Weekend trip to explore city...suggestions needed (Fort Worth, Arlington: neighborhoods, movie theaters)

[BC71111]

Since I've never been to Fort Worth before and I live in NW Louisiana, I would like to visit one weekend to get the "feel" of the city and explore possible neighborhoods for relocation next year. For sure I want to visit downtown Fort Worth since I've heard great things about it and to check out the vibe of the city. Any suggestions on restaurants and/or attractions we should see while we're there? We have two young girls, 6 & 9, so children's attractions would be welcome, and my hubby likes sports, too. I definitely would like to see the best that Fort Worth has to offer and impress my hubby enough that he will be fully on board with this move next year, so your suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[BC71111]

I've been doing some research on the FW attractions and here are some places of interest I've come up with so far:

• Fort Worth Museum of Science & History (new museum I believe, opens this Friday?)
• Bureau of Engraving & Printing (money factory--free tours!)
• Fort Worth Zoo (I didn't even know Fort Worth had their own zoo...how great is that!?)
• Kimbell Art Museum (or any museum really, no museums where I live currently and would like to take my kids to one)

There's no way we could squeeze this all in one weekend but I'm really excited to see that Fort Worth has so much to offer.

Lastly, I would like to eat at a great BBQ and a Tex-Mex restaurant. So if anyone could let me know what the local favorites are I would greatly appreciate it!

[Eric S]

I've only been around for a year and feel unqualified to offer you any meaningful suggestions. I hate to see your thread just sitting here, though, so here are my opinions to help bump your thread some:

Ft. Worth Zoo - A tremendous experience for your family. On a good weather day the full walking tour will probably be very exciting for your kids and a little exhausting if you take everything in. Luckily, the train is situated to get you quickly back to the Zoo entry point once you've seen everything.

Food/BBQ - I really prefer David's in Pantego (Arlington, essentially). They have the best brisket that I've had in the Ft. Worth area. Arlington - in my opinion - offers quite a delightful selection of eclectic restaurants and one of only TWO Jamaican restaurants in all of DFW. There are lots of BBQ and steak joints in the Ft. Worth Stockyard section of town. The atmosphere is good, better than the food, in my opinion. It's always nice to be able to enjoy beer and BBQ in a very casual environment. Another Arlington beer and food joint: Fuzzy's Taco - just tremendous.

Sports Venues - Arlington is the place to be (http://www.arlington.org/sports_recreation/). Also, TCU appears to have a national champion caliber NCAA football team this year. It may be possible to get tickets to one of their games.

That's all I've got. When y'all decide to move here, I'll give you my $0.02 on the surrounding towns.

-Eric

[DanielWayne]

I've only been to downtown (stayed there New Years for a bowl game) and the arts district. Both are absolutely fantastic, and family friendly. Forth Worth has a clean, pedestrian friendly downtown with lots of stuff to do. Parking is an issue, but once you are there it is pretty cool. If you like sports, go check out the TCU campus. Very nice school with a serious football team.

[loves2read]

the science museum would be great place for you girls -- as would the zoo depending on weather of course
downtown is walkable but not too much for kids to do there
Kincaids is local hamburger joint with several locations--lots of family fare and there are places in downwtown for families as well
Main Event is combo bowling alley/games place that might be fun if weather turns too cold
movie theaters around as well

[BC71111]

Thanks for the advice. I am excited about visiting and hopefully *keeping my fingers crossed* moving to the area next spring/summer. As long as we can get jobs lined up then our move will happen more likely than not. Luckily the field we both work in is in demand and there seem to be plenty of opportunities in that area.