Goals of Trip:

Explore Fort Worth beyond the regular tourist attractions
Celebrate a friend’s wedding

Keywords: Urban, Oasis, Sky

Time visited: June/Summer

Don’t forget to pack:

Linen or breathable clothing
Sun protection (hat, sunscreen)
Comfortable walking shoes

Travel:

Flew in through Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), picked up our rental car and drove 20 minutes to downtown Fort Worth.

Accommodations:

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Fort Worth Downtown

Pros: Free hotel breakfast, nice indoor pool with hot tub, and extremely helpful night personnel. We got in after midnight and had a difficult time finding a parking spot. The staff kindly helped us look and actually helped us locate one next to the back entrance.

Cons: Dated interiors, not an area I would feel safe walking to and from to downtown.

Day 1 - Friday

10am Brunch at Snooze, an A.M. Eatery

Wolfed down the delicious habanero pork belly benedict, it was fatty and flavorful as eggs benedict should be! Paired with crispy potatoes on the side for a perfect finish.

Pork belly eggs benedict and crispy potatoes at Snooze, an A.M. eatery in Fort Worth, TX.

I savored a rich and energizing oat milk latte, while my companions boldly devoured the house signature spicy bloody mary with gusto.

Snooze is a chain restaurant with a menu that reads like a local flavor diner. With colorful design and mid-century modern décor plus bloody mary topping choices ranging from kimchi to an entire kabob of pickles – I would definitely return.

11am Botanic Gardens

This botanic garden is large enough to be a whole day affair. Inside, gigantic fiddle leaf fig trees reach for the greenhouse’s domed skies. The majority of the garden grounds are outside, so this is the time to break out your sun protection! From playful sculptures to serene water features, I could photograph this place until the sun goes down.

Lush greenery fills a huge greenhouse, stretching to the ceiling at the botanical garden in Fort Worth, TX.

Tropical yellow flowers perk up to the sky within the botanic garden at Fort Worth, TX.

Our favorite section was the Japanese garden. Not all parts of this garden are accessible for those with mobility issues, but the main walkways have paved paths.

Boat sculptures float peacefully in the Japanese Garden in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Japanese style bridge arches to the vividly blue sky at Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

The zen garden is designed so the viewer cannot see all of the rocks at one time. No matter what angle you view it from, a part of it will always be out of sight.

Zen garden featuring rocks, and delicate lines drawn in concentric designs at the botanic gardens in Fort Worth, TX.

Hidden paths meander, making this a beautiful place to wander. Adorable bridges, hidden pagodas, and a bamboo forest create a wondrous seclusion.

A waterfall within a lush garden at the Fort Worth botanic gardens.

A blue heron gracefully takes off within the Japanese portion of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

4:30pm Dinner at Akarii Revolving Sushi

Club bangers on the radio. Your favorite sushi coming down a train track towards you on a tiny pedestal. The ability to order food on a tablet without speaking to a single soul. The fattiest piece of salmon sashimi is melting in your mouth, perfectly balanced with soy sauce and cut with a hint of wasabi.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The salmon sashimi is what my dreams are made of: beautifully prepared, super fatty, high quality, fresh.

An order of tender salmon sashimi sits on a white plate at Akarii Revolving Sushi Bar in Fort Worth, TX.

This place is also a crisp, air conditioned respite from the Texas sun, complete with refreshing seaweed salad, sashimi, and miso soup.

Miso soup, seaweed salad, and salmon sashimi at Akarii Revolving Sushi Bar in Fort Worth, TX.

6pm Dessert at Creamistry

Conveniently a few doors down from Akarii for that after-dinner sweet treat hankering! Nitrogen ice cream is legendary for its incredibly thick texture. This is a wonderful choice for those who are vegan or lactose intolerant, as vegan or non-dairy milk options are available. My scoop of the cashew-milk matcha green tea ice cream was delectable- sweet, thick, and creamy but with green tea flavor on the back end to balance.

1 scoop of cashew milk matcha ice cream from Creamistry in Fort Worth, TX.

Day 2 - Saturday

9am Hotel Breakfast

11am Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Super imposing exterior, all wide planes and sharp corners, this building is an incredibly dramatic backdrop for the large scale pieces featured here.

The bold lines of the exterior of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

Our favorites:

Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington 1996 at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. — Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington 1996

Anselm Kiefer, Book with Wings at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. — Anselm Kiefer, Book with Wings, 1992–94. Lead, tin, and steel.

1pm Café Modern

Stopped for a latte and pastries after viewing the exhibits! Make a reservation ahead of time if you’d like one of the pristine seats that looks out over the reflecting pool. Elegant setting, can’t go wrong for little pick-me-up.

Seating at Cafe Modern at Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

2pm Happy Lemon

Must stop for boba! Happy Lemon’s bright and happy décor matched the simple deliciousness of the milk tea. Perfectly cooked chewy boba and balanced flavor for the milk tea with 25% sugar.

Brown sugar milk tea and milk tea with boba at Happy Lemon in Fort Worth, TX.

3pm Nap/Recharge and prep for wedding festivities

5pm Attended our friend’s wedding! Bursting with Fort Worth flavor, and featuring fantastic live music and delicious food in a venue with industrial secret garden vibes.

Hidden Gems: A Fort Worth Weekend

Don’t forget to pack:

Travel:

Accommodations:

Day 1 - Friday

Mile High Marathon

Chill Weekend in Chattanooga