Dallas / Ft Worth
Everything in the Big D is big. The Dallas Metroplex has big teams, big money, and big malls. Neiman Marcus was born in Dallas, and you’d think maybe shopping was invented here, too, given how many opportunities there are for it. In Fort Worth, on the other hand (nickname: Cowtown), life is lived at a more conventional scale. The former “Hell’s Half Acre” has grown up into a modern place while maintaining pride in its wild-west past.
Activities and Attractions: Shopping devotees still pack the original Neiman Marcus store, on Dallas’s Main Street. If you’re looking for serious mall action, though, North Dallas is the new center for luxury arcades. The West Village shopping mall in the Uptown neighborhood of Dallas is a European-style outdoor mall with plenty of chic shopping. If you prefer boutiques, Uptown also has galleries, antique shops, and furniture stores.
In Fort Worth, there is some art and clothing shopping at Sundance Square, in the downtown historic district. But Fort Worth shopping is really about Western wear. If you want the best belt buckle, the best-fitting cowboy hat, or the most comfortable pair of cowboy boots you’ve ever had, head to the Stockyards National Historic District. You can have everything from an embroidered shirt to a saddle custom made for you. This might seem like a downscale experience after a glitzy Dallas shopping mall, but there’s nothing kitschy (or cheap) about a quality pair of boots that will last a lifetime.
If one thing can be said to characterize folks from the Dallas area, it’s sporting mania. Not many American cities can boast professional teams in five different sports, but Dallas can. Football is practically a religion here, and it sometimes takes a miracle to get a ticket to a Cowboys game. Almost as popular are the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Baseball fans have the Texas Rangers, who play in nearby Arlington. There’s men’s and women’s professional soccer, and even ice hockey. (An indoor sport, obviously.) One other sporting event it’s impossible to skip when talking about Texas is the rodeo. For that, you’ll want to head to Fort Worth. Several venues in town, including the aptly named Cowtown Coliseum, host rodeo events—there’s one somewhere almost every weekend.
The world-famous Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show & Rodeo rolls into town every January and stays into February. One thing that surprises many visitors is that Dallas has a thriving arts scene. There is an arts district downtown, which includes the I.M. Pei-designed Dallas Museum of Art, the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Also worth a visit is the Meadows Museum, on the SMU campus. It has one of the best collections of Spanish art outside of Spain. Fort Worth has a Cultural District, too, with some more excellent museums, including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, and a Japanese garden. Oh, and the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. This is Cowtown, after all. One other museum should be mentioned. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza commemorates the historic event with which Dallas will forever be associated: The 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Insider Tip: If you like the Nasher Sculpture Center, pick up a “Walking Sculpture” brochure. This pamphlet maps a walking route where you’ll find 33 outdoor artworks by masters such as Richard Serra and Henry Moore. (You can get a copy online at http://www.dallasfoundation.org/tour/sculptures.html.)
-Exclusively for Perfect Escapes by Nicole Clausing |
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