Downtown Fort Worth Hotel

Hometown: Vicksburg, Mississippi

Occupation: Dual Sales Manager for Residence Inn Cultural District and TownePlace Suites Downtown Fort Worth

Ideal Day in Fort Worth: Shopping in the Cultural District, lunch outside at Joe T. Garcia's, and happy hour in the Stockyards!

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor? A city with the perfect mixture of culture, Texas heritage, history, artistic flare, fantastic food, and of course, fun!

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry? What I like most about working in the hospitality industry are the lasting relationships that I get the chance to build daily.

What is the biggest surprise visitors have about Fort Worth? That we're NOT Dallas! Just having a little fun, but seriously, that Fort Worth is so hospitable, welcoming, and easy to work with!

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination? The mix of wonderful people. Where else can you see a cowboy in the Stockyards and a gentleman in a tuxedo going to a symphony at Bass Hall, at the same time!
 

In my opinion, there's no better gift than that of an sharing an amazing meal at one of Fort Worth's hottest brunch spots with someone you love. If you're looking for something a little less traditional to do with your mom in Fort Worth on her special day, we've come up with a few ideas for you. Nothing says Cowboys and Culture like a horseback ride along the Trinity Trails and afterwards, perusing any of the five world-class museums—all within walking distance—within Fort Worth's park-like setting of the Cultural District. Maybe your mom is an animal lover, and in that case, adopting an animal in her name from the Fort Worth Zoo, is sure to make a memorable gift. There are few moms who don't enjoy a good find, let alone in an incredible antique mall, so check out Montgomery Street Antique Mall and enjoy lunch in the Secret Garden Tearoom. If your mom just prefers (and deserves) to be pampered, you can't go wrong with a gift certificate to the Mokara Spa at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel. 

If you're with me, and agree that brunch offers the best of both lunch and breakfast worlds, check out our top ten picks for Best Mother's Day Brunch in Fort Worth. Whether you choose brunch in Downtown, Near Southside or the Cultural District, there's plenty to see and do this Mother's Day! Call ahead for reservations. 

Downtown / Sundance Square 

Cantina Laredo - Mother's Day Brunch; 11a-3p.

Cast Iron - Mother's Day Brunch at the Omni Hotel; 10a-2:30

Grace - Mother's Day Brunch and Lunch; 11:30a–1:30p.

Reata Restaurant - Sunday Mother's Day Brunch; 11a-2:30p.

Near Southside

Brewed Fort Worth - Mother's Day Brunch with Free mimosas for mom; 9:30a-2:30p.

Cat City Grill - Mother's Day Brunch; 10:30a-12:30p

Ellerbe Fine Foods -  Mother's Day Brunch; 10:30a-2:00p. 

Cultural District 

Café Modern - Brunch at the Modern Art Museum;10a-3p.

Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana - Mother's Day Brunch; 10:30a-2p.

The Gardens Restaurant - Mother's Day Brunch at the Botanical Gardens; 10a-3p.

This weekend, enjoy one of the most beloved films of all time backed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and travel to the wonderful world of Oz with Oz with Orchestra, sure to be a magical multimedia production! Experience The Wizard of Oz with a whole new treat for the senses as you watch the restored film on the big screen in the beautiful Bass Performance Hall and listen to Judy Garland's original 1939 studio recordings with live orchestration from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. This is sure to be a treat for children of all ages, but adults alike who hold that special place in their heart for Oz. You can catch the performances Friday, January 25 at 8:00 PM, Saturday, January 26 at 8:00 PM, and Sunday, January 27 at 2:00 PM in Bass Performance Hall.  Click here to purchase your tickets (range from $27-$79). 

Fort Worth is excited to announce that they will be host to Go West Summit January 28th-31st, 2013! Go West Summit is the premier business-oriented travel tradeshow selling the American West. We bring together the world's top international tour operators with specialty suppliers who offer year-round products in a 13 state region of the Western United States.

Monday starts off with a Buyers only exclusive tour of Fort Worth. This will be for tour operators from all over the world to get a sneak peak at all the Fort Worth has to offer.

Opening night will kick off on Monday evening at Billy Bob's Texas with an event called "Two Step Across Texas". Cities from all over Texas are coming together to welcome this group. In the 25 years that Go West Summit has been meeting this will be the first meeting in the State of Texas!

Tuesday, after a long day of meetings this group will spread out across Downtown and the Stockyards for a dine around. This gives attendees the chance to Experience Fort Worth on their own. If you happen to be out and about that night and see someone looking lost show that Fort Worth hospitality that we are known for and ask if they need directions somewhere! Check out our dinning selection and point them in the direction of your favorite restaurant!

Wednesday the conference celebrates the last day of meetings with a reception by Omni Hotel, an evening out at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo and after hours in Sundance Square at Lone Star!

Thursday offers six different tours around the Fort Worth area depending on the attendee’s interests. They range everywhere from the Western Experience at Wildcatter Ranch to Shopping at Paragon Outlets,  Cowboys Stadium Tours to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, a walk in JFK's footsteps to a fast pace tour at Texas Motor Speedway. There is never a short supply of things to do in North Texas!

Help us in Welcoming Go West Summit this January to Fort Worth! Fort more information contact your Tourism Team or Go West's Website.

On the morning of November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy presented his last public speech in Fort Worth outside of the Hilton Fort Worth, formerly Hotel Texas. On that rainy Friday morning, thousands of Fort Worthians gathered outside General Worth Square to listen to the President as JFK gave the crowd inspiration in an uplifting speech where he famously said, “There are no faint hearts In Fort Worth”. For nearly fifty years, the events of that day in 1963 had overshadowed his visit to Fort Worth. The JFK Tribute exists to honor the positive ideals and themes of the President’s historic final speeches.

The Tribute in downtown Fort Worth is a 1.53 acre permanent open air exhibit located at the southeast corner of Main and 8th Streets, approximately where President Kennedy delivered his outdoor address. Visitors to the JFK Tribute will see the elegant eight foot Lawrence Ludtke bronze sculpture of President Kennedy surrounded by a granite plaza featuring photographs from this historic moment in time and read quotes from a number of memorable speeches. The exhibit also includes a water wall and will offer both an audio tour and downloadable transcripts of the two speeches he made that day via mobile app or, via the Tribute website.    

Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc. (DFWII) invites you to celebrate the opening of this exhibit with a public ceremony to begin at 9:00 a.m. Thursday, November 8, 2012. For more, including the full speeches on video and a project timeline, visit www.jfktribute.com

The North Texas Area was fortunate enough to be chosen as the host of the 2012 Japan-America Grassroots Summit. 165 adults and students traveled from Japan to DFW International Airport on August 28^th. The Hilton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth served as a home away from home for this group. After settling in at the Hotel the group ventured to Rangers Stadium where for the Japan-America Friendship Night. The 16-member youth baseball team from the Japan city of Ishinomaki were in attendance. Many of the boys were still talking on Thursday morning about how they were able to meet Ranger’s player Yu Darvish and that he made a donation to the TOMODACHI Initiative. TOMODACHI initiative support's Japan's recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011.

The next day the group enjoyed site seeing all over the DFW Area before meeting back together in the Fort Worth Historic Stockyards for the Daily cattle drive by the Herd and an opening ceremony at Billy Bob’s Texas that will keep them talking for years to come. The following morning the group took a walking tour of downtown which included: Fire Station No.1, Sid Richardson Museum, Bass Hall and iFortWorth.

After leaving Fort Worth the group will be broken into 15 groups and will be participants in a homestay program involving 15 of the cities in the DFW area. Safe Travels to all of our new friends!

Sure, you’ve probably seen the Sundance Square comic strip surrounding the construction area, but did you know that it’s the largest comic strip in Texas? 

The Cassidy–407 Throckmorton St. The largest of the three new buildings, the six-story Cassidy will form a 99,000 square foot L-shape with restaurants and shopping on the ground floor and apartments on the top floor. 

Hometown:  Fort Worth, Texas

Occupation: Sales Manager at the Stockyards Hotel

Ideal Day in Fort Worth:  My ideal day in Fort Worth is spent with my family: my husband and I have two little girls, ages 4 and 6.  We love to ride the Trinity Train with them and enjoy a picnic in the Trinity Park afterwards.

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry?  I love showing off my hometown and the Fort Worth Stockyards to new people.  It is so fun to see their reactions to the Fort Worth Herd, the saddle bar stools in our bar, Booger Red’s Saloon, the Buffalo Butt sticking out of the bar, the history at the Stockyards Hotel and the Historic Stockyards. They love it!  

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor?  I think the FWCVB says it perfectly with the tagline, ”City of Cowboys & Culture”.  Fort Worth is a small, big city where I always tell people that everything in Fort Worth is about five minutes away, which most are amazed about.  You can enjoy everything the Fort Worth Stockyards has to offer, visit the Cultural District to enjoy some of the world's finest museums and enjoy lunch at Lucille's on Camp Bowie Blvd. Attend a Broadway Show at Bass Hall in Downtown/Sundance Square or you can take your family to the Fort Worth Zoo and and have a picnic in Trinity Park--all just five minutes from each other.

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination?  I think the charm and friendliness of the people make Fort Worth different from other locations.  Fort Worth has great museums, wonderful food, great venues and hotels, a deep cattle history and SO MUCH more. 

A few weeks ago, the Fort Worth CVB invited some of the nation's hottest food writers to follow us on a food tour through Fort Worth! We couldn't have done it on our own. We had the help of local foodie writer, June Naylor who knows the Fort Worth food scene like no one else. We managed a great balance of small shops and larger restaurants, some new places and those that have been around forever. Now, we don't suggest you follow this exact itinerary--we might still be recovering from all the food, but we will promise you that a visit to any of the below restaurants and venues will be worth going! Enjoy and Bon Appetite!

Day 1: The tour started at one of Fort Worth's newest hot spots, The Woodshed Smokehouse with a meet and greet with Chef Tim Love. Needless to say, the journalists were impressed with the atmosphere and amazing food. Next, we headed to Fred's Texas Cafe where we sat down with owner and outlaw Chef Terry Chandler where we had some laughs and enjoyed burgers of all flavors. Afterwards, we moseyed over to Hacienda San Miguel in West 7th where we had a lovely shaded spot on the patio and were treated to authentic Mexican dishes by Chef Hugo L. Galvan. Our next stop was Fort Worth's coziest winebar, Times Ten Cellar where we received a tasting and tour by Owner, Dustin Walker. After two hours of siestas, we were back at it again for our first night out in Fort Worth. We visited The Usual and chatted with Owner Brad Hines over delicious drinks and some plates from their food truck, Holy Frijoles! Just across the street, we enjoyed an amazing spread of tastings from Ellerbe Fine Foods; We were so happy to introduce our new friends to this innovative, fresh and fabulous restaurant! Following Ellerbe, we headed to the Fort Worth Cultural District for dinner on the patio at the Modern Art Museum. We were treated to a beautiful six-course meal prepared by Chef Dena Peterson from Cafe Modern and Jon Bonnell of Bonnell's Restaurant. This collaborative dinner and discussion was certainly one of the highlights of the tour and left everyone feeling full, happy and amazed at the culture and cuisine Fort Worth has to offer! The journalists stayed at the Hilton Fort Worth Hotel (perfect location for Main Street Arts Festival), so we had to walk across the street for a nightcap cocktail at Del Frisco's. You're probably full just from reading this, but we're just on Day 1!

Day 2: Starting the day at Avoca Coffee for a micro roast tasting was the perfect way for the group to jump back from our food comas. Red Jett Sweets Food Truck was parked not too far for us to grab try one of their famous cupcakes. We then walked over to Paris Coffee Shop, one of the oldest establishments in Fort Worth for some serious home cooking. Afterwards, we visited the oldest family owned establishment in Texas at Penderey's Spices where we were lucky enough to meet some of the family! No tour of Fort Worth would be complete without a trip to Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. where we enjoyed a tour, a beer that we watched be bottled before our eyes and some delicious tacos from Yes!Taco. We had to show off the Kimbell to our new friends and afterwards, took a stroll to Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana where we tried tamales and tequila! (Did I mention there was also drinking involved in this food tour?) After some time enjoying Main Street Arts Festival in downtown Fort Worth, the crew headed to Firestone & Robertson Distillery for a tour and whiskey tasting followed by a delectable dinner at Grace and a dessert with a fabulous view on the Reata rooftop.

Day 3: Our last day, we enjoyed breakfast at Esparanza's where we sat down with much of the Lancarte family. We even got a private tour of the wonderful Joe T. Garcia's. Afterwards, we visited with the Fort Worth Herd, shopped around in the Stockyards and filled up one last time at Lonesome Dove with Chef Tim Love. We ended on a spectacular note with a cooking demo featuring Chef Lou Lambert at Fort Worth's Central Market.

There are no two things that go better together than Easter Sunday and brunch. Throw in Fort Worth, and you're set for a wonderful spring afternoon. Any of these options below are sure to be a hit for the whole family!

Button's Food & Music offers all-you-care-to-eat with a $19 Sunday buffet of "soul-soothing comfort food" with live jazz music. Items like catfish, grits and chicken and waffles, make this place perfect for those who are looking for more of the "unch" in brunch.

Cafe Modern has an amazing atmosphere for Sunday brunch. You feel as if you're dining afloat the Modern Art Museum's pond. Expect fresh ingredients with an elegant twist. You must try the Banana Foster French Toast, or if you're looking for something lighter, their salads are delicious and so fresh. 

Cast Iron Restaurant in the Omni Fort Worth Hotel in downtown offers a magnificent Sunday brunch with bottomless mimosas and for holiday brunches,you'll find two hundred percent more food, and it's no exception for Easter! 

Monty's Corner in Montgomery Plaza serves up a deletectable brunch complete with a bloody mary bar, mimosas and micheladas. Monty's "hangover" brunch offers the perfect fix.

Taverna in Sundance Square offers $1 mimosas and bellinis with purchase of a meal, and with breakfast options like omelets and eggs benedict, you really can't go wrong. 

Wherever you choose to brunch in Fort Worth, enjoy and have a "Hoppy" Easter! Click Here for more dining options in the "City of Cowboys and Culture". 

Did you know Fort Worth provides FREE downtown (air-conditioned) transportation with no strings attached! Molly the Trolley is a vintage-style trolley that offers a quick and convenient way to get around Downtown Fort Worth or the Stockyards National Historic District. 

           Enjoy a night with the Fort Worth Symphony in downtown Sundance Square in beautiful Bass Performance Hall.
           Internationally renowned pianist Barry Douglas will join the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky’s majestic Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 on May 6, 7 and 8. Douglas, who in 1986 became the first non-Russian since Van Cliburn to win the gold medal at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition, also won bronze at the 1985 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring completes the program. The tone poem Titanic by FWSO composer-in-residence Peter Boyer — whose Ellis Island we performed in March to critical and popular acclaim — will be presented on Saturday and Sunday only. Music Director Miguel Harth-Bedoya conducts.

Learn more about the music at Symphonic Insights, hosted by Shields-Collins “Buddy” Bray, principal keyboardist of the FWSO. The interactive lecture series takes place one hour before each concert in the audience chamber.

Highlights of Barry Douglas’ 2010-11 season include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, Singapore Symphony and Ulster Orchestra, among others. In the summer, he returns to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra performing the world premiere of a new concerto written for him by Kevin Volans to celebrate his 50^th birthday.

Douglas is artistic director of the Clandeboye Festival, Castletown Concerts and Camerata Ireland, which he formed in 1999. His reputation as a conductor has grown since forming Camerata Ireland, and this fall he will make debuts with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra and with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. In recent seasons, he has made successful debuts with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Indianapolis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Bangkok Symphony and Moscow Philharmonic.

A native of Ireland, Douglas studied at the Belfast School of Music and began conducting at an early age. At 16, he began piano lessons with Felicitas LeWinter, who inspired him to become a pianist. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, where he studied with John Barstow, and later studied privately with Maria Curcio and Yvegeny Malinin.

These concerts are part of the American Airlines Symphonic Series and are made possible by season sponsors American Airlines, Star-Telegram, North Texas Audi Dealers and Renaissance Worthington Hotel. Promotional support is provided by Star-Telegram and WRR Classical 101.1 FM.

For tickets, visit www.fwsymphony.org or call 817-665-6000. 

            For more Things to Do in Fort Worth visit us at www.FortWorth.com