Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau

Hometown: Originally from the Austin TX area, I moved to Fort Worth about 6 years ago.

Occupation: Area Director of Sales for the Hampton Inn and Residence Inn Fort Worth Alliance Airport

Ideal Day in Fort Worth: I have two small boys who love the outdoors just as much as I do.  A typical day in Fort Worth would be to grab lunch at Central Market at Fort Worth's West Side. The boys love the slide so we would then head over to Trinity Park to play on the playground and enjoy a ride on the Train!  We may catch dinner at Jakes Burgers and then walk it off with a nice stroll in Sundance Square.

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor? Fort Worth is a rapidly growing city with a smalltime feel. This city has reserved the culture of "Where the West Begins" offering live bull riding, cattle drives, the best shops for western wear and the best country dancing ever!  Fort Worth also offers Scat Jazz Lounge, the best spot for Jazz, The Bass Concert Hall to catch an opera, an array selection of museums and a diverse selection of restaurants- City of Cowboys and Culture!

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry? Every day is an adventure in this industry. One day, I could be in the dining room to assist with cleaning tables and picking up dishes. In the next few minutes, I'm back on the phones or in my car to find new business opportunities. I meet new people on a daily basis and each day offers a new batch of challenges. At the end of the day, "another satisfied customer!" and that's the most rewarding part of my career!

What is the biggest surprise visitors have about Fort Worth? There's so much to do in Fort Worth and it has something for everyone!

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination? Fort Worth is an extremely diverse city offering a small-town feel with so much to do  including adult nightlife, entertainment for the family, bull riding to catching an play at the concert hall.

There is nothing quite like the joy that comes from a family bike ride. With every turn, not only do you travel forward, but you also keep the air clean, get some exercise, and join a global community of riders who are traveling the miles using pedal power. 

Be a special part of the biking community this Saturday, May 18^th as you join with bicycling enthusiast Mayor Betsy Price and the bike patrol of the FWPD for the annual Southside Bike Ride. A leisurely ride through Fort Worth’s Near Southside neighborhood kicks off at 9:00 am at One Safe Place, 777 W. Rosedale St. raising awareness for safe bicycling practices for participants of all ages. At the end of th ride, families will enjoy a kid’s bike rodeo, booths promoting family health, and a special chance to meet local police officers and firefighters. You can even get your picture taken with the Chief of Police.

The event is free and you can register online or at the event on Saturday morning.  Don’t forget to grab your $10 commemorative T-shirt, proving that you and your family are bicycling rock stars. All proceeds from the event go to support the FWPD bike patrol in purchasing new equipment and fund special training.  For more family fun in Fort Worth, visit our Family-Friendly page.

Drop me in any foreign country, and radar takes over: It won't take me long at all to find the fancy cheese shop.

Sharp or creamy, blue or brie, sheep's milk or cow's or goat's -- I'm hard-pressed to find a cheese I don't like (though as my sometimes-empty wallet can attest, some I like much better than others). There's something especially tantalizingly about buying cheese at an off-the-beaten track fromagerie, where the proprietor takes particular care sourcing the cheeses, and has a long list of suggestions and samples for you to try.

Until recently, though, I've mostly had to do my cheese shopping at some of the Fort Worth gourmet grocery stores and shops, like Central Market or Oliver's Fine Foods -- not that I'm complaining, but those places lacks that intimate personal touch that you can find at a specialty artisan shop. Needless to say, then, I was very excited when Magnolia Cheese Company opened its doors earlier last December on bustling Magnolia Avenue. 

Who needs to jet off to Paris or Brussels when you have a charming little neighborhood spot like this one in the Near Southside and cheeses so good that you'll have an impossible time picking just one or two to take home? 

Magnolia Cheese Company actually doubles as a cafe, where you can order from the blackboard menu such sandwich options as the Gouda and Pork (which features gouda cheese, proscuitto, smoked bacon, sweet chili saw and pickled red onion) and the Fraiche Fish (which features horseradish creme fraiche, house-cured salmon lox and avocado), as well as salads, soups and a regularly changing line-up of daily specials. If you're looking to sample some of the shops cheeses, you can also opt for a five-cheese tasting plank ($16). 

On our recent visits, though, we were searching for a couple cheeses that we might take home and enjoy before dinner. After sampling a couple of different blue cheeses, we settled on the Point Reyes blue, made in California, an exceptionally creamy cheese that also has a nice tangy bite to it ($10/ per half pound); and since you can't just stop at one, we also purchased a wedge of the Alta Langa Cravanzina, a soft-ripened cheese from the Piedmont region of Italy, made from a mixture of sheep's and cow's milk. It has a soft rind, a creamy center, and a lingering hint of earthiness ($15.45 per half-pound). 

Magnolia Cheese Company also has a nice selection of wines -- you get a $15 discount on bottles if you're purchasing to take away. We opted for an Italian red, which paired nicely with both cheeses – so nicely, in fact, that when we got home, we skipped dinner altogether and just gobbled up our cheeses. Here's hoping this is just the start of a cheese shop boom in Fort Worth.

Magnolia Cheese Company is open: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.,  Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday

Top Left Photo: Sample Catering Platter from Magnolia Cheese Co.

Most often, I come away from an opera with a remnant of an aria flitting around my inner ear, and an uplifting skip in my gait. Rarely do I look back on a gut-level, visceral experience -- where I've been riveted, moved, and finally provoked to consider the unrelenting toll of war and captivity, betrayal, the double-edged sword of forgiveness, and the ultimate challenge of rebuilding a shattered life. 

But it's precisely that meaningful and dark collage of feelings that coalesced in me at the conclusion of the Fort Worth Opera Festival's performance of Glory Denied. With its "based on a true story" imprimatur, Glory Denied, (music and libretto by Tom Cipullo) is inspired by the agonizing Vietnam War experiences of Colonel Floyd James (Jim) Thompson, whose name is engraved in contemporary military history for being America's longest held P.O.W. Over nine-years, Thompson endured unspeakable suffering, from failed escape attempts, physical torture, to the more invisible, psychological toll of prolonged loneliness and that agonizing feeling that everyone had forgotten him. When he is finally released, the euphoria of his new freedom is tempered by how drastically the world has changed, and the challenge of making his place in such a foreign world.

Fort Worth Opera's staging of Thompson's story is suitably stark, with the captive, "young Thompson" (David Blalock) sharing one-half of the stage with his post-captivity "older Thompson" self (Michael Mayes). The other half of the stage also plays with biographical time as it is home to "young Alyce" (Sydney Mancasola) or Thompson's wife at the time of his Vietnam service, and, a decade older Alyce (Caroline Worra), reduced to gazing nostalgically at letters and other fragments of a happier time, but who is now trying to cope with the stranger that is her freed, war-addled spouse.

Set in the intimate, semi-in-the-round confines of McDavid Studio, the opera permits each audience member to witness at close range time skipping from young Thompson's desultory jail cell (the opera's nimble, 12-piece chamber orchestra provides the slap of a torturer's whip across his back), to young Alyce, whose relatively upbeat mood is conveyed by her soaring voice and the sunniness of her robin's egg-blue dress. Then the spotlight lands on the "older Thompson," in a frumpy yellow sweater, trying to comprehend the '70s America he's re-entered. Finally, the agile light lands on the "older Alyce," reduced to ripping off what looks to be days in a calendar, like a wound's scabs, as she marks time spent wondering if her husband will ever come home.

When Thompson finally does return, to a hero's welcome, it sets up the opera's high point, a bravura solo by  Mayes who, in a passage echoing Billy Joel's We Didn't Start the Fire, and R.E.M.'s It's the End of the World, reels off a vast litany of all the totems of the early 70's (mini-skirts and Roe v. Wade, Patty Hearst and leisure suits, to Stonewall, Playboy, and Richard Nixon) most of them punctuated by the era's great counter-cultural motto:  "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

By the end of the opera, the audience is left with the hypnotic use of projected black and white scrap-book pictures of the real Jim Thompson, on the battlefield, and reunited with his family. This montage precedes the opera's ultimate scene of a near-broken Thompson, all but flailing about the stage, as he blurts out the dilemma of everyday existence ultimately facing us all: "What to do today?" followed by his feeble solution: "One day at a time." 

Glory Denied delivers powerfully on its title as the light slowly fades on a crumpled Thompson, one of the American military's great war heros, for whom life after wartime may be his most daunting battle. 

Details: Glory Denied plays May 11 at McDavid Studio, 301 East 5th Street, Fort Worth. Sung in English. As it runs about 90 minutes, there is no intermission.

Hometown: Fort Worth

Occupation: Concierge 19 years

Ideal Day in Fort Worth: Breakfast at The Paris Coffee Shop, a visit to the Sid Richardson Museum (free of charge), a visit to the Water Gardens (free of charge thank you very much!), Lunch at Esperanzas (not free of charge), cruise down University with stops at the museums, the zoo, the flea market, Botanical Gardens (free of charge), a drink al fresco at The Woodshed, pass through TCU and look at our new football stadium and continue up to 7th Street and close out the day with bowling at Lucky Strike in West 7th.

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor? Somewhere you need to be right now.

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry? It's always fun to surprise people with information about my hometown (i.e., Amelia Earhardt's plane, The Electra, was built at Lockheed!).

What is the biggest surprise visitors have about Fort Worth? Most are surprised at the great variety of food options in Fort Worth, i.e: Del Frisco's, Ellerbe Fine Foods, or a food truck at the Ballpark. 

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination?We have an extremely eclectic selection of things to do. (NASCAR, Six Flags, Lone Star Park, Opera at the Bass, Golf at Colonial, or ski, sail, fish or enjoy a quiet sunset at one of our many great lakes).  You could live here your entire life and not see everything there is to see.

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.

Hometown: Martha originally from Lubbock, TX & Richard from Lake Jackson, TX

Occupation:  Owners/Innkeepers of Azalea Plantation B&B for 20 years

Ideal Day in Fort Worth: Wake up in your lovely, quiet room at the Azalea Plantation B&B to the aroma of fresh coffee and a gourmet hot breakfast awaiting you in the dining room.  After breakfast, head over to I-30 & Montgomery to browse through artfully displayed aisles of treasures from the past at Montgomery Street Antique Mall. Only a few minutes from there is Kool Nails (corner of W. Seventh & University) where you can treat yourself to an amazing mani and pedi at a reasonable price and by professional and friendly staff.  For a yummy lunch, go across West 7th Street on Foch to La Familia for lunch with the locals. Guaranteed: you won’t be disappointed as they have quite a following! Spend the afternoon checking out Fort Worth’s state of the art museums or the Botanic Gardens. Return to the B&B for a little rest and relaxation, and perhaps a glass of wine.  Later, enjoy dinner at Lonesome Dove in the Historic Stockyards District, an incredibly unique culinary experience. The Stockyards District has plenty of live music and boot scootin’, so don’t turn in too early...go have some fun before heading back to the B&B for a perfect night of sweet dreams! (You’ll be dreaming about Cowboys & Culture!)

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor? Fort Worth is a friendly BIG hometown with ties to the past and eyes on the future!

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry? I love the opportunity to show people a great time. It’s truly a blessing to have a job that you love doing! True hospitality gives me the opportunity to go that extra mile and create an experience that our guests will cherish and remember for a long time.

What is the biggest surprise visitors have about Fort Worth? We are constantly surprised by the number of international visitors to our city and how much they know about Fort Worth and the area. They absolutely love it here!

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination? Fort Worth has that air of “having it all together” but without the attitude.  Everyone is welcome and accepted, and leaves feeling that they are better for having visited our “hometown”.

Learn more about Azalea Plantation Bed and Breakfast, located at 1400 Robinwood Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76111.

Hometown: I grew up in Ennis, TX, which is a small town about an hour south of Fort Worth.

Occupation: Sales Manager at the Holiday Inn Express at Cityview.

Ideal Day in Fort Worth: Bike ride at Trinity Trails, a short trip to Fort Woof Dog Park (I have two very spoiled dogs), and wrap it up with a night at Concerts in the Gardens.

How would you describe Fort Worth to a visitor? Fort Worth is a big city with a small town feel.

What do you like most about working in the tourism/hospitality industry? I am a “people” person, I love meeting people and showing off our beautiful city.

What is the biggest surprise visitors have about Fort Worth? Visitors are most surprised by the hospitality of the Fort Worth people.

What makes Fort Worth different than any other destination? The diversity of Fort Worth, its Western Heritage to its unmatched cultural arts, makes this city stand out from the rest.

If you are looking for a fun-and free-way to spend your weekend, bring your family out to Stockyard Exchange for the annual Frontier Forts Days, May 10-11, 2013. During the two-day event, the Stockyard National Historic District will take you back in time to the wild and wooly days of the Texas frontier. During the festival, cowboys, Native Americans, and military personnel come together to reenact a time when these vastly different cultures mingled and clashed, as they forged the future for the city of Fort Worth. 

Exchange Avenue will be transformed to the 19^th century and lined with encampments from the Texas Forts Trail. Wander through the camps to learn about the tools and daily life of the soldiers, as well as get a unique glimpse of the relationship between Texas and US Military. Parades, demonstrations, and other cultural encounters are ongoing throughout the day to give you a glimpse of the journeys and people who shaped the land.

With so many action-packed activities on the agenda, the kids will be so entertained that they won’t even realize they are learning about an important period in Texas history.

You won’t want to miss:

• Artillery demonstrations
• Infantry and Cavalry demonstrations
• Native American performances
• Live music
• 10 Fort encampments
• Military parades and presentations

Frontier Forts Days will begin on Friday, May 10 at 10:00 am and run through Saturday May 11 at 5:00 pm. 

Photo: Brian Hutson

When gourmet food trucks started popping up a few years ago on the Fort Worth dining scene, a few of us were skeptical: Could a trend birthed in such hipster cities as Austin, Los Angeles and Portland really catch on in a meat-and-potatoes city like ours?

These days, I find myself eating my words – as well as whatever new offerings are being served up on four wheels. Fort Worth now hosts dozens of food trucks, and four parks devoted to these trucks. 

Opened in 2011, The Fort Worth Food Park, located off White Settlement Road, was the first of these parks and continues to draw impressive crowds. Last summer, Cowtown Chow Down opened near the Stockyards. More recently, the Clearfork Food Park started operation; it offers an inviting respite along the Trinity River for those looking to take a meal break from biking or running.

And on May 1, Food Park at Thistle Hill opened its gates. The park, located on the grounds of the historic Thistle Hill mansion, plans to host four trucks each weekday. The trucks will rotate regularly, providing a multiplicity of new dining options to a mostly under-serviced culinary corner of the Fort Worth Hospital District. The outdoor setting is so lovely -- the Georgian Revival-style Thistle Hill was built in 1903 -- that the terrific food almost seems like a gilding of the lily. 

On the day we visited, the trucks on site included First Bite Gourmet and the Latin-themed What’s Cook-N-Chef, though we opted for Salsa Limon – one of the very first food trucks to arrive on the Fort Worth scene in 2010.

The barbacoa taco was rich and smoky, and the veggie taco made for an appealing lighter option. We topped both with Salsa Limon’s  fiery red salsa -- not something recommended for spice amateurs, but for everyone else essential. Along with a couple of bottles of water, the bill for two came to just $12. For dessert, we wandered over to another truck on the property that day, Red Jett Sweets, and split the Nuts for Kentucky ($3) a bourbon cake cupcake topped with caramel butter cream and candied pecans. If – like us -- you have a weak spot for all things sugary, this is the one to try.

Texas weather being as unpredictable as it is, temperatures were at record lows when we visited – and the modest lunchtime crowd was all huddled inside the Thistle Hill carriage house, where inclement weather seating is available. Once the weather warms up, though, this newest addition to the food truck scene seems like a sure-fire hit. Indeed, the only problem with all these meals-on-wheels, is that there aren’t enough meals in the day to eat them all.

Food Park at Thistle Hill is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check the Website to see which food trucks are there each day.

It's hard to think of a more felicitous marriage of Fort Worth tourist-attractions than the marvelous music making of a Cliburn Concert, set against the incomparable backdrop of the Tadao Ando-designed Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

And, sure enough, both will come together this Sunday, May 5th for an event designed to celebrate all the cultural richness that has become Fort Worth's calling card. As hosted by the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, the concert is also part of a multi-event celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week, running from May 4-12.

With a welcome from no less a potentate than Fort Worth's mayor, Betsy Price, the concert will also establish quite a cultural precedent as it will be the first musical event of its kind ever to be held on the verdant front lawn of the Modern. The free, outdoor concert will feature a familiar Cliburn performer, Spencer Myer, whose concert will also act as a prelude to the Fourteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition -- kicking off on May 24, and running till June 9.

Besides the concert, the public can gain free admission to the spectacular Modern Art Museum and a free Spanish language tour at 2pm. 

In addition to the Cliburn Concert, the host Convention and Visitors Bureau will also be giving away everything from bandanas, and sunglasses to Molly Pins (get 'em while they last) to the concert attendees. 

Some of the other upcoming activities to celebrate Texas Travel and Tourism Week include Reata restaurant offering drink specials ($5 Frogaritas all day on May 6 just by mentioning "Fort Worth CVB Travel and Tourism week"); free docent-led tours at the Sid Richardson Museum in downtown, Fort Worth; and a "Public Knowledge" event (with Elvis as the principal topic of the occasion) at the Magnolia Motor Lounge --  organized by the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

Details: Free Cliburn Concert at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth this Sunday, May 5 at 3:30 p.m.

Fort Worth native, Jamey Ice, guitarist for Green River Ordinance, is proud to say he grew up in the City of Cowboys and Culture. For the last seven years, he has traveled the country with GRO—playing every major city in America, but any time he’s asked what his favorite city is, he is quick to respond, “Fort Worth...it's my favorite city in the country”. Jamey recently opened up BREWED, a restaurant/ pub / coffeehouse on Magnolia Ave., the main street on one of Fort Worth’s emerging districts, the Near Southside. The vision behind BREWED was to create a “local living room” – a place where people can come to feel at home, be inspired and enjoy great hand-crafted food and drinks. Jamey said, “It was fun because I got to bring a lot of ideas that I have seen in other parts of the country back here to Fort Worth.”

Hometown: The greatest city in America…Fort Worth, Texas!

Occupation: Guitar player in Green River Ordinance & owner of BREWED. 

Favorite Fort Worth District: The Near Southside. It's a ton of fun. I love it because it is a community that supports and embraces local things. There are so many local artists and artisans here, dreamers and thinkers, awesome one-of-a-kind local businesses, and incredible local eateries. It's also a very community-driven area, with vibrant people who are passionate and active about supporting local goods. People are always outside: riding their bikes, working in the community gardens, or walking their dogs. My wife and I live in Fairmount and we are crazy about our neighborhood and the big front porches are a true reflection of  that everyone is always outside hanging out. I literally see my neighbors every day. I cant think of another neighborhood in town that has the community and camaraderie among the neighbors as Fairmount. 

Favorite Fort Worth Restaurant: BREWED?!? Fort Worth has so many killer places to eat, it is so hard to pick. But if I had to pick the one restaurant that I frequent most and has a special place in my heart, it would have to be Benito’s on Magnolia. It is the real deal authentic Mexican food, not the tex-mex stuff (not that there is anything wrong with good tex mex!). They have great authentic menudo, ceviche, chile rellenos, mole, and my favorite dish, queso flameado (a flaming cheese queso)! It's my dad’s favorite restaurant, so we grew up going there every Sunday and has become a weekly staple ever since. 

Describe your ideal day in Fort Worth. I am obsessed with my city, so it's hard for me to pick just a one-day itinerary. I love Fort Worth in the summertime when the weather is warm. My ideal day would have to include walking around Magnolia, some Fairmount front porch hanging out with my neighbors, sipping margaritas at Joe T's, exploring the Modern, riding my bike around the Trinity River, and maybe catching some awesome music and fireworks during the summer concert series at the Botanic Gardens.

Where are your favorite places to listen to live music in Fort Worth? Green River Ordinance literally got our start at The Aardvark on Berry Street. We started playing there in high school and continued through our TCU days, and I still love catching bands there. The new Live Oak Music Lounge is also a great new spot that is bringing in some awesome music. Of course, it doesn’t get much better than seeing someone play at Bass Performance Hall; that place is unreal. It doesn’t matter who is playing because any show at Bass Hall is sure to be amazing!

If you had to describe Fort Worth in a song title/create a song title for Fort Worth, what would it be? Oh man that’s a hard one. There are some good songs about Fort Worth. Steve Earl has the famous “Fort Worth Blues” song. For some reason Pat Greens music always reminds me of home. With GRO, we have spent so much time writing and recording our music here in town that it's hard not to associate Fort Worth with our songs. “West Wind” and “Dancing Shoes” both loosely about our City. 

If you could play a live show anywhere in Fort Worth, somewhere out of the norm, where would that be? We are playing at the Concerts in the Garden this summer. That is literally one of my favorite things to go to every year, so I am pretty pumped for that. Definitely a “Bucket List” show. But something out of the norm....hmmm. It would be fun to do a show on the roof of the 7^th street parking garage. It has a killer view of all of downtown, so that would be pretty fun! 

Your favorite place to get inspired in Fort Worth: The Kimbell Art Museum lawn (before they started construction on the Renzo Piano expansion). I can’t tell you how many Green River Ordinance songs were written right in front of the Kimbell or by the giant vortex statue at the Modern. Whenever we would get writer’s block, we would always grab our guitars and go down to Fort Worth Cultural District. 

Looking for affordable lunch and dinner options in the Fort Worth Cultural District? Try one of the two fantastic food truck parks in the area – Clearfork Park Food Park and Fort Worth Food Park. Both parks offer a casual atmosphere with affordable food options for even the pickiest eaters. Looking for more? Check out these Nightlife & Happy Hour Specials:

Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge

• Sunday is “Service Industry Night” – Complimentary bowling and shoe rental with a valid service industry pay stub from 9pm-Midnight.
• Tuesday is “Bottomless Bowling” – $9.99 All-You-Can-Bowl from 10pm-Midnight.
• Wednesday “Margarita Night” - $1.50 Margaritas and complimentary chips and salsa from 9pm-Midnight.
• Thursday “College night” – Complimentary bowling and shoes with valid college ID from 9pm-Midnight.
• Happy Hour is Monday-Friday 4-7pm.

Bar Louie

• Happy Hour – Monday-Friday from 4pm-7pm, this also features some Half Price appetizers.

Tillman’s Roadhouse

• Happy Hour – Monday-Friday from 4pm-5:30pm.

Fred’s Texas Café

• Happy Hour - Monday-Friday from 3pm-6pm.

Do you have a favorite Happy Hour in the Cultural Distict? Let us know about a great deal you found by commenting below!

For over four decades, families have gathered on the banks of the Trinity River for the annual food, music, and fun of Mayfest. Highlights of this four-day festival include seven stages featuring live music, a dedicated children’s area with over 20 free booths, and a global smorgasbord of treats from jambalaya to tacos. 

With so many activities, you can’t go wrong, but be sure not to miss these kid-pleasing activities.

·The Tom Thumb Children’s Area: It’s easy to find-just look for the white picket fence. Once inside, kids will enjoy activities such as face painting, clowns, Radio Disney, and art projects.

·The Range: An area where kids and adults can go wild with carnival rides, including a giant inflatable walk- on- water ball, and, of course, a mechanical bull.

·Live Shark Encounters: Imagine live sharks swimming in a giant tank in the middle of Trinity Park. You won’t want to miss it!

·Sandpile Creations: This is not your average sandcastle, but an artistic display of whimsical figures created from a pile of sand. What figures will take center stage this year?

·The Frost Zone: Bungee Jumping, pony rides, a petting zoo, and a giant human maze are waiting here. Watch out! You may never be able to get the kids to leave!

Mayfest is May 2-5 in Trinity Park. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children 6-12, and free for children under $5. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or at www.mayfest.org

Photo Credit: Mayfest 

As all Fort Worthians know, there isn’t really any compelling reason to go do Dallas – certainly not when it comes to food. Everything folks in the Big D. think they do better, whether burgers or haute cuisine, Fort Worth has a trump card (or two, or ten). Seriously, no disrespect to the likes of, say, Maple & Motor or Fearing's, but am I really going to drive thirty-plus miles when the likes of Fred’s Texas Café and Lonesome Dove are in my backyard?

That said, I’ve never quite been able to find a Fort Worth match for Campisi’s, a beloved pizza / pasta institution on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas since 1946. The rectangular-shaped, thin-crust, uber-crispy pizza adheres to no known tradition – not New York, or Chicago, or Neapolitan. It’s more akin to something your mother might have made for your growing up, hardly gourmet, but richly satisfying, and for years I've been taking detours there when visiting Dallas.

Here’s the good news: I no longer need to make the trek east to enjoy Campisi’s. Earlier this week, the ever-expanding mini-chain opened its ninth North Texas location, and first in Tarrant County on Camp Bowie Blvd. in Fort Worth If the opening party I attended is any indication, Fort Worth’s other top-notch pizza makers – like Mellow Mushroom, Mama’s, and my personal fave, Fireside Pies – will be facing some serious competition.

The first thing that strikes you about the Fort Worth location is that it’s nothing all like the original Dallas spot, which is heavy on the bric-a-brac and family photos. This Campisi’s has polished wood floors; a sleek bar space; and flat screens televisions discretely mounted to the wall. You can certainly take the whole family, but you could just as easily head here for a romantic date night.

What is not different from the Dallas location is the pizza – still rectangular, with a nice spice to the tomato sauce, and a terrifically crispy crunch to the crust. The extremely genial servers – who at one point apologized to us, even though we were the ones responsible for spilling our drink – brought out plate after plate of samples; and though I’m normally hesitant to pile too many toppings on a pie, I especially liked the "All the Way," which is topped with finely diced sausage, salami, mushrooms, and peppers. Of the appetizers we tasted, the toasted ravioli proved a flawless rendition of a dish that can sometimes be a soggy, oily mess.

With a menu that also includes salads, pastas, and Italian classics like chicken parmigiana, there’s plenty to enjoy even if you’re not in the mood for pizza. (Though who wouldn't be in the mood for pizza?) And since you won’t have to drive to Dallas, you can take that gas money you save and order yourself a glass of wine.

Campisi's serves both lunch and dinner daily from 10 a.m. 

The Fort Worth Music Festival, scheduled this year from Friday, May 17-Saturday May 18, is the annual reminder of just how stunningly diverse and rich the various musical strains and traditions that run deep in Fort Worth. Historically, that variety stretches all the way back to the country swing of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, the jazz giant, Ornette Coleman, to the present day stylings and musical production vision of T-Bone Burnett.

This year's edition of the festival will continue its historically varied offerings as 30 bands populate three stages and all offering up a spectrum of music from rhythm and blues and gospel, to jazz, country and indie rock.

The festival isn't just about a striking abundance of music, but it will also be a showcase for art exhibits, cool local vendors, food offerings, and even classes taught by notable local chefs.

Among the cornucopia of musical offerings, there will be something for just about every musical sensibility. Friday's lineup will offer festival goers the chance to revel in everything from the soul-country sounds of the Drive by Truckers, the alt-country, power pop enduring (as in more than 15 years long) presence of the Old 97's, and the quintessentially Texan brand of boogie rock, Memphis-flavored soul, and blues of the Quaker City Night Hawks. Saturday's lineup will offer a stunning richness of musical expressions, from the rock-revivalists, The Walkmen, marking their 10th anniversary together, and 25-year old Allen Stone, a self-proclaimed "hippie with soul," who has earned plaudits from no less a musical king-maker as the New York Times, comparing his socially aware music and lyrics to that of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, to the Hammond organ-propelled funky grooves of Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk (doubtlessly the catchiest name on the bill), to the bluesy, psychedelic Southern rock sounds of Fort Worth's The Hanna Barbarians (sporting the second catchiest name on the two-day bill).

And if that isn't enough ear-stretching variety for you, the Festival is also showcasing the roots music, steeped in the raw living done in far west Texas, as purveyed by the always energetic, harmony-driven band, The Dirty River Boys, along with the trumpet and sax-driven New Orleans-flavored musical gumbo that is the 35-year old Dirty Dozen Brass Band. 

The details: The festival runs Friday, May 17th-Saturday, May 18th. Gates open at 3 p.m. on Friday with music running 4 p.m.-11 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 1 p.m. with music running 2 p.m.-11 p.m.  And it all takes place at Panther Island Pavilion, 395 Purcey Street in Fort Worth. 

Photo Credit: Brian Hutson, Fort Worth Music Festival 2012

We all know that travelling can get expensive sometime. That is why doing your homework and finding the best deal is so important. Well we have done the homework for you. Take a look at these great deals in the Cultural District, West 7^th Street District and University Area.

Museums & Attractions:

-Amon Carter Museum is always FREE to visit.

-Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth - FREE to visit the first Sunday of every month.

-Kimbell Art Museum’s permanent collection is always FREE to see. Kimbell offers Half Price admission to their traveling exhibitions Tuesday from 10am-5pm and Friday from 5pm-8pm.

-You can received Half Price admission to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History with paid admission to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (visits must be on the same day).

-The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is FREE to visit.

-The BRIT (Botanic Research Institute of Texas) offers FREE Self-guided tours during regular working hours, Mondays-Fridays, 10am- 5pm and Saturdays, 10am-2pm and FREE Guided Tours Thursday at 1:30pm and Saturday at 10:30am).

-Both Log Cabin Village and the Japanese Gardens are only $5 for adults to visit.

-Monnig Meteorite Gallery - located on the Texas Christian University campus is FREE to visit. Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 1pm-4pm and Saturday 9am-4pm.

-Discount Tickets for the Fort Worth Zoo are available at iFortWorth and Wednesdays are Half Priced ticket days.

Don't forget to check out Fort Worth's new Bike Share program for a easy and affordable way to get around town.This is only the beginning on great deals to be found in Fort Worth. Feel free to let us know about other deals you've found by commenting below!

People who know me are all too aware of my longstanding culinary obsession with the annual Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival. It’s more than just the fact that so many of the foods served up there inspire fond memories of the street fairs and block parties with which I grew up in New York.

It’s that so much of the food at Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival is so good – a welcome reminder that you don’t need to spend $40 a plate to have a distinct dining experience in Fort Worth.

In my more ambitious years, I would actually visit the four-day festival every day, and usually ended up eating six or seven meals there over the course of the weekend. These days, I usually visit just a few times – fair food may be delicious, but my cholesterol can only take so many spikes.

This year’s festival begins at 10 a.m.. on Thursday (did someone say “late breakfast?”) and continues through Sunday at 8 p.m. (dessert!). Here are my picks for dishes that no arts festival weekend is complete without, based on the last thirteen years of festival food experience:

1. The Bahama Mama, from the stupendous Schmidt’s in Columbus Ohio, is for me an annual renewal of my faith in humanity – a plump, spicy bratwurst much too large for its bun, which I slather in Gulden’s spicy brown mustard and top with sauerkraut. Make it a meal for a few extra coupons, and you can enjoy a side of Schmidt’s marvelously tangy potato salad. (The giant cream puff ain't too shabby, either, but it should not be approached on an even half-full stomach.)  

2. Tenderloin Tamales, from Reata. Who says festival food can’t be sophisticated? Tucked into steaming corn husks and topped with a nicely piquant pecan sauce, these beauties can be found on the regular Reata dinner menu – but they taste even better when you can enjoy live music and people watching at the same time. 

3. Smoked Turkey Legs. Yes, you will look like a cannibal while chowing down on one of these greasy, gristly wonders; and, indeed, I can speak from personal experience that it will send your blood pressure about 20 points higher. You can thank me later.

4. Funnel Cakes. Fried dough + powder sugar =  the perfect capper to any evening spent at the festival. That said, my advice is to get in line before the nightly funnel cake rush commences, usually around 7 p.m. (And, no, I'm not making that up. One year I spent forty minutes in line.) 

Of course, if none of these options appeal to you, there are plenty more vendors to choose from, including Texas Skillet (the grilled steak sandwich gets my vote); Fletcher’s (corny dog!), and many others. Most of these venues surround either the Sundance Square stage or the Bank of Texas Stage. You can check out a festival map here.

Finally, you can wash all of this down with a white wine margarita, or this year you can visit the Craft Brew Pavilion hosted by Flying Saucer, which will feature a half-dozens beers on draught.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go purchase some coupons.