Meagan Garrison

With summer just right around the corner, vacations are a much needed break from class but students do not have the funds to go on extravagant vacations.  Fortunately for Texas A&M-Texarkana students, there are some places close to home that are located near or here in Texarkana.

On May 4, 2013, Texarkana is opening its’ very own water park Called Holiday Springs.  It will consist of 5 water slides, a lazy river, a wave pool, 2 children pools, a sand castle area and an adult pool.  “It’s going to be a very good tourism spot for Texarkana,” said Dr. Hiren Patel of Texarkana Hotels LLC,  which she stated to arkansasmediaroom.com.

If you need to get out of town for a little bit, just about an hour and a half down the road in Shreveport, LA is the Splash Kingdom water park.  The park consists of 9 different fun filled attractions.  Since being remodeled their new saying is, “It’s like a whole new place.”  So this is an option to check out to get some sun while still getting out of town.

If you want to travel a bit further, three hours away, in Dallas, TX there are many different attractions.  But one in particular is the Dallas World Aquarium.  “It’s not just a place for children, I really enjoyed myself and plan to go back,” says TAMUT student Heather Dickens.  The aquarium consists of exhibits of animals in their own environments throughout the world.  “The Dallas World Aquarium does have an aquarium part but I was really surprised to see all of the other animals they had in only 3 levels.  They had Monkeys, birds, alligators, sloths and so much more,” said Dickens.

These places are just some of the many gems in close proximity to the Texarkana area.  Admission for all three locations is less than $30.00 per person.    After working hard through the semester, these places are ideal for students to have a cheap but fun summer getaway.  So do yourselves a favor and treat yourself to one of these hot spots this summer.