Hometown Glory

Dallas-Fort Worth takes top honors among best U.S. holiday travel destinations

Dallas ranked as the No. 9 top warm-weather destination, according to WalletHub.

With temperatures around the country finally starting to cool, many people are planning winter vacations for someplace warm. And perhaps we should expect an influx of visitors in Texas, because four Lone Star locales rank among the country's top warm-weather destinations, according to WalletHub.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington is best in Texas; it comes in at No. 9 on the list, just ahead of Austin-Round Rock at No. 10. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land isn't too far behind at No. 12, while San Antonio-New Braunfels ranks No. 22.

WalletHub based its rankings on 26 key metrics in five different categories, including travel costs and hassles, local costs, attractions, weather conditions, and activities. The Dallas-Fort Worth area ranked highly because it came in at second for travel, seventh for local costs, 16th for attractions, and eighth for activities. Activities, we should note, includes things like number of restaurants, music venues, coffee shops, and food festivals. Yep, DFW has a few of those.

The top warm-weather U.S. destination is Las Vegas. San Diego, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Tucson round out the top five.

In case you were wondering how an area that is known to have its fair share of freezing temperatures qualifies as "warm weather," WalletHub based it on the area's December temperatures averaging out to more than 57 degrees over a 50-year period. So if it happens to dip down into the 30s or 40s or we have another Icepocalypse during peak December travel times, blame it on science, man.

rankings wallethub

Ghosts of Cowtown

New ghost tour explores one of the spookiest spots in North Texas

Fort Worth Stockyards Livestock Exchange Building

US Ghost Adventures

There's a new ghost tour in town.

A national travel company is showing off the scary side of the Fort Worth Stockyards with the launch of a brand new ghost tour.

US Ghost Adventures, an Orlando-based company that hosts ghost tours in some of the most haunted cities in the country, has just added Fort Worth to its list of tour locations. The one-hour tour is held nightly at 8 pm and includes eight stops within a one-mile walking distance.

Some of the haunted highlights from the tour include Miss Molly’s Hotel (109 W. Exchange Ave.), a former brothel where unexplained activity – think lights turning on and off, heavy breathing, and footsteps heard on the stairs – have long been documented.

The Stockyards Hotel (109 E. Exchange Ave.), built in 1904, is said to be home to the apparition of its developer, Colonel T.M. Thannisch, as well as rodeo cowboy C.D. “Junior” Colwell, who is said to have committed suicide to avoid jailtime for swindling people.

Tour participants will also visit the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame (2515 Rodeo Plaza), where it’s said the six-foot, four-inch ghost of famed actor John Wayne has been seen admiring the cowboy memorabilia on display – even with a museum dedicated solely to him located just steps way at John Wayne: An American Experience.

While other ghost tours exist in Fort Worth, US Ghost Adventures owner Lance Zaal says his tour specializes in storytelling.

“US Ghost Adventures offers EMF detectors and focuses on telling the history behind the hauntings,” says Zaal.

When paranormal activity takes place, theories suggest electromagnetic disturbances can be seen with electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors. Lights on the detector indicate the strength of the disturbances, with a green light meaning little to no activity, yellow meaning moderate activity, and red meaning high activity.

Fort Worth was one of 12 new cities recently added to the US Ghost Adventures roster, including Houston and El Paso. The company operates tours in more than 50 cities across the country, and full list of new cities include:

The tour is $25 per person and there’s a two-person minimum. There's also an option to add a 30-minute bonus tour of four additional stops for just $6 per person.

Reservations should be made in advance online, and participants should meet at the Livestock Exchange Building at 131 E. Exchange Ave.

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