine folks who were learning just how large Texas is, let alone the entire USA.
Yes, we did stop at Buc-ees for the World’s cleanest bathrooms, Beaver Chips, Brisket, and their addictive coconut pudding cups.
Three and a half hours later, we arrived in Houston and met with some good friends for great dinners, museum visits, and an amazing tour of the historic city.
Fun fact, apparently in the 1800s, settlers were enticed to make their way to Houston by posters advertising not only a bustling Port, but also a beautiful mountain landscape.
Neither are anywhere close to Houston, but here is a nice reproduction postcard with a modern twist.
The advertising worked, and it’s a great city today! Apparently World Cup broadcasters didn’t double check their “history” or geography when they projected Houston behind the sportscasters. Perhaps I missed that landscape in our tour 😉.
We took one more road trip, one hour southeast to the second city on my list, Galveston. More specifically to stay at the Grand Galvez.
I first wrote about wanting to stay there when I shared my list of pretty-in-pink hotels (April blog post), so this was an exciting checkmark on my 50×50: Round Two. Some hotels are simply places to sleep. Others have a presence before you ever walk through the door. Grand Galvez presides over the water with all the confidence of a lady that has seen generations of travelers, storms, sunny days, flip flops, and wedding dresses. She has earned her nickname, Queen of the Gulf.
Carriage Haus
But, not to be outdone, it was Father’s Day weekend which called for some very manly activities including steak, bourbon, and a Model T golf cart to cruise around in.
An excellent rental choice to see the historic homes and tree sculptures that decorate the island.
It was also Juneteenth and we learned that Galveston is the city where the story of Juneteenth began. We also learned the storm of 1900 killed over 6,000 people which led to the population & commerce boom in Houston, the infamous French pirate Jean Lafitte used the island as his privateer base and founded a community named Campeche (meaning place of snakes and ticks), the Grand Galvez was the place of the very first Miss Universe contest (formerly called the Pageants of Pulchritude) and a filming location for the series 1923, and that the island of Galveston was originally inhabited by the Karankawa people.
That is one of the many things I love about travel in this country. A single weekend can hold work, friendship, education, national history, pop culture, sports culture, beautiful architecture, and more.
Sometimes the best trips are built from opportunity: add one more night, drive a little farther, meet the friends, book the hotel, talk to the tourists and the locals, and let the trip become something more.
~Safe Travels ❤️
