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 Choctaw Country

Those who love water are in luck at Broken Bow Lake in Beavers Bend State Park.

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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Shopping for a cause

Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms spreads its wings with 2 DFW Airport stores

DFW Airport

Bonton Farms stand at DFW Airport

South Dallas nonprofit Bonton Farms is going international without straying too far from home. The organization is debuting two storefronts at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport: one that just opened and another coming this fall.

The larger Bonton Farms marketplace, a 2,895-square-foot space in Terminal A, quietly opened in mid-August.

A second, smaller 551-square-foot newsstand near the A-Pier will open in October, when the airport's A-Pier expansion is scheduled to open, a spokesperson says. (Exact date is still TBA.)

The shops are called, simply, "Bonton Farms" and are operated by Marshall Retail Group, a subsidiary of WHSmith North America, which is partnering with Bonton Farms on the airport concept.

According to a release, both stores will sell Bonton Farms products such as locally made honey, handmade jam, and goat-milk soap, along with apparel, merchandise, and products made by "Bontonpreneurs," the local entrepreneurs supported through the nonprofit's business-development programs.

Bonton Farms' goods are now sold at DFW Airport Terminal A. Photo courtesy of Bonton Farms

The stores will also offer fresh grab-and-go food, including sandwiches, wraps, salads and sweet treats, as well as travel essentials and souvenirs and gifts.

The airport project was first announced in 2024 as a partnership between Bonton Farms, WHSmith, and DFW Airport. The plan called for Bonton Farms products to be sold alongside goods from other North Texas businesses, including Fort Worth's Sons Coffee, Lettuce Cook, and Pearl Honey Spreads.

Bonton Farms began in the Bonton neighborhood with a small beekeeping operation and has grown into a nonprofit farm, market and community hub. Its operations now include two farm sites, a coffeehouse, farmers market, preservatory and farm-to-table Market/Café, along with programs focused on workforce development, education, health and wellness, economic opportunity and access to fresh food.

"This opening represents an exciting milestone for Bonton Farms and the community we serve," says Mark Jones, President & CEO of Bonton Farms, in the release. "For the first time, our products and our story will reach travelers from around the world. Through this partnership with WHSmith North America, we're creating new opportunities to share the mission of Bonton Farms while generating additional support for programs that help our neighbors thrive."

The airport shops are designed to introduce Bonton Farms to travelers who may not otherwise encounter the organization or its products.

"This store isn't just retail space, it's a front door to our mission," says Kendra Charisse Smith, Director of Operations at Bonton Farms, who oversaw execution of the partnership. "From sourcing and packaging our products to meet the demands of a whole new scale of distribution, every step was about making sure Bonton Farms shows up authentically in one of the busiest airports in the world. This launch reflects the same care and intentionality we put into everything we do in South Dallas.”

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