This year's hottest headlines

Top 10 Dallas travel stories of 2022 escape to a tiny house, grand castle, and surfers' paradise

Editor's note: As we look back at the most-read travel stories of 2022, we can see that readers were eager to overcome high gas prices and airport headaches and escape for some fun. Our most popular stories featured a surprising new hot spot northeast of Dallas; easy one-tank getaways; news for fans of surfing and spa-ing; a getaway to a tiny house in East Texas; and a peek behind fixed-up castle walls in Waco.

1. Surprising place northeast of Dallas could be ‘the next Austin,’ says Bloomberg. For years, cities around the country have competed for the banner of “the next Austin.” In hopes of replicating Austin’s astounding success as a much-admired economic hub, fans have touted their cities as the next incarnation of Austin. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Conor Sen made the case for the mountainous Northwest Arkansas region to be the Austin-in-waiting.

2. 7 spectacular surprises inside Chip and Joanna Gaines' new Fixer Upper castle in Waco. For the first time ever, Texas’ king and queen of renovation, Chip and Joanna Gaines, unlocked the doors and let the public into one of their famed fixer-uppers before it was featured on their Magnolia Network show. We went to Waco for a tour and discovered seven surprises behind the castle walls.

Photo courtesy of Magnolia

The Waco castle went on tour before it was featured on a special season of Fixer Upper - Welcome Home.

3. American Airlines introduces new way to breeze through security at DFW Airport. As airports experienced a crush of travel delays over the summer, American Airlines made it easier to get through security checkpoints at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. American rolled out its new Mobile ID feature at DFW. Anyone with a mobile phone, TSA PreCheck membership, AAdvantage number, and either a driver’s license or U.S. passport could now verify their identity with facial recognition at DFW’s security checkpoints.

4. Rad new surfing lagoon paradise rides into Texas promising ocean-perfect waves and beachy fun. A new, world-class surf destination is coming to Houston. HTX Sur f will ride into Generation Park in fall of 2024, per an announcement by creators Beach Street Development, the company that pushes the barefoot life with its man-made surfing lagoons.

5. New Omni PGA Frisco Resort hotel aims to be biggest golf destination ever. The city of Frisco is due to get a new Omni with a big dose of golf on the side: Called Omni PGA Frisco Resort, it's slated to open in spring 2023, at 4341 PGA Pkwy., at the southeast corner of the Dallas North Tollway and University Drive. Described as the country's largest resort currently in development, it's aiming to be "the cutting-edge home of American golf" with a host of golf-related features

6. Fuss-free hop-on jet service JSX launches new nonstop flights from Dallas to Destin. With summer vacation on the horizon, Dallas-based JSX relaunched its popular seasonal hop-on jet service to a favorite Florida beach destination — Destin. Nonstop flights from Dallas Love Field to Destin Executive Airport ran May 12-October 31.

7. Texas legends Willie Nelson and ZZ Top team up for concert at iconic Hill Country venue. "Shotgun Willie" may sit around in his underwear, but next April, he'll be a "Sharp Dressed Man." Taking the iconic stage at Whitewater Amphitheater in New Braunfels, Willie Nelson and ZZ Top will perform together on April 14 and 15, 2023.

8. 5 fantastic summer escapes from Dallas-Fort Worth on one tank of gas. High gas prices, expensive airfare, airport headaches, and pricey car rental fees made travel planning a little more difficult last summer. But a postcard-worthy family vacation was just one gas tank away thanks to picturesque resorts and parks located within a short road trip from Dallas-Fort Worth.

9. 2 happy campers unplug to recharge at a tiny cabin Getaway in East Texas' Piney Woods. Getaway Outposts are “resorts” of about 40 trendy tiny homes that let city folk escape into nature in a slightly upscale way — to turn off digital devices, relax, and recharge internal batteries — “rustic without having to rough it,” they advertise. One city couple drove an hour-and-a-half east of Dallas into the Piney Woods to check it out.

10. Texas' dreamiest destination spa unwraps exclusive $1,000 Swiss facial for 25th anniversary. When the Lake Austin Spa Resort went shopping for a 25th-anniversary gift for guests, it aimed higher than traditional silver and picked treatments that incorporated gold, diamonds, and caviar. As a result, the dreamy destination introduced some of the most opulent, exclusive, and — at upwards of $1,000 — most expensive facials in the world.

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BACKSTAGE PASS

Universal Music unveils new hotel and amphitheater near Texas Hill Country

UMusic Hotel & Private Residences Austin

Rendering courtesy of UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle

A rendering of the property, with another building extending off-screen to the right.

Texas travelers who want to make sure their next weekend trip takes full advantage of the “Live Music Capital” have an upcoming community to consider: UMusic Hotel & Private Residences Austin, an effort owned by White Rocks and developed in partnership with Universal Music Group, will bring 150 hotel rooms, 600 private residences, and a new amphitheater to a 71-acre site at the edge of the Hill Country.

A representative says an opening is projected for the first quarter of 2029, with construction beginning in the first quarter of 2027. Residences are on sale now. Different units cost $850-$1,450 per square foot, depending on variables like locations, views, and more.

There is already one UMusic Hotel operating in Madrid, Spain. The Austin location will introduce private residences for the first time.

The keystone of the property will be White Rocks Amphitheater, an open-air venue that takes advantage of the natural surroundings. More than 70 percent of the site will "remain green open space," the release says. There will also be a performance venue inside the hotel, plus professional recording and content studios.

Music is the central force of the property, but it's not the only thing to do at the hotel. There will also be a bar, a nightclub, a comedy club, dining, a rooftop pool and fitness center, and a spa and wellness center.

At the spa, visitors can get traditional treatments like massages, facials, hair, makeup, and manicures, while the wellness center offers weight training, steam rooms, hammam (a Southwest Asian or North African bath), plus more advanced technologies including red-light therapy, peptide therapy, cryogenic chambers, and more. Sometimes the amphitheater will host yoga, weight training, and other physical events.

Similarly, the residences will have access to their own set of amenities including, a private pool and fitness facilities, underground parking, and common areas, the release says. They can visit the hotel anytime and enjoy the culture there, too.

"The result is a living environment that offers the peace of a private retreat alongside the vibrancy of an international cultural hub," the release says.

Since nature is such a big part of the plan, the developer has a number of sustainability commitments going into the project. Those include a mostly hidden plant for hot and cold water and power, microgrid energy tech, a closed-loop water system that developers say complies with a 100 percent water reuse goal set by the city, and DarkSky-compliant practices that help reduce light pollution, which is better for wildlife and seeing stars. That will help at monthly stargazing events held at the amphitheater.

The developers have also committed to the creative community that made them want to work in Austin to begin with; things like allocating a portion of ticket sales to a perpetual endowment for local artists and nonprofits, setting up paid gigs for emerging talent, and partnering with schools and other cultural institutions, sometimes for mentorship opportunities.

“Our vision is to create places where culture is made, shared, and celebrated," said UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle president Jordi Solé in the release. "This property combines performance, wellness, nature, and community into a single living ecosystem, reflecting Austin's creative spirit on a global stage.”

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