Home of the Cowboys, D-Town, the Metroplex... call it what you will, we're visiting Dallas over the next few days! The metropolitan area formed by Dallas and Fort Worth is the 4th largest in the U.S. (25% of Texans live here!), and holy cow is there a lot to do. So grab your cowboy hat and follow along, y'all.
Guess if you had a cowboy town in mind when you picture Dallas, it couldn't be farther from the truth. As people from Dallas will tell you, even though it's abbreviated DFW, Dallas and Fort Worth are two separate worlds, and FW is where the cowboys are at. Here, you'll find a super modern city with shiny high-rises everywhere, and you're sure to recognize the unique skyline with its famous Reunion Tower. We also took a snapshot of the beautiful Old Red Museum, the (in our opinion) absolutely hideous JFK Memorial, and the terrifying Giant Eyeball in the middle of a park.
We wanted to squeeze in a few activities into our day other than driving around to spot historic or fun places, but we actually spent most of our time in an unexpectedly nice place: the Haas Moto Museum. 🏍️ Now, we don't drive motorcycles, but it was cheap and we wanted to send pictures to our parents who do. Little did we know we'd be spending the whole afternoon there! It's amazing how many bikes are stored in that place, and it's very well laid out to let you walk through the history of the motorcycle. The artwork was impressive, too!
There was a whole section dedicated to racing (with bikes that broke speed records), a sidecar alcove, a custom shop... We spent most of our time swapping stories with one of the employees working on a bike, learning about the making of these beauties, the time it takes, and stories about Keanu Reeves, too (he builds motorcycles)! We fell in love with the futuristic bike with the hubless wheels, the black and green one below. We were also super impressed with the precision and care put into the Stingray, the electric steel bike on the last picture, which was designed and built by a young Canadian!
We left the place only because they were closing, and I'm sure motorcycle enthusiasts will easily spend the day there. With dinnertime coming fast, we decided to try out the Public School 972 restaurant. The interior decorating was so nice! Flashcards hanging from the ceiling, books on shelves everywhere with random trophies and school supplies, and a menu that looks like a duo-tang. 👍 Most importantly though, the food and drinks were delicious. Happy hour, anyone?
Having had a good taste of Dallas, we now had to check out Fort Worth. Our first stop was the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. Well, we actually just stopped for a picture because of the steep price of the parking and entry fee... still cool, though! And we spotted a random cellphone repair shop with a plane in front.🤔
Then came the real fun: driving into the historic district to get to the Stockyards. When I think of a cowboy, western city, this is exactly what I have in mind. And yes, people here do wear the cowboy attire. It's a lot of fun walking around here, checking out the souvenir shops, watching the longhorns chilling in the shade... It was around 40°C that day.
From previous research, I knew we just had to visit the Stockyards Museum. For just 2$, you can see John Wayne's Silver Spurs award, various guns and cattle-related items, Native American artifacts, and the Palace Theater light bulb, which has been burning since 1908!
What better way to spend a hot day in Fort Worth than by indulging in a thick cut steak and frozen margaritas? That's exactly what we did at Riscky's Barbeque in the heart of the Stockyards. If you've got a few bucks to spare, you can then muster up the courage to try riding the mechanical bull. Just a heads up, it's harder than it looks. I held on for about a minute before losing balance. In my defense, I will point out that I'd just had a generous glass of margarita.
And while we were eating our steaks, we had front row seats on the patio to another great attraction: the cattle drive! Check this out:
That was pretty much it for our visit to the Metroplex. Lots of fun, but heading south now! Stay tuned, folks! 💜
TL:DR; Make no mistake, Dallas and Fort Worth are two extremes. In Dallas, enjoy the modern lifestyle and nightlife, maybe check out Reunion Tower, or Old Red Museum, or the JFK Memorial. The highlight for us was the Haas Moto Museum. Fort Worth is where you get your cowboy hat and boots on, eat a steak and drink a margarita at the Stockyards as you watch the cattle drive, and ride the mechanical bull. Yeehaw!
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