Autumn at the Arboretum

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Dubbed Pumpkin Capital USA, Floydada farmers grow over 15 million pumpkins each year. To celebrate the bountiful harvest, Floydada hosts Punkin Days the second weekend in October.

Did you miss Punkin Days?  Never fear, you can still see 65,000 Flyodada pumpkins and assorted squash at the Dallas Arboretum.

Fall colors.  Autumn is ideal for exploring the arboretum. During the seasonal, Autumn at the Arboretum, pumpkins line the walkways, North Texas Ramblings Pumpkins Dallas Arboretumhay bales anchor 10-foot tall arrangements of plants and squash, and mums burst with color in the floor beds.  Who knew, squash came in so many different shapes and colors.

Pumpkin Village. Be sure to check out Pumpkin Village, a series of storybook cottages with pumpkin facades.  I’ve never seen so many pumpkins in one place before. Designed after pumpkin-themed children’s stories, kids love exploring each of the playhouses. And of course, there is Cinderella’s carriage pulled by straw horses! On the outskirts of Pumpkin Village, you’ll find more hay bales, this time outlining a two-foot high maze, ideal for the littlest of explorers.

Especially for kids. During Mom and Me Mondays, and Tiny Tot Tuesdays, Pumpkin North Texas Ramblings Pumpkin Village Dallas ArboretumVillage rocks!  In addition to exploring the storybook cottages, youngsters can feed goats at the petting zoo, get their faces painted, and participate in Kindermusik activities.

Details:  Autumn at the Arboretum runs September 20 through November 26.  Mom and Me Monday and Tiny Tot Tuesday activities are held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Dallas arboretum is located at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas.  The Dallas Arboretum is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

More on the arboretum…..

Fossil Rim

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Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is an ideal family day trip. Once a hunting ranch stocked with North Texas Ramblingsexotic animals, Fossil Rim is now a nationally recognized conservation center located southwest of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. This unique park offers North Texans an opportunity to go on safari without ever boarding an airplane. Spanning 1800 acres near Glen Rose, the sprawling complex is home to over 50 species. Wildebeest, zebras, and giraffe roam over land resembling the Serengeti, just with a few more rolling hills than the African version.

The drive. A scenic, nine-mile drive allows you to observe the animals up close from the safe confines of your car. Be sure to purchase a food sack at the visitor’s center. You’ll make instant friends with the long-necked ostriches and the ever greedy addax who seem to take turns stopping vehicles for handouts. There are fallow deer, Thomson’s gazelles, kudo, and bongo. The park’s antelope herds are nothing short of impressive.

Fossil Rim offers several ways to enjoy the preserve and its inhabitants. The self-guided drive is the most common way to see the park. Visitors must remain in their vehicles but are welcome to stop anywhere along the drive to feed the animals. Each vehicle is restricted to one food bag, but that is enough to make countless two and four legged friends along the way. Expect to take a minimum of two hours to travel the circuit. Stop at the Overlook, the drive’s halfway point, for lunch with tables available for picnickers. I recommend a visit to the Overlook Café for both the Fossil Rim Burger and the awesome view.

Guided tours. For an even closer look at the animals, try one of many guided tours. The Behind the Scenes tour is available daily and other specialty tours occur on a scheduled basis. My family went on the Discovery After Dark, a monthly tour. An open-air vehicle took us through the park at dusk. We learned about Fossil Rim’s successful cheetah and white rhino breeding programs, fed the shy bongo and were delighted when a giraffe stopped by for dinner – there is nothing quite like a giraffe eating out of your hand!

Details. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center is a not-for-profit organization and member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The center is involved in Species Survival Plan® programs for over a dozen species including rhino, oryx and zebra. Fossil Rim is also engaged in SSP programs for North American animals too like the wolf and our own Texas Attwater’s prairie chicken. Located at 2155 County Road 2008 in Glen Rose, the wildlife center is open daily. For more information, visit their website at fossilrim.org.

Dallas Aquariums

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Dallas is home of three great aquariums — SeaLife Grapevine, Dallas World Aquarium, and Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park. At first blush, three separate aquariums may seem excessive until you realize each offers a completely different marine experience.

SeaLife Grapevine — Best Date Night

SeaLife Grapevine is the newest aquarium attraction to open in the Dallas Metroplex. Owned and operated by Merlin Entertainment, SeaLife Grapevine is one of over two North Texas Ramblings SeaLife Grapevinedozen SeaLife attractions world-wide, with most located in Europe. Across from LegoLand, also owned and operated by Merlin Entertainment, SeaLife is situated inside Grapevine Mills Mall.

Despite its limited size, the aquarium entertains visitors with a variety of exhibits and tanks artfully constructed to look bigger than they are. Sea Life is a two-story facility allowing visitors to figuratively walk on water at the shark walk exhibit. Actually, it’s an acrylic floor with sharks and rays swimming in a tank beneath your feet – a novel change to the typical shark tunnel.

In addition to sharks and rays, SeaLife exhibits include coral reefs, touch tanks, jelly fish and sea horses. In fact, SeaLife prides itself on its successful sea horse breeding program. Honoring its location, SeaLife also has an exhibit dedicated to Texas wetlands and fish.

Don’t miss. Fin Facts painted on aquarium walls educate visitors with interesting factoids about the aquarium’s residents. Study well, as quiz stations located throughout the exhibits will check your knowledge. It’s a fun way to learn more about the animals.

Details. SeaLife Grapevine (3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway, Grapevine) is open later than most aquariums. Visitors can see the fish Monday through Saturday until 7:30 p.m., and Sunday until 5:30 p.m. Tickets online begin at $15 for adults and $12 for children. A combined SeaLife/LegoLand ticket is also available.

 The Dallas World Aquarium (DWA) — Best for Out-Of-Town Visitors

Calling the DWA an aquarium is a misnomer. This unique attraction is part aquarium, part zoo and part South American adventure. Housed in a refurbished warehouse in the historic West End, the DWA may be best known for its indoor rain forest exhibit called Orinoco – Secrets of the River. Complete with 40-foot waterfall, visitors begin their journey at the rain forest canopy and travel downward to the “river” below. Birds nest in the tree tops and habitats for other rain forest animals are situated along the walkway. A favorite is the sloth who hangs out near the Jungle Café.

A large, underwater viewing area provides a look at fish that populate the Orinoco and an opportunity to see the DWA’s Antillean Manatees, an endangered species. In addition to the unique South American rain forest experience, DWA has the standard aquarium exhibits of clown fish, sea horses and jelly fish. There are sharks, too. A 40-foot clear tunnel allows visitors to see sharks swim overhead. Other exhibits include penguins, flamingos and even a hallway with nocturnal animals like bats and opossums.

Don’t miss. On weekends the Mayan Performance Troupe performs traditional Mayan dances near the jaguar enclosure in the Mundo Maya exhibit.

Details. DWA (1801 N. Griffin St., Dallas) is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20.95 for adults and $12.95 for children. There are two restaurants located within DWA and both are worth a visit. The Café Maya affords diners a view of the rainforest and serves Mexican cuisine. Eighteen O One is located on the ground floor (no view) with an Asian inspired menu, and a kid-favorite, fish-shaped pizza.

Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park — Best for a Birthday Party

No more standing on tiptoes to see the fish for youngsters at the Children’s Aquarium. The aquarium’s recent renovation included installation of viewing windows and exhibits at child-friendly heights.  The aquarium’s touch tank is strategically positioned in the entrance foyer where a docent guides children and parents. Here kids can see the underside of a horseshoe crab or touch a slipper lobster.

The smallest of the three Dallas area aquariums, it is also the most affordable with tickets for adults $8 and children $6. The aquarium’s size is a plus for the littlest marine biologists who can become overwhelmed by crowds at larger aquariums. A newly refurbished party room is an ideal location for children’s birthday celebrations. The aquarium offers weekend party packages, which include an animal interpreter and stingray feeding. For more information contact the aquarium at (469) 554-7549.

Don’t miss. Stingray Bay is a covered, outdoor exhibit that includes a shark tank, and stingray touch tank. Velvety smooth to the touch, the southern stingray seem to enjoy their encounters with humans. For a nominal fee you can feed the rays, too.

Details. The Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park (1462 First Avenue, Dallas) is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Mineral Wells Fossil Park

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Mineral Wells Fossil Park will capture young paleontologists’ imaginations. Fossil hunters can search for treasures, and the best part, you can keep whatever you find. Located just 80 miles west of Dallas, Mineral Wells Fossil Park opened to the public in 2010.

Park history. The Dallas Paleontological Society, City of Mineral Wells and Mineral Wells Chamber of Commerce partnered to create the park at the site of the city’s old borrow pit. Years ago, the town used earth dug from the area, the borrow pit, for dirt fill at the city dump. The pit was then closed in the 1990s and forgotten. Twenty years of rain and wind eroded the borrow pit’s sides exposing mineralized fossils in among shale and dirt.

No dinosaurs here. The best fossil hunting follows strong rains. The rain washes away dirt exposing the fossils on the ridges and in the troughs of furrows throughout the North Texas Ramblings Mineral Wells Fossil Parkborrow pit. Readily visible, the fossils are intermixed with small rocks. You aren’t likely to find a dinosaur here. The fossils are small, mostly crinoids (sea lily) fragments. While small, the crinoids and shells are everywhere you search. In just a few hours, our family had two sandwich bags filled with small fossils ranging in size from a pea to half dollar.

The fossils are about 300 million years old. During the Pennsylvania Period, ancient sea lilies, urchins, clams, oysters, sea snails and sharks lived where prickly pear cactus thrive today. One such sea basin submerged the area around Mineral Wells. When the creatures died, their bodies fell to the sea floor. Minerals replaced the animals’ cellular material leaving behind a rock record for us to find millions of years later.

Fast forward from the ancient sea to the City of Mineral Wells old borrow pit. Sea creature fossils are so plentiful at Mineral Wells Fossil Park, that visitors for decades will be able to explore the past and collect ancient fragments of species long extinct. A large exhibit sign at the park entrance illustrates with photographs and descriptions the types of fossils commonly found at the site.

Fossil hunting guidelines. Mineral Wells Fossil Park has a few rules in place to ensure the park’s continued success. While you may keep whatever fossils you find, they must be for your personal use. No commercial fossil hunting is allowed. Park rules forbid power tools and limit guests to hand-held tools like a garden trowel. After a good rain, the hand shovels aren’t even necessary.

When you go. There is no shade at the park – hat, sunscreen and lots of water are a must on hot days.  Wear old clothes for digging in the dirt and boots are a good idea if it’s recently rained. Additionally, bring plenty of small baggies for storing your fossils. As in other parts of Texas, be alert for stinging insects and snakes. Called a primitive park, Mineral Wells Fossil Park has no running water or flush toilets, though there is a portable toilet in the parking lot. For those wanting a more scenic location for a picnic, visit Lake Mineral Wells State Park (Park Road 71, Mineral Wells), located just east of Mineral Wells.

Mineral Wells Fossil Park (2375 Indian Creek Road, Mineral Wells) is open Friday – Monday from 8 a.m. to dusk. Park entrance is free.

Plano Balloon Festival

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The 35th Annual Plano Balloon Festival begins Friday evening September 19 and runs through Sunday, September 21. Bands, bounce houses, climbing wall, food North Texas Ramblings Plano Balloon Festivalconcessions and exhibitors’ booths are all part of the fun, but the highlight is the balloons. The event features balloon races, balloon glows (Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m.), and balloon tethered rides.

Lift off. If you’ve never been, I urge you to go to a balloon launch. There are five launches scheduled during the Plano Balloon Festival. Evening balloon launches are at 6 pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

But my favorite balloon launches are in the morning. You can catch these on either Saturday or Sunday at 7 am. Our family likes to bring a picnic breakfast, lawn chairs, and a sense of wonder as the hot air balloons take to the skies at sunrise. It’s an incredible sight.

Viewing tips. While it’s a little more costly, I recommend the Collin County Community College Spring Creek Campus prime parking. The cost is $10 but it gets you near the hill that affords the best viewing. There is an additional fee for festival entrance. Concessions are available for sale at the festival. Also, don’t forget to bring chairs or picnic blanket.

Balloon Run. If you are a runner, Plano Balloon Festival sponsors a half marathon, 5k, and family-friendly 1k race on Sunday, September 21. The races start just after the morning balloon launch. Race participants receive balloon festival tickets as well as t-shirts. Advance registration is required

Details. The Plano Balloon Festival is held at Oak Point Park (2801 E Spring Creek, Plano). For more information check out the Festival’s web site at planoballoonfest.org