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Five Things You Must Do While You Are in Fort Worth

Fort Worth (population 555,000) is in north central Texas, about 30 miles west of Dallas. The city was founded during the Mexican War in 1849 as a military outpost. It is known as the museum capital of the Southwest; the Culture District has more than a half dozen museums in a concentrated area.

1. Celebrate the Image of the American Cowboy: Fort Worth was the center of the U.S. cattle industry. Every morning, you can still see herds of long-horn cattle driven down Exchange Avenue by cowhands to the stockyards. The city is home to the Cowgirl Museum, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, the Cattle Raisers Museum, and the Cattleman's Museum.  In the Historic Stockyards, the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame is housed in the area's original horse and mule barns. The Sterquell Wagon Collection has more than 60 restored wagons, carriages, and sleighs. Displayed are videos, trophies, saddles, and photographs from Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame honorees.

2. Scream When the Checkered Flag Drops: The 154,861-seat Texas Motor Speedway is the second-largest sports facility in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. The track hosts the annual NASCAR Nextel Cup event and Indy Car and dirt-track racing. The top names in the racing world compete here, plus you can see every major form of U.S. automobile racing.

3. Relax and Recreate in City Park: Fort Worth parks and lakes offer hiking, biking, rollerblading, swimming, sailing, fishing, and more. Just 10 miles southwest of downtown Fort Worth, Lake Benbrook is an excellent freshwater-fishing destination. Holiday Park, Mustang Park and Rocky Creek Park -- all located around Benbrook's periphery -- offer hiking, boating, and camping.,

4. Hoist a Lone Star Beer in a real Western Saloon: The most famous is Billy Bob's Texas, known as the "world's largest honky-tonk," with 32 bar stations spread across 127,000 square feet providing live music and other entertainment, plus real bull-riding in an indoor arena. Sundance Square downtown is a huge area of shops, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. To the north, the Stockyards area is another hotspot with many Western-themed bars.

5. Cowtown Coliseum: Take the kids to an old-fashioned Texas rodeo. Every Friday and Saturday night, rodeos in the Cowtown Coliseum include bull-riding, team roping, barrel racing, calf roping, saddle-bronc riding, bareback riding, tie-down roping, breakaway roping -- and calf and mutton scrambles for children. A historical re-enactment of the original Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show features trick- roping, -shooting, and -riding; cowboy songs; and an entertaining look at cowboy history. The shows are based on actual events and stunts in the original Wild West Show that toured the U.S. and Europe some 90 years ago.