Dallas, Texas, a city where the Old West meets high-rise modernity, bustles year-round. Freeways circle the city, and interstate highways intersect downtown. While it’s cheaper to stay in a hotel in the surrounding suburbs, teens would probably feel a greater connection to the city and all it offers if you choose a downtown hotel in the thick of things. Nighttime skyline views are exciting, even for the most easily bored kid. Leave your car at the hotel and let your teen be your tour guide on Dallas rapid transit.
Surfing in Texas? Not unless you’re at Padre Islands National Seashore, which is almost a seven hour drive from Dallas. But teens who want to hone their surfing skills without heading to the Gulf can don their swimsuits and ride a board at Hurricane Harbor. The waterpark has a lazy river, two-tiered slide and a 4-story half pipe. Thrill-seeking teens can ride the Titan at Six Flags Over Texas, a hypercoaster with a 255-foot drop. Hawaiian Falls operates five waterparks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The parks have rides suitable for all ages -- perfect if your family includes younger children as well as teenagers.
Open every day of the week, Urban Air’s Trampoline Park in Southlake, a close-in Dallas suburb, offers "Teen Night" twice a month. Laser lights flash and a DJ provides the music for trampoline jumping and a dodgeball tournament. Reasonably-priced 60-minute fitness classes include plenty of time on the trampoline. The Johnny Rockets restaurant inside SpeedZone serves teen favorites like hamburgers, fries and shakes. SpeedZone has five racing tracks for go-karts, a miniature golf course, bowling alley and a video game room.
Dallas has major league hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer and football teams, so it’s possible to find a game pretty much year-round for the teenage sports fan. Help a team make its mark by attending a Women’s Professional Football League Dallas Diamonds game. The Texas Motor Speedway hosts drag, NASCAR and Indy car racing. Going to the rodeo can be a fun, family adventure. Mesquite Prorodeo has Friday and Saturday night events throughout the summer months. Professional riders compete in bull riding, roping, barrel racing and steer wrestling.
A budding Pablo Picasso or Mary Cassatt might like to take the family tour at the Dallas Museum of Art. Teenage docents lead interactive tours that include activities such as sketching and movement. The museum’s calendar lists days the free tours are available. Dallas transformed an old warehouse district into an upscale Design District in the mid-1980s. Sophisticated teens will enjoy outdoor sculpture, art galleries, designer showrooms and restaurants, or can search for funky apparel at thrift stores.
