The way to Spend the Good Weekend in Fort Wort, Texas — With Cowboy Boots, Artwork, and Spicy Cocktails

Fort Value has greater than a handful of nicknames: Cowtown, Wall Road of the West, the Surprising Metropolis, The place the West Begins. That is not as a result of the place has an id disaster — it’s as a result of it has a lot to supply, as I found on a current go to. Fort Value has managed to take care of its Outdated West appeal and cowboy roots whereas modernizing right into a cultural powerhouse, with an id distinct from Dallas, its bigger neighbor. The perfect factor of all? It took solely a weekend to see its transformation for myself.

Friday

I acquired my bearings on the 35-block Sundance Sq. within the metropolis heart, which has a plaza that’s anchored by a fountain and a large disco-mirrored cowboy hat. Subsequent I made my solution to Water Gardens, a sequence of reflecting swimming pools that had been featured in one among Kendrick Lamar’s music movies. As I walked, I paused to learn a sequence of historic plaques detailing the characters of Fort Value’s previous, together with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child. 

At lunchtime, I pulled up a seat at Don Artemio, a James Beard Award semifinalist, for enchiladas filled with queso fresco and drizzled with tamarind mole. 

Publish-meal, I freshened up in my suite on the Crescent Lodge, a slick 200-room property that opened final November. It’s residence to Canyon Ranch’s first Wellness Membership, which has a 9,000-square-foot health heart and spa that has a spread of therapies, together with facials with diamond peptides. 

The Crescent is near a quartet of artwork establishments that rival any metropolis. The Louis Kahn–designed Kimbell Artwork Museum has one among Michelangelo’s first identified work (and the one one to hold in an American museum), along with works by Monet, Mondrian, and Rembrandt, plus an exhibition corridor designed by Renzo Piano. 

Simply steps away is the Fashionable Artwork Museum of Fort Value, designed by Tadao Ando, in addition to the Amon Carter Museum of American Artwork, named for the founder and writer of the Fort Value Star-Telegram, who was a dominant determine within the metropolis for the primary half of the twentieth century. The Carter holds a powerful assortment of pictures centered on the American West, together with works by Richard Avedon, Dorothea Lange, and Alfred Stiegltiz. 

Associated: Fort Value Is Extra Than Simply Cowboys

However I used to be most drawn to the Nationwide Cowgirl Museum & Corridor of Fame, which had an exhibition of embroidered conventional attire, sombreros, and shawls worn by Mexican cowgirls throughout Escaramuza Charra competitions — a revered Mexican rodeo sport by which groups of girls experience sidesaddle and carry out choreographed equestrian expertise to music.

Saturday

Within the morning, I headed to the neighborhoods of Southside and Close to Southside to see what the younger creatives of Fort Value had been as much as. My first cease was PS1200, a mixed-use area designed by Arkansas architect Marlon Blackwell. This sequence of constructions with curved, ribbed-metal roofs homes venues from the Gifted Group, a collective of girls with Korean and Mexican roots. I ran into two of the cofounders, sisters Jazmin and Jeanette Ramirez, at Gifted, a boutique promoting linen clothes, ceramic jewellery, and porcelain bowls. The collective additionally owns Café Momento, an espresso bar that doubles as a bookshop and artwork gallery. “We discover inspiration from our travels,” Jazmin advised me after I requested about her imaginative and prescient for the place.

I walked up Magnolia Avenue for brunch at Paris Espresso Store , a contemporary revamp of Fort Value’s oldest diner. It serves hearty dishes like smoked-brisket breakfast tacos and buttermilk pancakes. From there, I headed over to South Important, a neighborhood the place I found many female-owned retailers, together with Bodega South Important, an upscale grocery and deli, and fair-trade boutique Winton & Waits. At Apothenne, a perfume home, I stocked up on fragrant candles and musky sandalwood perfumes. The neighborhood can also be perfect for grabbing a drink, whether or not at dive bar Nickel Metropolis, biodynamic-wine spot the Holly, or the retro-style Low Doubt Bar, which is linked to the dwell music venue Tulips FTW.

No journey to Fort Value is full and not using a go to to the historic Stockyards, the place longhorn steers are herded twice each day and rodeos occur on the Cowtown Coliseum each Friday and Saturday night time. I wished to decorate for the event, so I finished into Metropolis Boots for a handcrafted pair of cowgirl boots. I additionally went to the Finest Hat Retailer, the place hat shaper Danny Adams personalized the crown and brim of a beaver-felt cowboy hat. “A cowboy hat just isn’t an adjunct,” he mentioned. “Every part else is.” 

Throughout the Stockyards is Mule Alley, a thriving procuring and nightlife district. I sipped a jalapeño, pineapple, and tequila cocktail at Sidesaddle Saloon earlier than taking a line-dancing lesson at Billy Bob’s Texas, the world’s largest honky-tonk. Our instructor reminded us, “We’re in Fort Value, not Dallas,” which acquired an enormous cheer from the group. As I realized the best way to do quite a lot of strikes — a jazz field step with a flip, a rolling grapevine, a rock step, and a mambo step — I may hear boots clacking on the ground and see a wave of cowboy hats as I spun round.

Sunday

The following day, I checked in to Bowie Home, Auberge Resorts Assortment, a resort owned by Dallas businesswoman, rancher, and horse breeder Jo Ellard. Appropriately, my suite featured equestrian touches like hat racks, boot benches, and black-and-white pictures of Texas ranch tradition by Constance Jaeggi. The property additionally showcases greater than 400 artworks from Ellard’s non-public assortment, together with {a photograph} by Kenyan artist Thandiwe Muriu that hangs over the lounge’s hearth. The classic saloon and the subtle chophouse Bricks & Horses felt like locations to see and be seen, however I additionally discovered quiet moments throughout my keep — on the rooftop pool and with a CBD-infused therapeutic massage on the resort’s Ash Spa.

Associated: This New Luxurious Lodge Is Serving to Make Fort Value, Texas ..

That afternoon, I acquired some contemporary air on the Trailhead at Clearfork, a park alongside the Trinity River that can also be residence to retailers and eating places. At Press Café, I had a waffle topped with a sunny-side-up egg, fontina, shaved ham, crispy bacon, and maple syrup. The park’s Keith Home Skyspace, a brand new work by James Turrell, was open by reservation solely throughout my go to, however is predicted to completely open later this 12 months. I finished in for a sneak peek on the set up, which is impressed by the Quaker assembly homes of the artist’s youth. As with Turrell’s different works, mild and shadow are at play: daylight from an aperture within the ceiling is choreographed to altering lighting within the area. As the sunshine shifts all through the day, each the ceiling and the sky seem to vary colour.

After the tour, I rented a motorcycle to cruise the scenic trails alongside the river again towards Bowie Home. I handed teams of Fort Worthers strolling their canines, exercising, and picnicking. All of them appeared blissful to name Cowtown residence — as, for a short time, was I. 

A model of this story first appeared within the October 2024 concern of Journey + Leisure underneath the headline “Maintain on to Your Hat.”