I no longer have little kids. I type that to myself in disbelief. How do I know this, friends? I just took my youngest on a college tour.
We spent a wonderful full day together, talking about the future and discovering the awesome city of Denton, Texas.
Denton is located in Northern Texas, within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area. At its center is the Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square; a truly beautiful Romanesque style gem, constructed in 1895. The courthouse is home to the Denton County museum, as well as the final resting place for John B Denton, whom the town is named after.
Surrounding and facing the courthouse are four streets filled with antique markets, toy shops and ice cream parlors. A favorite spot of my musician, vinyl-record loving son, is the multi-story used book, record and CD shop, called Recycled Books. It’s rated Best of Denton year after year and stepping inside one can easily see why. Packed from floor to ceiling, long lost titles in every genre encourage hours of relaxed browsing.
My family loves a good old-fashioned ice cream shop on a hot, Texas day. Look no further than Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream Palor, located right on the square. From the checkerboard floors to the tin ceiling, Beth Marie’s serves up wonderful nostalgia along with awesome ice cream. They even have a huge gluten free ice cream menu and so many choices guaranteed to please even your pickiest of ice cream connoisseurs.
Since this was a college tour after-all, our next stop was the University of North Texas. Right away I was impressed with the layout of the school and beautiful it was. Huge oak trees cover the grounds of this earth conscience campus. My son is interested in the School of Music, which is one of the best in the country, so our focus was mainly there and the music dorm (which are across the street from one another.) I was extremely impressed with the school and my son was impressed that he could just roll out of bed, cross the street and attend class. (Very important point in this incredible decision-making process.) University of North Texas calls itself a “community of dreamers and doers.” With a vibrant art and music scene, a beautiful campus, close to a fun and historic downtown, it’s easy to see why so many love their university and its city.
We adored our day trip to Denton and can’t wait to return! To find out more information about this awesome city, go to www.discoverdenton.com. I’m not sure where my youngest will end up for college, but I’d be more than happy to keep exploring Denton during those four years. (Keep practicing, kid!)
