[SF-Junky]

Oi!

I'll attend a conference in San Antonio, Texas, in early January and since I'll fly over there anyway, I'll go in late December already and will visit Houston, Dallas, and Austin as well.

This is the first time I'll visit the US and I look forward to it. Do you people have any advice for first-timers from Europe? Things I definitely should pay attention to? Of course, the tip situation comes to mind. Places I should see? Places I should avoid?

I have two to three days in each city. I'm after the usual tourist stuff, landmarks, famous buildings, you name it. Lookouts are a personal must when I visit cities. I'm much interested in history, so if there's a good museum in that regard, let me know.

And, of course, what's the best place to eat!?

[Mobius]

I've been in Houston and Dallas a while ago and they're totally fine from the perspective of a European traveler, IMO. Sure, they likely have their no-go areas somewhere around the suburbs, but I was positively impressed by both cities. 

[perihelion]

Well, if you want our history, you need to go to the Alamo. I also strongly recommend the river walk in general. Lots of good food and interesting things to see there. And it’s beautiful.

The San Antonio Zoo and some of the surrounding park land is very pretty and fairly respectful of animals insomuch as any zoo is.  The Weiss museum isn’t world class, but it’s not bad for south Texas.

If you have time to go a bit further afield, the Nimitz Museum on the Pacific front of WW2 is very interesting. Expect the usual propaganda, but there is a good deal of fact and detail spiced in. It is in Fredericksburg, which is an hour or so out from San Antonio.

There’s also the Natural Bridge Caverns, though it’s gotten pretty commercial.  Frankly there’s enough just in downtown to keep you busy for weeks. It comes largely down to what your interests are, how much time you have, and how much you are willing to spend.

[deathspeed]

At the end of 2019 we went on a family trip to Galveston, via Dallas and Waco.  We didn't spend much time in Dallas, but the JFK museum was interesting, and Tutta's Pizza has the best pizza I have ever tried.  Whizzbang's in Waco has an awesome bacon burger.  The Branch Davidian compound was the eeriest place i have ever visited.  Space Center Houston was a place I could have spent all day, and we did not even have the upgrade to visit actual NASA facilities.  We enjoyed the Red River Bar-B-Que & Grill nearby. In Galveston we mainly relaxed on the beach, and my favorite restaurants were Taquilo's and Shrimp & Stuff.