Dallas Museum of Art | Fort Worth | Texas | North Central Expressway

Globally acclaimed cultural treasures and some of the nation’s best dining and shopping lie less than an hour’s drive from the tarmac of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Just landing? Then you’re just in time.

The wheels are down, the flaps are rolling out, and the engines are being throttled back. During a plane’s final approach into Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the view of North Texas from the air -- of lakes, crazy quilt patterns of farmland, and highways dotted with traffic that connect every corner of the Metroplex -- never fails to pique the curiosity of the passengers aboard. The view is, in essence, the definition of urban sprawl.

East of DFW Airport, you’ll find downtown Dallas’s glittering skyline of high-rises, with the landmark ball that is Reunion Tower (home to the recently opened Wolfgang Puck restaurant Five Sixty, no less) juxtaposed against the hard angles of other towering skyscrapers. West of the airport, historic Fort Worth sprawls across ancient prairies; from the air, its skyline is a distant dot on the horizon. Just north of DFW Airport are Lake Grapevine’s shimmering waters, near the majestic Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.

And south of DFW Airport, in Arlington, sits Texas’s latest architectural marvel: the Dallas Cowboys’ new billion-dollar stadium. A quarter of a mile long and the world’s largest domed structure to date, it gleams like a futuristic silver starship, dwarfing the nearby Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and the Six Flags Over Texas theme park.

What can’t be seen during final approach can be imagined -- the shopping galore and the joie de vivre that comes with the local arts, entertainment, and nightlife readily available. It’s all there to be explored, and with the right amount of time planned between flights or an extended layover arranged with ticket agents after your arrival, you can squeeze plenty of it into your trip. After all, “everything’s bigger in Texas” for a reason.

Shopping

NorthPark Center, on North Central Expressway and Northwest Highway in Dallas, draws more than 25 million visitors annually with its luxury retailers (including Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York) and market exclusives. NorthPark’s signature event -- Fashion at the Park --gives the public and international news media the privilege of a first look at the latest fashions.

Galleria Dallas, on Dallas Parkway, draws more than 19 million shoppers annually and has more than 200 stores, which range from trendy boutiques to megastores. The Galleria is uniquely designed around its centerpiece, the Galleria Ice Skating Center, located beneath its famous vaulted glass-ceiling atrium.

On a much smaller scale is Highland Park Village, set in the historic neighborhood of Dallas’s elite Highland Park. Quaint and old-fashioned, the open-air shopping center, complete with an old-timey movie theater, is a throwback to old Dallas. Stores to hit include Chanel, Anthropologie, Rugby, Scoop NYC, and Kiehl’s.

Grapevine Mills Mall, two miles north of DFW Airport, offers more than 200 outlet stores, including Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, and JC Penney Outlet. Adventure awaits at the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, a super sporting-goods store, and the famed Rainforest Cafe, which has a jungle setting and tropical storms.

Museums

A trip to the downtown Dallas Arts District should include a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art, where “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” presents priceless artifacts from the boy king’s tomb and other ancient Egyptian sites.

Across the street from the Dallas Museum of Art is the acclaimed Renzo Piano– designed Nasher Sculpture Center, which is devoted to modern and contemporary sculpture. Its 1.5-acre sculpture garden features large-scale pieces from the renowned Raymond and Patsy Nasher collection.

This October, experience the architecturally splendid Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a state-of-the-art multivenue facility for opera, music, theater, and dance. Under construction at the moment, it’s being viewed as the most significant new performing-arts complex to be built since New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Other Dallas Arts District gems include the stunning Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, where daytime tours are available, and the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art museum, which focuses on artwork from China, Japan, India, and Southeast Asia.

A few blocks away, you’ll find the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in the former Texas School Book Depository, where evidence of the November 22, 1963, assassination of President John F. Kennedy was found. Exhibits there explore that tragedy. Next door is the Dallas Holocaust Museum/ Center for Education and Tolerance, dedicated to remembering the Holocaust and to teaching the moral and ethical response to prejudice, hatred, and indifference. Parental discretion is advised.

At Fair Park, east of downtown, the Museum of Nature & Science presents everything from dinosaurs to the stars and includes the Children’s Museum, which has hands-on exhibits designed for exploration and discovery. Fair Park’s other jewels include the Women’s Museum and the African American Museum.

In Fort Worth’s Cultural District (the country’s third largest), the Modern Art Museum presents “The Collection and Then Some,” an exhibit of nearly 100 works from the museum’s 3,000-plus-piece permanent collection, which includes art by Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Pablo Picasso, as well as guest pieces from area collections. With the nation’s second-largest modern-art collection, this is one museum not to miss.

Just across the way from the Modern, the Kimbell Art Museum offers “Art and Love in Renaissance Italy,” showcasing approximately 150 paintings and art objects dating from between 1400 and 1600.

Along with its collection of Remingtons and Western and other American art, the Amon Carter Museum presents photographer Barbara Crane’s exquisite work.

At present, there’s a two-for-one ticket that allows entry to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Museum of Science and History. Both are temporarily housed under the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame roof while construction proceeds on the new Museum of Science and History facility.

Sports

For the opening of Major League Baseball’s 2009 season, tour the Texas Rangers’ grand Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and visit the Legends of the Game Baseball Museum and Learning Center. Upgrades to the ballpark include new scoreboards and premium home-plate seating -- just in time for home games this month against the Cleveland Indians, the Baltimore Orioles, the Kansas City Royals, and the Oakland Athletics.

Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway, one of the world’s largest sports venues, offers tours of its 1,500-acre facility, which challenges America’s best race-car drivers.

Just north of downtown Dallas is the American Airlines Center, the high-tech home of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks and the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars. It’s also a leading venue for concerts and other major events. Tours take the public inside operations.

And the thoroughbred-horse-racing season is off and running this month at Grand Prairie’s Class 1 Lone Star Park, just miles from the airport.

Food

More than 10,000 restaurants can be found in the Metroplex, and the best, according to the 2008 Zagat survey, is the nation’s number one hotel restaurant: Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas in trendy Uptown. Legendary chef Dean Fearing, inventor of tortilla soup, serves brilliant adventures -- dishes of buffalo, tamales, quail, and other Southwestern cuisine -- in an environment of rich woods, leathers, textures, glass, and earth tones. Downtown, Japanese fusion chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa creates sublime culinary transcendence at Nobu in the elegant Rosewood Crescent Hotel. (Tip: Keep an eye out for NBA and NHL players while dining here.)

With fresh local ingredients arriving daily and head chef Graham Dodds’s home-produced honey, Bolsa in the Bishop Arts District serves inventive homemade fare that earns raves from each and every person who passes through the restaurant’s doors.

In Fort Worth, visit the widely acclaimed Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in the Stockyards. Chef and owner Tim Love, who has cooked at the renowned James Beard House in New York, explores the potential of cuisine from the Old West with dishes such as buffalo rib eye and wild boar -- all served in rustic environs accented by white tablecloths, old brick walls, and Western art.

Nearby is legendary Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican restaurant, which has an enchanting, heavily landscaped expanse surrounding the tiled patio. Downtown Fort Worth musts include rooftop patio dining at Reata, where inventive Texas cuisine mixes with stunning views. Barbecue lovers should head to Riscky’s in Sundance Square or good ole Angelo’s, west of downtown.

Back in Dallas, at Local in Deep Ellum, which is east of downtown, chef and owner Tracy Miller serves inspired American dishes. On McKinney Avenue, Abacus, with its entrancing minimalist environment, explores contemporary global cuisine. The Porch, on North Henderson Avenue, pulls in crowds hungry for home-style food and heavy, happy socializing.

Burger devotees will find nirvana on Currie Street in Fort Worth at funky Fred’s Texas Cafe. And in Deep Ellum, half pounders rule at the popular Angry Dog.

Places

Visitors revel in delightful Sundance Square, Fort Worth’s history-packed downtown entertainment and shopping district, and in Dallas’s West End Historic District, which has an array of restaurants, clubs, and historic sites. Paying court to Sundance Square is Fort Worth’s majestic Bass Performance Hall, complete with 48-foot angels blowing bugles on either side of the main entrance. The hall, which sits on one full city block, is home to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Texas Ballet Theater, the Fort Worth Opera, and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District offers Western museums and a host of restaurants and shops along its redbrick streets. Cattle drives begin at 11:30 a.m. and four p.m. daily -- cowboys in authentic gear saddle up and herd Texas longhorns along East Exchange Avenue.

The internationally acclaimed Fort Worth Zoo, southwest of downtown, is the oldest in Texas and one of the finest in the United States, featuring the country’s most elite herpetarium, the Museum of Living Art.

Historic Grapevine, just north of DFW Airport, preserves old-time architectural charm. Hop on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad for an open-air trip to and from Fort Worth’s Stockyards.

Five minutes southwest of downtown Dallas, the Bishop Arts District presents an eclectic mix of boutiques, shops, and restaurants that showcase everything from local artists’ works to exotic soft drinks.

For a little more adventure, parents and children can whoop it up at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, where shows and more than 50 rides promise a thrilling break from travel.

With all these options to choose from -- and loads more that we didn’t get to tell you about -- don’t be surprised if you find yourself extending your 24-hour stay to one that lasts the whole weekend. We won’t be.

DAVID HOUSE is a freelance writer based in Texas. He has been a reporter and an editor at the Dallas Morning News, the Denver Post, the St. Petersburg Times, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where he served as senior editor/reader advocate.

Near the airport, in Grapevine, there’s the dazzling Glass Cactus nightclub at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center. Billed as “39,000 square feet of temptations,” the Glass Cactus features live entertainment nightly from top national and local acts.

Over yonder, in Fort Worth, go boot scootin’ at cavernous Billy Bob’s Texas or the historic White Elephant Saloon in the Stockyards. Downtown, in Sundance Square, there’s live jazz at the Scat Jazz Lounge, and there are four dance clubs with music ranging from techno to hip-hop at City Streets. Hear the blues on Friday and Saturday nights at J&J Blues Bar, northwest of downtown. For a neighborhood spot where everybody knows your name (well, maybe not yours, but you get the idea), try the Mule Pub, Ye Olde Bull & Bush, or the Ginger Man. All offer pool, darts, great jukeboxes, and loads of beer. What else do you need?

Hot spots in Dallas include storied Lower Greenville Avenue, where the landmark Granada Theater has carved out a reputation as one of the city’s best live-music venues. Touring acts take the Granada’s big stage and put its spectacular sound system to work.

Victory Park, just north of downtown Dallas, is home to the W Dallas-Victory hotel and its futuristic Ghostbar on the 33rd floor. Be sure to get some fresh air on the smaller of the bar’s two outdoor balconies -- the glass floor affords some unique views below. Just down the street from the W, you’ll find another music-junkie favorite: the House of Blues. In Uptown, Stoneleigh P offers late-night solace with good company, food, and drinks in historic digs that at one time were a pharmacy (hence the P in the name).

Up for an indie movie and a martini? Then hit Dallas’s historic Inwood Theatre. Restored to its original palatial glory, the landmark features a family-style theater downstairs -- outfitted with sofas, love seats, and overstuffed seating -- and two regular theaters upstairs. Across the lobby, the adjacent (and popular) Inwood Lounge offers excellent drinks, amiable service, and the ambience of bygone days.

Travelers feeling lucky can head to Irishman Peter Kinney’s Capitol Pub, a freewheeling neighborhood spot known for high-end bar food, international beers, and a homey wraparound porch. For some hole-in-the-wall excellence, try Lakewood Landing, which serves what some say are Dallas’s best BLTs, along with thick fries, wings, and ice-cold beer. And it has an awesome jukebox.

And for the best views of downtown Dallas, the hands-down winner is BarBelmont at the historic art moderne Belmont Hotel, which is perched atop a man-made cliff on the outskirts of town.

If You Go

ARLINGTON
Dallas Cowboys New Stadium
1 Legends Way
(817) 404-0100
http://stadium.dallascowboys.com

Legends of the Game Baseball Museum and Learning Center
1000 Ballpark Way, Suite 400
(817) 273-5600
http://museum.texasrangers.com

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington
1000 Ballpark Way
(972) 726-4377 (for tickets)
(817) 273-5222 (office)
http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/tex/ballpark/index.jsp

Six Flags Over Texas
2201 Road To Six Flags Street East
(817) 640-8900
www.sixflags.com


DALLAS
Abacus
4511 McKinney Avenue
(214) 559-3311
www.kentrathbun.com/abacus.html

African American Museum
3536 Grand Avenue
(214) 565-9026
www.aamdallas.org

American Airlines Center
2500 Victory Avenue
(214) 222-3687
www.americanairlinescenter.com

Angry Dog
2726 Commerce Street
(214) 741-4406
www.angrydog.com

BarBelmont, Belmont Hotel
901 Fort Worth Avenue
(866) 870-8010
www.belmontdallas.com/barbelmont.aspx

Bishop Arts District
Boundaries are West Davis Street on the north, Melba Street on the south, North Madison Avenue on the east, and North Adams Avenue on the west
(214) 942-0690
www.bishopartsdistrict.com

Bolsa
614 West Davis Street
(214) 367-9367
www.bolsadallas.com

Capitol Pub
2401 North Henderson Avenue
(214) 887-9330
www.capitolpubdallas.com

Dallas Center for the Performing Arts
2100 Ross Avenue, Suite 650
(214) 954-9925
www.dallasperformingarts.org

Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
211 North Record Street, Suite 100
(214) 741-7500
www.dallasholocaustmuseum.org

Dallas Museum of Art
1717 North Harwood Street
(214) 922-1200
www.dallasmuseumofart.org

Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
2121 McKinney Avenue
(214) 922-4848
www.fearingsrestaurant.com

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck
300 Reunion Boulevard East
(214) 741-5560
www.wolfgangpuck.com

Galleria Dallas
13350 Dallas Parkway, Suite 3080
(972) 702-7100
www.galleriadallas.com

Ghostbar, W Dallas-Victory
2440 Victory Park Lane
(214) 720-9919
www.starwoodhotels.com

Granada Theater
3524 Greenville Avenue
(214) 824-9933
www.granadatheater.com

Highland Park Village
47 Highland Park Village (Intersection of East Mockingbird Lane and Douglas Avenue)
(214) 559-2740
www.hpvillage.com

House of Blues
2200 North Lamar Street
(214) 978-2583
www.hob.com

Inwood Theatre/Inwood Lounge
5458 West Lovers Lane
(214) 764-9106
www.landmarktheatres.com

Lakewood Landing
5818 Live Oak
(214) 823-2410
www.lakewood-landing.com

Local
2936A Elm Street
(214) 752-7500
www.localdallas.com

Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center
2301 Flora Street
(214) 670-3600
www.meyersonsymphonycenter.com

Museum of Nature & Science/Children’s Museum
3535 Grand Avenue and 1318 South Second Avenue in Fair Park
(214) 428-5555
www.natureandscience.org

Nasher Sculpture Center
2001 Flora Street
(214) 242-5100
www.nashersculpturecenter.org

Nobu, Rosewood Crescent Hotel
400 Crescent Court
(214) 252-7000
www.noburestaurants.com/dallas/index.html

NorthPark Center
8687 North Central Expressway
(214) 363-7441
www.northparkcenter.com

The Porch
2912 North Henderson Avenue
(214) 828-2916
www.theporchrestaurant.com

Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
411 Elm Street
214-747-6660
www.jfk.org

Stoneleigh P
2926 Maple Avenue
(214) 871-2346

Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art
2010 Flora Street
(214) 979-6430
www.crowcollection.org

Victory Park
3090 Olive Street, Suite 300
(214) 303-5535
www.victorypark.com

West End Historic District
208 North Market Street, Suite A
(214) 741-7180
www.dallaswestend.org

Women’s Museum
3800 Parry Avenue
(214) 915-0860
www.thewomensmuseum.org


FORT WORTH
Amon Carter Museum
3501 Camp Bowie Boulevard
(817) 738-1933
www.cartermuseum.org

Angelo’s
2533 White Settlement Road
(817) 332-0357
www.angelosbbq.com

Bass Performance Hall
4th and Calhoun Streets, Sundance Square
(817) 212-4325
www.basshall.com

Billy Bob’s Texas
2520 Rodeo Plaza
(817) 624-7117
www.billybobstexas.com

City Streets
Intersection of Fourth Street and Commerce Street, Sundance Square
(817) 335-5400
www.citystreetsfortworth.com

Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District
Boundaries are Northeast 28th Street on the north, Northeast 23rd Street on the south, Stockyards Boulevard on the east, and Ellis Avenue on the west
(817) 625-9715
www.fortworthstockyards.org

Fort Worth Zoo
1989 Colonial Parkway
(817) 759-7500
www.fortworthzoo.com

Fred’s Texas Cafe
915 Currie Street
(817) 332-0083
www.fredstexascafe.com

Ginger Man
3716 Camp Bowie Boulevard
(817) 886-2327
www.gingermanpub.com

J&J Blues Bar
937 Woodward Street
(817) 870-2337
www.jjbluesbar.com

Joe T. Garcia’s
2201 North Commerce Street
(817) 626-4356
www.joets.com

Kimbell Art Museum
3333 Camp Bowie Boulevard
(817) 332-8451
www.kimbellart.org

Lonesome Dove Western Bistro
2406 North Main Street
(817) 740-8810
www.lonesomedovebistro.com

Modern Art Museum
3200 Darnell Street
(817) 738-9215
www.themodern.org

Mule Pub
5731 Locke Avenue
(817) 732-5399
www.mulepub.com

Museum of Science and History
1501 Montgomery Street
(817) 255-9300
www.fwmuseum.org

National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame
1720 Gendy Street
(817) 336-4475
www.cowgirl.net

Reata
310 Houston Street, Sundance Square
(817) 336-1009
www.reata.net/reata_ftworth.html

Riscky’s
300 Main Street, Sundance Square
(817) 877-3306
www.risckys.com

Scat Jazz Lounge
111 West 4th Street, Suite 11
(817) 870-9100
www.scatjazzlounge.com

Sundance Square
Boundaries are First Street on the north, 5th Street on the south, Terry Street on the east, and Lamar Street on the west
(817) 255-5700
www.sundancesquare.com

Texas Motor Speedway
3545 Lone Star Circle
(817) 215-8500
www.texasmotorspeedway.com

White Elephant Saloon
106 East Exchange Avenue
(817) 624-8273
www.whiteelephantsaloon.com

Ye Olde Bull & Bush
2300 Montgomery Street
(817) 731-9206
www.yeoldbullandbush.com


GRAND PRAIRIE
Lone Star Park
1000 Lone Star Parkway
(972) 263-7223
www.lonestarpark.com


GRAPEVINE
Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World
2501 Bass Pro Drive
(972) 724-2018
www.basspro.com

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center
1501 Gaylord Trail
(817) 778-2000
www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-texan

Glass Cactus
1501 Gaylord Trail
(817) 778-2800
www.glasscactusnightclub.com

Grapevine Mills Mall
3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway
(972) 724-4900
www.grapevinemills.com

Grapevine Vintage Railroad
707 South Main Street
(817) 410-8136
www.tarantulatrain.com

Historic Grapevine
Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau
One Liberty Park Plaza
(817) 410-3185
www.grapevinetexasusa.com

Arranging accommodations and transportation is quick and easy. Scores of hotels in the area, including two Hyatts at the airport, offer any level of comfort travelers desire. Information boards near baggage-claim areas provide reservation contacts as well as details on courtesy vehicles for hotels and motels and on other transportation such as taxis, rental cars, the Airporter, and the Trinity Railway Express.