What to do in Fort Worth, TX

I’m a Dallasite, and I absolutely love Dallas! In my 4+ years of living in Dallas, I have visited Fort Worth a handful of times to visit, and I thought it was about time that I share some tips, especially for first-time visitors.

Fort Worth is a great place for out-of-towners who want to experience the “real Texas”. Dallas is so metropolitan, but Fort Worth has some more traditional “cowboy” touristy things to do that visitors will definitely appreciate.

Fort Worth is also a metropolitan area of its own right too, so I’m also going to include some tips on non-cowboy things to do in Fort Worth.

Caddo Lake, TX

One of the reasons why Mitcher and I chose to move to Texas 2 years ago was that we knew that it would have good opportunities to visit new areas that are within driving distance of home. Caddo Lake is the perfect example of a local road trip opportunity that we have at our fingertips because of our home base of Dallas.

Hamilton Pool Preserve, Dripping Springs, TX

I remember the first time I ever saw a picture of Hamilton Pool. I was on Pinterest, looking up cool vacation destinations. Amidst my feed, one picture stood out above the rest. It was a picture of a swimming hole with gorgeous blue/green water and waterfall cascading off a domed grotto into the pool down below. I thought for sure this was found in some remote country somewhere I’d never be able to easily visit. But once I clicked, not only was I surprised to find out it was in the US, but that it was actually right here in Texas!

Perhaps to most Texans, this is a well-known and popular place, but being a relative Texas newbie, I was so excited with my find. After further research, I saw that the beautiful Hamilton Pool was actually just a short trip outside of Austin — an easy trip from my Dallas home. So I started planning my trip. In doing so, I realized that visiting Hamilton Pool actually requires a bit of advanced planning, and it wasn’t as simple as I originally expected. So today I’m sharing my tips for planning your visit.

Staycation in Dallas, TX

We had our first Dallas visitors! My sister, Katie, and her husband, Brandon, decided to come spend Memorial Day weekend with us in Dallas. Mitcher and I moved to Dallas about 9 months ago and we’ve slowly been exploring the city, but we were excited for Katie and Brandon’s visit to give us an excuse to check out our city even more.

San Antonio, TX

The last time I was in San Antonio was back in high school. I can’t even remember which year it was, and I only have small snippets of memories from that trip. I remember seeing the Alamo, and I remember buying a “Don’t Mess With Texas” t-shirt, but that’s about where my memory stops. So this trip to San Antonio really felt like a “first” for me.

Cowboys for a day in Forth Worth, TX

So, right off the bat, I have to admit something: I’m not from Texas. So when I moved to Texas, I was very excited to do all the stereotypical Texas things: try Texas-style BBQ, see the bluebonnet fields, attend a football game in the Cowboys stadium, eat Tex-Mex food, do some line-dancing and, of course, see some real-life cowboys! In my quest to cross a few of these off my to-do list, I planned a “cowboy” day for us, and where better to do it than in Fort Worth, Texas?

Fredericksburg, TX

Mitcher and I arrived in Texas and had about 2.5 weeks before we started work. We kept very busy with things like: finding an apartment; buying 2 new cars; re-stocking on groceries, cleaning supplies, and household goods; and shopping for furniture. But moving to a new country (even if it’s moving back home) is exhausting work. After the bulk of the necessary moving activities were finished, we found ourselves with a few days to spare and an itch to do something fun.

Our friend, Liz, who we met in Sydney, is from Texas and when we told her we were moving to Dallas, one of her first recommendations to us was to check out the Texas Hill Country wine region (she knew she was talking to some major wine lovers). And then, after arriving, our Dallas friends Andrea and Ryan mentioned it as well. So since we kept hearing about it, we decided to just go for it. So on a whim we quickly booked a bed & breakfast and got on the road toward Fredericksburg.