{"id":267,"date":"2017-03-09T21:07:47","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T21:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/?p=267"},"modified":"2020-05-24T14:27:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-24T14:27:44","slug":"day-trip-to-dublin-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2017\/03\/09\/day-trip-to-dublin-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Day Trip to Dublin . . . Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Travel can be exhilarating, exhausting and expensive. Taking time off from work coupled with the cost of plane tickets, hotels, and tours can add up to a hefty bill. This doesn\u2019t stop us from planning vacations in far off places, but if you have a \u201cnormal\u201d job it can limit this kind of travel to once or twice a year. This is where the day-trip comes in.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I scheduled a Saturday \u201cdate day.\u201d Historically, we have planned activities close to home, such as visiting the arboretum or the DMA. Unfortunately, it can devolve into running errands and doing things around the house. This time, I wanted to do something different and the idea of a short road trip seemed to be the ticket.<\/p>\n

Living in North Texas means that a day trip \u2013 somewhere you can drive to in one to two hours \u2013 doesn\u2019t get you far out of North Texas, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t find some interesting things to do. After searching around the internet I landed on the Dublin Bottling Company in Dublin, Texas. Just south of Stephenville, it would take around two hours to drive there. Upon mentioning this idea to Jason, he recalled reading about Dublin in Dean Fearing\u2019s cookbook last year and was excited about the idea.<\/p>\n

After a slow start out of the gate, we got on the road around 11:30 a.m. Once we broke through the congestion of the Dallas highways, we relaxed a bit and began to enjoy the drive.   Traveling on the open highway where the scenery turns to open fields with signs of ranching and farming brought the stress level down a few notches. At this point, Jason started counting the dead skunks that probably tried to brave a street crossing at night. Life is rough in the country.<\/p>\n

Our destination sat on the corner of the main street in town with an imposing bronze statue of the bottling company\u2019s founder. As we stepped out of the car, it felt like we had stepped back in time. The two-step sidewalk and brick peaking through the washed away concrete of the road all reminded me of typical small town Texas. Blessed with a summer day in February, we strolled around before stepping into the soda shop. Decorated up to the 20-foot ceiling with signs from the past, the counter stood to the left with girls hard at work pulling sodas, scooping ice cream, and making sandwiches. Immediately to your left stood a cooler stacked with Dublin\u2019s finest: root beer, Dublin original with black cherry, cream soda and nu grape. While Jason prefers the bottle, I dig on the fountain drink. Grabbing a sandwich order sheet, I scanned for a vegetarian option \u2013 thank goodness they had a peanut butter and jelly. After handing in our orders, I picked through the chips and settled on some Cheetos and took a seat near the register to wait on our sandwiches.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Once I had a chance to sit down and look around, I felt like I was standing before a Bosch painting with so much going on that you had to give yourself time to take it all in. Behind me stood a 7 foot Jar Jar Binx next to a Christmas tree of empty soda bottles. A set of stairs behind the tree took you up to a loft area that looked like the Manager\u2019s office. Most of the wall space was covered with old soda signs. To the right of the door from the street was a mountain of empty boxes atop a display of the various sodas Dublin bottled. You could choose your bottles to fill the box and take home. Another corner had an array of knick knack type things you could buy: bottle cap magnets, soda brand patches, bottle openers, etc.<\/p>\n

The PB&Js did not disappoint and the whole meal experience reminded me of the field trip lunches from my elementary school days when we\u2019d pack a sandwich with a small bag of chips and roll our coke cans in foil to keep them cold. Afterward, while waiting for the next guided tour of the bottling plant, we stepped outside to sit on a bench and enjoy the sunshine.<\/p>\n

The teenage girl who gave the tour was fairly knowledgeable. She had her spiel down and seemed to really take pride in the fact that she worked for a company that was part of Texas lore. The tour included a look at the age-old machinery the company used until it stopped bottling a few years ago. We learned about the prior owners, and we were taken through the original office and cold storage area. The lawsuit that had recently brought Dublin significant fame was the frame for the history of the company.<\/p>\n

After the tour, we walked around the museum across the street containing more of the same of what we had just perused. (One of the former owners collected hundreds of pieces of soda memorabilia.)  After thanking our guide, we headed over to the Ben Hogan museum around the corner.  (Who knew there was so much to see in Dublin, Texas??)  I\u2019ll leave out the details so as not to spoil it for you, but I will mention that our guide at the Hogan museum had the right amount of enthusiasm and hospitality to make the visit pleasant and interesting.<\/p>\n

Returning home with our box of soda, we felt like we had been on a real adventure and taken advantage of the beautiful weather on a warm February day. We hit all the points that make a good trip \u2013 it was the perfect amount of time to be away with a small price tag. We felt removed from the traffic and fast pace of Dallas for a little while and learned something about Texas history. It was . . . a successful day trip.<\/p>\n

What’s your favorite day trip story or location?  Please share!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travel can be exhilarating, exhausting and expensive. Taking time off from work coupled with the cost of plane tickets, hotels, and tours can add up to a hefty bill. This doesn\u2019t stop us from planning vacations in far off places, but if you have a \u201cnormal\u201d job it can limit this kind of travel to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[45,21],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hz1R-4j","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/19\/hello-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":0},"title":"Welcome to Navigation Maven!","date":"July 19, 2015","format":"image","excerpt":"The inspiration for this blog came from a friend after discussing my most recent trip to the South of France. \u00a0In the midst of explaining what we did on our trip, how I organized it, and the planning that went into the trip, \u00a0she said \"You should start a blog!\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/26\/going-back-to-colorado\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":1},"title":"Going Back to Colorado","date":"July 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This makes our 11th year to visit Crested Butte, Colorado. \u00a0Every year a number of people from Texas (okay, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people) make their way to Colorado for a short respite from the heat. \u00a0There really is no other place like Colorado with its breathtaking beauty, cool air,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/IMG_8020-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":103,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/18\/the-next-big-trip-ireland\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":2},"title":"The Next Big Trip: Ireland!","date":"November 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Ireland is a place I've always wanted to visit. \u00a0Partly because I have always been told that I have an Irish heritage - along with half of America! \u00a0(More about that later . . . ) For me, one of the best parts of a trip is the planning stage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":77,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/02\/packing-for-colorado-no-camping\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":3},"title":"Packing for Colorado [No Camping]","date":"September 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is not about packing for a camping trip - that's for someone else to tackle. [Check out intentionaltravelers.com - they have a great post on packing for a camping trip. \u00a0I'm sure there are million others.] My idea of camping includes a condo with a bed, running water, and,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":100,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/13\/hotel-v-vrbo-in-new-york-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":4},"title":"Hotel v. VRBO in New York City","date":"October 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Thankfully, as of the writing of this post, I have (finally!) secured our accommodations for our trip to New York on October 22. \u00a0Everything else - plane tickets, check; tickets to a show, check; reservation for dinner before the show, check - was done BEFORE we even had a place\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/IMG_3524-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88,"url":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/21\/so-you-wanna-go-to-the-south-of-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":267,"position":5},"title":"So you wanna go to the South of France . . .","date":"September 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to visit the South of France - in particular, the regions of Provence and the French Riviera. \u00a0It evokes so many images\u00a0- fields of lavender, the Mediterranean sea, and stone pathways through ancient cities lined with bougainvillea. The cities are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ADVENTURES"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.navigationmaven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Photo-May-22-2-40-37-PM-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267\/revisions\/418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigationmaven.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}