Five things I’ve learnt about Fort Worth, Texas.

Fort Worth Stockyards. Image courtesy of Visit Fort Worth

I‘ve never been to Texas (apart from changing flights in Dallas once, years ago, so that doesn’t really count) but the other day in London I met some real live Texans at a blogger lunch. They gave each of us a pair of excellent Justin Boots cowboy boots (I love my job) and told us all about Fort Worth.

My Justin Boots from Fort Worth. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Also known as the City of Cowboys and Culture, and Where The West Begins, Fort Worth is in North Central Texas and is the 16th largest city in the USA. Here are some of the things which I leant about Fort Worth.

Honky Tonk

I thought that honkytonk was a word invented by the Rolling Stones. It turns out that a Honky Tonk is a place where you go to drink, hang out with friends, play pool, dance, listen to country music and generally have a good time. BritMums co-founder and Texan Jen Howze tells me that her kids adore going to Honky Tonks when they visit Texas. And, apparently, Fort Worth is home to the biggest Honky Tonk in the world, Billy Bob’s Texas.

Stockyards

The Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District preserves the heritage of Texas’s livestock industry and is the place to go for all things cowboy and cowgirl. It has daily cattle drives, you can ride in a stagecoach, there are rodeos on Friday and Saturday nights, and you can go horse riding there.

Stockyards Championship Rodeo Barrel Racing. Image courtesy of Visit Fort Worth

National Cowgirl Museum

Fort Worth has an actual museum devoted to cowgirls and women who embody the pioneer spirit of the American West. How great is that?! The city has a host of other museums too, including the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

Music

There’s a vibrant music scene in Fort Worth and there are many live music venues in the city. Texan singer-songwriter Luke Wade (former The Voice contestant in the US) performed some of his soulful songs for us in London and gave each of us a CD of his music. His songs are beautifully written and he’s a great performer.

Jen Howze, me, Helen Wills, Luke Wade, Cathy Winston, Elizabeth Scott and daughter. Copyright Gretta Schifano

Cowboy hats

In Fort Worth, so I’m told, people actually wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots with suits. So there.

Activities at Fort Worth Stockyards. Image courtesy of Visit Fort Worth

More on Fort Worth

If you need a place to stay in Fort Worth, you can search and book here. To find out more about Fort Worth, go the official fortworth.com website. If you’d like a guidebook, the Lonely Planet Texas (Travel Guide) looks good.

Over to you

So, have you ever been to Fort Worth or Texas? If you have, how was it? If you haven’t, would you consider it as a holiday destination?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you clicked through and booked I may receive a small commission. All opinions, images and words are my own, as ever.