Spend A Weekend in the Fort Worth Area

Our guest post comes from Bonnie & Bill Neely of: Real Travel Adventures Ezine – Your free online monthly travel magazine with hundreds of features and photos on travel to anywhere.

We took a long weekend and went to some terrific places in the Fort Worth area. We loved staying at the Hyatt Place Hotel in the Historic Stockyards so we could watch the famous live cattle drive right in front of the hotel twice daily. We also had fun visiting the authentic old wooden-front cowboy saloons, which are now unique shops on the cobblestone streets.

The Hyatt is an easy walk to everything there to see and do, so parking was not a consideration.  The many restaurants and bars in this area offer delicious food from moderate to expensive, and inside the Hyatt we could get a good breakfast included with our room or order food at any time of day with a variety of choices. We loved having the drink bar and specialty coffee bar right in the hotel lobby in the style of old Western hotels, but very modern and chic.

We could walk right across the driveway to take horseback riding lessons or visit the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, where we could learn all about the historic ones and current ones.  Yes, cowboys still exist and they work hard.  We learned just how very hard they work by attending the terrific, authentic Stockyards Championship Rodeo, which is every Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. at the Cowtown Coliseum.  It was really fun.

You can also see Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show in the afternoons and watch the tricks cowboys can do with ropes as well as their riding, shooting, and cracking bullwhips. In the evenings we did not want to miss the world’s largest honky tonk, Billy Bob’s Texas, a fascinating night life place!

You’ll be entertained there by bands, concerts by big name singers, video games, billiards, bull riding contests (and you can have your own photo taken on a very real-looking bucking bull.) The bar is famous, and on some nights you will get free line dance lessons.  The dance floor is always occupied and typical music flourishes there always. You’ll find a wall of famous handprints, so looks for your favorite entertainer.

A few minutes out of the Fort Worth city traffic is the Money Factory, which is one of only two United States Departments of Printing and Engraving, where our bills are made. The free tour of about two hours is really impressive.

Ripley’s Grand Prairie has many different things to offer. First, spend some time in the Odditorium to learn about the world’s most unbelievable things of all kinds, with photos, specimens, models, and explanations.
In Luis Tussaud’s Palace of Wax you will meet all your favorite men and women of history, from Presidents to movie stars, to the story of Jesus’s birth, crucifixion and resurrection, each rendered in amazing life-sized likenesses.

Some of our favorite places to eat in the Fort Worth area are Reata’s, famous for its atmosphere and delicious Southwest cuisine and the view overlooking Sundance Square. For some of  the best typical Texas food and drinks try Riscky’s at Sundance Square or in The Stockyards. You’ll find many choices and every bite is TEXALICIOUS!!!I

In the Stockyard area go to Lonesome Dove Restaurant for elegant dining or The Love Shack for really good Texas eatin’ and live Western music in a cowhand atmosphere.

H3 Ranch Restaurant is for fabulous, hearty food almost anytime of day or night.The open pit hickory grill creates a very relaxed atmosphere in which to receive the best service and fine dining experience without having to dress up, and their assortment of Margaritas is amazing.

A wonderful way to start or end your time in the Metroplex is at the Fort Worth Zoo, one of the five top zoos in the nation.  The admission fees are nominal, and the newest exhibit which is utterly fascinating (but scary to some) is MOLA: the Museum of Living Art.  This indoor-outdoor facility is a herpetology study with over 100 amphibian and reptile species. The Herpetarium is the only one in the world and has impressively diverse and rare animals that are living as if in nature as you watch and listen to their sounds.

If you are not squeamish about these species, this is a fascinating place and a safe way to get up close and personally aquainted with beings you might have feared.  You can enjoy as well as learn about those of which you should be wary!  This Herpetarium is a marvelous accomplishment of which Fort Worth is rightfully proud!