(In Partnership with Visit Plano)

Heading out to Plano from Arlington, was a 45 mile long drive and it took us around an hour to arrive. If you’re visiting Texas, and flying into DFW or Dallas Love Field, it’s only about 30 miles.

We visited Plano before but didn’t get to experience many of the wonderful places the city has to offer. So, the six of us were pretty excited to have the opportunity of working with the City of Plano, to tell y’all about our favorite places and experiences during our two night, three day stay!

I do have to mention that our time was a bit limited because we had to chauffeur my oldest daughter to school each morning so she wouldn’t miss any classes or school work. Nonetheless, we made it work and still had so much fun!

Upon arrival to Plano, we checked into the beautiful Hilton Granite Park Hotel.

They were gracious enough to host us for two nights in a two bedroom standard room. I would although recommend, that if you have a family of four or more to book a bigger room. The room was a bit small for our family of six, due to having to fit two play pens for the boys in there. Luka, 2 years old, and Tiago, 1 year old, both sleep separately in their own cribs and in order to maintain their sleeping habits, we like to have them in play pens when we travel. Nevertheless, we all made it work and still loved the room so much. I’m sure I could have switched it, but was too tired upon check in because they boys were super hungry and whiny.

The view from our hotel window was directly looking over The Boardwalk at Granite Park, and it was beautiful!

The hotel is extremely central to all of the best places in Plano. Just a short two minute walk from the hotel to the Boardwalk. The Boardwalk at Granite Park is home to multiple restaurants such as; Campisi’s Restaurant, Bavette Grill, Blue Mesa Grill, The Biscuit Bar, Fork & Fire, Chip’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers, Union Bear Brewing Co. , Edith’s French Bistro, and the Suburban Yacht Club. Inside the hotel you can also find a cafe/bistro ” Carso Market” – that sells Starbucks coffee and other grab and go food items. Their restaurant Carso offers a sit down option as well.

After we checked in on Monday night, we brought everything upstairs and headed out for a fun night of bowling at Pinstack in Plano!

I have to say that after this visit, I don’t think I’ll ever look at bowling the same again. Pinstack in Plano graciously hosted us with two VIP lanes. We felt super important lol. The girls had such a great time!

I definitely recommend this if you are out on a date, or a special occasion. It’s really nice and a great way to bowl with a little more privacy, but you would still have a ton of fun in the other lanes.

They have 8 VIP lanes behind two double doors. You have your own server and I do have to say that our server Shakira was amazing! So sweet 🙂

We ordered three appetizers to satisfy our hunger from bowling. The menu has lots of finger foods, drinks and more, so there’s definitely something for everyone! It got a bit late so we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights rest.

By the way, the Hilton Granite Park comes with a microwave, which is super convenient for families! We were able to warm up the boys bottles easily and didn’t need to leave the room at random times.

Everyone showered and put the pjs on, brushed their teeth, and I tucked the kids in. We were so exhausted!

Our alarm woke us up at 6:30AM! Yikes, we had to drive our oldest daughter Mia to school an hour away! Thank goodness, her dad drove her, while I stayed and rested with the kids. (Bonus points for Daddy!)

We decided then to start getting ready and all head over to Legacy Food Hall, located at Legacy West just minutes away from the Hilton. They have a huge variety of restaurants and dessert places in there. The first floor houses all of the restaurants, while the second floor has seating and a full bar. The third floor has more seating as well. It also has an outdoor patio deck with a stage for fun performances! I would definitely check the visitplano.com website to see when their events are taking place.

We actually couldn’t make up our minds on where we wanted to eat from, so we just ordered one of each from the places that interested us. First we went with Brisket Love, and got their brisket Mac n cheese. The kids LOVED it! Then we also ordered a tray of tacos from Chilango Tacos. The meat was cooked perfectly 🙂

Of course we couldn’t forget to order from our favorite place, Press Waffle Co. We got the Fruity Pebbles waffle and The House. BOTH amazINGGG! 10/10 recommend you stop by there before leaving Plano.

After we feasted, we let the kids play a bit and then we left before the kids scared anyone off 🙂

I also recommend you arrive before the lunch traffic so you have time to park in the parking structure which can often get crowded with young professionals going to lunch.

After lunch, we headed to another place we have visited before, Crayola Experience Plano, which is located at The Shops At Willow Bend.

I personally love that it’s full of stations to inspire and really spark creativity in every child that enters. From creating your very own personalized crayons, to coloring instant photos of yourself, Crayola Experience is sure to keep your kiddos entertained for hours!

Soon, after both of these activities, my littles got tired and cranky so we didn’t get a chance to stop by a sit down dinner as we had originally planned. Lucky for us, one of our favorite on the go food places was close by, In N Out. If you haven’t had it in the West Coast, well don’t worry, you can find one right in they city of Plano.

Once our bellies were full, we headed back to our hotel to unwind and get the kids ready for bed a little earlier.

On the day of checkout we had breakfast at the beautiful Biscuit Bar just a couple of minutes from the hotel at the Boardwalk. They have a TON of breakfast options on biscuits and lot’s of yummy plates for brunch options as well. It was delicious, plus the service was super fast so you can always grab something quickly if you’re heading out. If you have a little more time, another great place to stop by for breakfast is the Cafe right next door to the Biscuit Bar, Golden Boy Coffee and Wine Bar.

We were sad to say goodbye, but definitely feel so lucky that we can return any time as Plano is so close to us in Arlington. We hope to get back very soon! If you want to see more from our trip just head to my Instagram @Livin.Mivida.Ale and look for the Plano highlight where you can visually see everything we did.

Of course for all of your planning needs, head over to www.visitplano.com for all of their latest events and a full guide on how to best enjoy this beautiful city! Chau 🙂