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Experience Cowboy and Cowgirl Culture in Fort Worth

Travel Writing
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Budget-conscious Texans looking for a nice weekend vacation should consider a place offering ample opportunities for sightseeing, excellent dining, and a sense of adventure. With its multiple museums and distinct culinary tastes, Fort Worth tops the list of places to visit on your next Texas getaway.

They say the western frontier begins in this Texas city where cowboys drive meandering Longhorn cattle through the brick-paved streets of the famous Fort Worth Stockyards. Besides the Fort Worth Stockyards, visitors can take in word-class museums, fine dining, and spend the night in a bed-and-breakfast, which once served as a brothel, making this the perfect trip for indulging in cowboy and cowgirl culture.

Along with the twice-daily cattle drive at the Stockyards, Fort Worth offers exceptional museums including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art with its collection of paintings and sculpture of the Old West by Frederic Remington. The Amon Carter also features an overwhelming collection of American photography with over 45,000 exhibition-quality prints. Nearby, the Kimbell Art Museum offers a large European art collection and the only painting by Michelangelo on exhibit in the west, The Torment of Saint Anthony; one of his earliest known paintings. The Fort Worth Botanic Garden delights visitors with its Rose and Japanese Gardens. It also is the oldest botanical garden in the west.

While the cowboy takes dominates the landscape, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame pays tribute to the sweethearts of the west through song, paintings, and film. This hands-on museum brings to life the pioneering spirit of the women who tamed the west. The museum has named over 200 women as Cowgirl Hall of Fame honorees for their contributions in art, ranching, business, and education.

Besides smoked brisket and beans, Fort Worth offers many dining options from home cooked fare to farm-to-kitchen comfort food. Visitors can find barbeque and beef in the Stockyards, such as Riscky’s Steakhouse or Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest honky-tonk. Other choices, such as Montgomery Street Cafe or Café Modern, in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, are within easy distance of the Cultural District of Fort Worth.

Once the day is done, rest your head on a satin pillow at Miss Molly’s Bed & Breakfast. Dating back to around 1910, visitors can locate this former brothel in the middle of the Fort Worth Stockyards above the Star Café. You can spend the night in Miss Josie’s room, the former madam’s room, to get an authentic feel for what it must have been like in Fort Worth’s boisterous past.

Fort Worth has so much to do, visitors may come back for a second visit. It extends western hospitality to anyone who takes the time to wander. It may be called “Cowtown,” but Fort Worth features plenty of sophistication and culture inside its hearty wrap of the cowboy life.

Fort Worth: Worth Mentioning

  • Fort Worth Zoo-It started in 1909 with a few rabbits, a lion, an alligator, two bear cubs and a few other animals. Today, this zoo features over 7,000 native and exotic animals. Visitors can tour an African Savanna experience and take pictures under Iggy, a comanding 40-foot iguana sculpture. The Fort Worth Zoo is located at 1989 Colonial Parkway, Fort Worth, TX 76110, 817-759-7555.
  • Fort Worth Water Gardens-Water made the west, and this is evident at the Fort Worth Water Gardens. Three pools of water cascade down giving visitors the idea they are listening to falling rain. Located at 1502 Commerce Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102 near downtown.