My family and I were invited out to visit the North Texas Outdoor Pursuit Center for a fun day of rock climbing inside the historic Carrollton grain silos, which was just amazing, but while we were there, I couldn’t believe all the fun going on in Historic Downtown Carrollton! On a Friday night, it was hopping with people dining, attending an event at the Plaza and just enjoying the sights and sounds in the square! I was so impressed that I came back a few days later for lunch at the Rainbow Grill and to learn a little more about this fun family destination!
Know Before You Go
Parking is FREE in Historic Downtown Carrollton
The Centerpiece of Downtown is the Gazebo, and it’s flanked on 3 sides by restaurants and shopping!
Restaurants
Come hungry, as there are 8 restaurants in Downtown Carrollton! Babes Chicken is family favorite, and Cane Rosso is a yearly winner in Best Pizza in DFW! Other favorites are Twisted Root Burgers and Sid’s Rainbow Grill!
Shopping
Walk off your lunch or dinner with a little window shopping while your here. 12 Cute gift, antique and boutiques surround the square! We had a fun time at Blooms Candy Shop, which has a HUGE selection of obscure and hard-to-find sodas!
The Plaza Art Center
The 1949 building is known as the Plaza Art Center and brings to Downtown Carrollton events such as dance lessons, live music and the kid-friendly Salmagundi Circus Dinner Theater! Click HERE to visit their website.
Painting With Influence
Enjoy a fun evening with friends or family painting or producing fun clay pieces! Kid and Mom and me events availalble, too! Click HERE to visit their website.
North Texas Outdoor Pursuits Center
Great outing for the entire family! My kids and I love climbing in the silos! Click HERE to read more!
More to do
The pocket library is just one of the fun little things that give Downtown Carrollton so much character. Enjoy strolling around the square and exploring all of it!
Fun paintings lure you across the railroad tracks to more shopping and dining options!
Trains
Carrollton has a long history of trains, and was once a stop on the Cotton Belt line. Now, Carrollton has a stop on the DART train line, with an aerial station on the elevated track, and a pedestrian bridge. Click HERE for more information.
To read more about Carrollton’s history in the Cotton Belt line, click HERE. The Cotton Belt Depot Museum in Tyler is a fun place to learn even more about this historic railway.
Parks
Downtown Carrollton also makes a great place to stop your adventure of exploring Carrollton by bike! Click HERE for a map of their bike trails!
Festival at the Switchyard
Join the fun in November for the annual Festival at the Switchyard, which had over 27,000 attendees last year enjoying food, live music, vendors and lots of kid’s activities! Click HERE to read more!
Christmas on the Square
Mark your calendar for Downtown Carrollton’s annual Christmas event! “Whimsical as Christmas itself, the Old Downtown Square in Carrollton will offer a Christmas explosion. Santa himself will ride in on “Old General” (the best antique Fire Truck in Dallas) at 10am and welcome boys and girls alike to the sweetest Christmas Town in Texas! Be whisked away into a magic wonderland full of snow hills, stage coach rides, kiddie trains, and bounce houses. Many artisans, craftspeople, food vendors, and entertainers will fill the Square and offer Christmas gifts/ideas, magic, and fun.” Click HERE to visit their website.
Things to do in Carrollton
A. W. Perry Homestead Museum offers FREE tours of this turn of the century homestead! Click HERE to visit their website.
Historic Downtown Carrollton
1106 S. Broadway, Carrollton
Click HERE to visit their website.
Keep Having Fun in the Texas Sun!
Michelle
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