You guys know I love, love, LOVE going new places. A Dallas day trip is always in the cards for me! Last week I attended a really fun day in Decatur, Texas, hosted by some of the local businesses, and you know what? Decatur is happenin’, y’all. I’m excited to share what to do in Decatur, TX – it’s the perfect destination for a Dallas day trip or a girls’ weekend!
But first can I just say, I kind of wasn’t expecting it to be so fun. I mean, I’m always up for going somewhere new, but I’ve been to a lot of small towns and most of them have their charm but only so many things to do. That was so not the case in Decatur. We spent the entire day there and there was a bunch of stuff I wasn’t able to do – another day would have been perfect!
What to do in Decatur, TX
We started off our morning at Trinity Street Coffee in downtown Decatur. Super cute, with yummy drinks and friendly staff, this genius of a coffee shop is also a bar. So you can start your morning off with a cup of joe and then round out the day with some specialty drinks at the bar.
Our drinks were sponsored by The Big White Barn, which is a local wedding and event venue that hosts quarterly dances!
Since you’re downtown at this point, you’ll want to visit all the shops and do some shopping! There are plenty of cute little boutiques and we got to visit The Divine Center of Yoga, a pretty little yoga studio located downtown (they also have a studio in Southlake). You can shop for hours, and you’ll also find restaurants and even a sweet shop downtown.
We had some lemon bars and brownies from Cakes by Leisha (also located downtown) and I’m pretty much ready to go back to Decatur just for the lemon bars.
There are also plenty of places to stay in Decatur, and we toured a few different places! There’s the cutest little B&B downtown called Courthouse Suites – all of the rooms have a rustic theme (it used to be a brothel over a saloon!), and some of the rooms have windows that face out over the square.
After coffee and a walk around downtown, our group split up. There was so much to see and do, but not enough time to do it all, so we had to make some tough choices. Well – it might have been tough for the others, but it was easy(ish) for me. We could spend more time downtown shopping, go to a local winery, or visit NRS.
NRS = National Roper Supply = Horses = CARRIE.
But a quick note about the winery! Marker Cellars Winery is just a short drive out of Decatur. The ladies who went had a great time wine tasting and enjoying the beautiful views.
You don’t even really need to get excited about horses to enjoy all NRS has to offer. You can drive a golf cart on a self-tour of the huge property and visit the barn, the saddle maker, the cabins (yep, you can rent a cabin!) and the ginormous tack store and roping museum.
This is somewhere you could bring the kids – they could ride in a golf cart, run around, and maybe meet some horses! They have events going almost every weekend, so it’s likely you might even catch a rodeo if you’re there on a weekend.
And I’m sure this is my “horse girl” showing, but I think a freshly dragged arena is one of the prettiest (and most satisfying) sights I’ll ever see.
We spent a couple hours at NRS, and from there went to have lunch at a beautiful, super adorable old home (1895!) that is available for rental called The House on Main. Seriously the CUTEST, you guys. Beautifully decorated (the owner is an interior designer!) and right next to everything you need, this spacious house is the perfect place to stay for a wedding party or a girls’ trip.
After lunch we headed to DIY Studio Decatur. This is a huge workshop with the cutest studio for tons of different classes. We got to make our own signs and y’all, they were so cute! So, here’s what’s extra cool about this place – they make a lot of the stuff you will find when you visit Magnolia Market down in Waco (if you’re planning a trip to Waco, be sure to read this)!
You’ll need to book your sign party or class in advance. You can pick from a huge collection of signs. The owners are super accomodating, though, and if you have a custom idea in mind I feel like they will do everything they can to make it happen. If you have something special in mind I’d give them a call before you schedule and see what they can do!
These are the kinds of projects that I always think I want to DIY, but when it comes down it I get overwhelmed by the supplies I need or the skills I don’t have or the fear that will turn out ugly, etc., etc. In this case everything we needed was in one place and we had experts guiding us every step of the way – but complete creative license to make each sign our own.
We made signs, but they also have classes in candle making and jewelry making. They do parties, classes, private events…I feel like the sky is the limit. They even said they make custom signs for people all the time (as in, they will make it for you and you don’t need to do anything…so if you’re looking for something awesome but don’t want to make it, there ya go!).
This was such a highlight of our trip. I loved having something to take home and hang on my wall (or more accurately, stand up on the bookshelf behind my desk because we’re in a rental and I’m trying not to cover the walls with stuff).
A few people asked me this when I got back from Decatur…but, did you really have fun there? would you go back? The answer is yes, I’d definitely go back. I’d drink some tea, do some shopping, have lunch downtown, visit NRS, do some wine tasting, and make another sign.
If you’re wondering what to do in Decatur I hope these resources will help you:
- Art classes/sign making at DIY Studio Decatur
- Wine tasting at Marker Cellars
- B&B at Courthouse Suites
- House rental for bridal parties, girls’ trips at The House on Main
- Outdoor fun and tack shopping at NRS Ranch
- Wedding and event venue at The Big White Barn
- Coffee and cocktails at Trinity Street Coffee
- Wedding venue at Flying V Ranch
If you love traveling Texas, I’ve got lots of helpful guides to visiting these Texas town:
- Plan your visit to Magnolia Market and Waco, TX
- Visit San Antonio with the family
- 5 things to do in Lubbock, TX
- Plan your trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX
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