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Your Perfect Texas Weekend Getaway Is Hiding in Garland
Your Perfect Texas Weekend Getaway Is Hiding in Garland By our very nature, humans are nomadic. You put us in one place for too long, we start getting that itch to explore. Few states reward that impulse more than Texas, where every exit off the highway leads to a town with its own fascinating story and surprising specialty.
One of the best examples of this is Garland, TX. With such a famous neighbor in Dallas, it’s true that Garland is a convenient place to stay when visiting the big city, but it’s also the perfect town for slowing down, taking a breath, and getting away from the noise.
But just how should one spend a weekend in Garland? From Friday to Sunday, we’ve gone ahead and put together the perfect game plan for a weekend away in Garland, TX.
Start at The Big Hat
You pull into town, you drop off your bags at the hotel, and you start daydreaming about where to grab breakfast tomorrow morning. But what about right now? Where do you go first?
The answer, intrepid traveler, can only be The Big Hat. Despite being one of the newer additions to Garland, this sculpture at Main and Fifth has become the marquee photo-op on Downtown Garland Square. It’s 20 feet long, 16 feet wide, and six feet tall, sitting pretty 15 feet above the sidewalk. In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes: this is the largest cowboy hat in Texas.
And this is no stray hat. It’s a proud symbol of the city’s status as the official Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas. Being the Cowboy Hat Capital of New Hampshire is one thing, but the Cowboy Hat Capital of Texas? Now, that’s an achievement.
Explore Downtown Garland
Now that you’ve seen The Big Hat, you’ve not only fed your camera roll some primo content, but you’ve also positioned yourself at the perfect springboard for exploring Downtown Garland. As a matter of fact, the Tiny Hat Scavenger Hunt sends you across downtown looking for miniature cowboy hat sculptures hidden in plain sight (a gamified way to see the whole district while having fun with the kids). Along the way, you'll find an eye-catching mural on a brick canvas, a record shop with rare vinyl, locally owned boutiques, fun pop-up stores, and chef-driven kitchens tucked into buildings with a history all their own.
In particular, the 6th Street corridor rewards a slow pace, as it’s where every corner carries a new surprise and a new story. Like the rare vinyl at the record shop, these streets hold onto everything pressed into them—every hoot from the cowboys, every creak of a cotton wagon on the square, every hum of the first streetlights in 1915, and every accent added to the conversation since.
Downtown Garland Square is also home base for the city's marquee annual festivals— everything from cultural celebrations to seasonal markets—held all year long. If you time your trip for the first Friday of the month, you’ll catch Music Made Here, a free downtown concert series that helped the city earn its official designation as a Music Friendly Certified Community.
Catch a Show at the Plaza Theatre
At Downtown Garland Square, you'll find the legendary Plaza Theatre. What more can be said? It’s a nearly century-old theatre with a distinctly art deco aesthetic and bright neon sign, both of which have been refurbished to their original glory. In a world of strip malls, black and white architecture, and minimalist designs, the Plaza Theatre shines bright as a beacon of old-school pizzazz.
But this is no monument to days gone by. The Plaza Theatre is still operating with an active calendar of concerts, community theater, and classic film screenings. On one weekend, you might catch the Texas classic, “Giant,” on the giant screen; on the next, you might see the next up-and-coming singer-songwriter.
About a block north of the Plaza, the Granville Arts Center hosts a calendar of concerts, performances, and touring shows across two stages, including the Garland Symphony Orchestra and the Garland Civic Theatre. See a show at the Plaza on Friday, then the Granville Arts Center on Saturday. An entire weekend’s entertainment in just a small part of the city.
Hit the Food Trails
Saturday belongs to the food trails. Garland has three of them, and don’t worry—these trails aren’t a fork in the road; you can take all three! The only fork here is the one going from the plate to your mouth at Mach speed.
The Garland Pho Real Trail just might be the marquee (no surprise when you find out Garland has one of the largest Vietnamese populations in the country). It features more than 20 kitchens spread across town, from pho counters and banh mi shops to family restaurants three decades deep.
What’s a Texas town without a little Latin flavor? That’s where the Garland Tamale Trail comes in. It covers taquerías, panaderías, and birria spots locals would really love to keep a secret for as long as they can.
The last trail, The GarlandRita Tour, is the refreshing end to your culinary travels. The best margaritas in Garland will hit the spot any time of year, but during the summer, when that lucky old sun is hot on your tail, there’s nothing better.
Bask in the Cool Waters of Lake Ray Hubbard
After three trails' worth of pho, tamales, and margaritas, it's time to work it off—or at least float it off. Point the car east and follow it to Lake Ray Hubbard, 22,000 acres of open water on Garland's eastern edge. It's big enough that the far shore disappears on a hazy afternoon and varied enough that whatever floats your boat is probably (and literally) here: boating, jet skiing, waterskiing, fishing, swimming, or a folding chair planted in the shade with the cooler within arm's reach.
Speaking of fishing, the Bass Pro Shops in Garland sits right on the water—the kind of detail that reminds you that Garland's relationship to the lake is genuine and not just for postcards or pretty pictures.
If you're traveling in summer with kids in tow, Hawaiian Waters adds a 65-foot slide and a 16,000-square-foot wave pool to the equation, which solves the "how do we cool off the children" problem for at least one afternoon.
Touch Grass at the Rowlett Creek Preserve
It’s Sunday morning. The bags are mostly packed, the coffee is brewed, and you have time for one more stop before the highway home. Make it the Rowlett Creek Preserve.
97 acres on Garland's north side, threaded with roughly 15 miles of unpaved trails through hardwood canopy that most Dallas-area travelers don't know exists. It's a runner's spot, a hiker's spot, and one of the better mountain biking destinations in the DFW Metroplex. Whichever way you move, you'll be doing it under a canopy of trees that have shaded many generations past.
What a Weekend in Garland
So, here's your weekend. Friday at The Big Hat, Downtown Garland, and a show at the Plaza. Saturday on the food trails and out on Lake Ray Hubbard. Sunday under the trees at Rowlett Creek before the drive home. It’s three days, one tank of gas, and a city that doesn’t waste your time. Book your hotel today and give yourself a weekend to look forward to!
About the Author: Hunter Lanier is the head writer and content specialist for Tour Texas. When he isn’t writing about the many great places in the state of Texas, he's reviewing upcoming films on his YouTube channel, Feature Underground.
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