Fort Worth: Kimbell Art Museum, Stockyards & the Texas Rangers

One of the great art museums of North America — the Kimbell is as much about Louis Kahn's 1972 building as about the collection. Kahn's sixteen parallel concrete vaults with silver-travertine exteriors bring natural light into the galleries through a carefully designed slit at the vault's crown, diffused by reflective aluminum louvers to eliminate direct sunlight while filling every room with a luminous glow. Architectural critics routinely call it the most perfect building in America. The collection (modest in size, exceptional in quality) includes Velázquez, Caravaggio, Goya, El Greco, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Mondrian, and Matisse — each work chosen for its significance rather than completeness. The 2013 Piano Pavilion extension doubles the floor area without touching the Kahn building.

The preeminent collection of American art in Texas — Amon Carter (Fort Worth newspaper publisher and booster who collected compulsively) gave his Fort Worth–focused collection to a museum designed by Philip Johnson in 1961 and expanded four times since. The collection's core is in Frederic Remington and Charles Russell (the most comprehensive holdings of both artists' work in the world), complemented by a photography collection (Ansel Adams, Laura Gilpin) and a broad survey of American painting and sculpture. The 1961 Johnson building — five bronze-framed arches in Texas shellstone — is one of Johnson's most harmonious designs.

The largest modern art museum in the American South — Tadao Ando's 2002 building is a series of five concrete boxes reflected in a 1.5-acre pond, the largest public arts project in Texas history when it opened. The collection (40,000 square feet of gallery space) includes Rothko, Kline, Pollock, Diebenkorn, Serra, and Baselitz; the permanent collection is strongest in Abstract Expressionism and postwar American and European work. The café overlooks the reflecting pond and the Kahn building opposite across the water — the view between the two buildings from the terrace is the canonical Fort Worth Cultural District image.

A luxury ranch-style hotel opened in 2021 within the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District — in the former livestock exchange building complex, steps from Exchange Avenue. The hotel is positioned for tomorrow's Stockyards visit; the 97 West Kitchen & Bar serves Fort Worth steaks and cocktails. The Cultural District is a 10-minute drive west.

The last intact urban stockyards complex in the United States — at its peak in the early 20th century, the Fort Worth Stockyards processed 7 million cattle, hogs, and sheep per year and was the second-largest livestock market in the country. The Stockyards Hotel (1907), the Cowtown Coliseum (1908, first indoor rodeo venue), and the Exchange Building (1902) all survive on Exchange Avenue. Twice daily (11:30am and 4pm), a herd of Texas Longhorn cattle is driven down Exchange Avenue in what is billed as 'the world's only twice-daily cattle drive' — the longhorns are historically authentic descendants of the original Spanish cattle that formed the foundation of the Texas cattle industry.

The only museum in the world dedicated to the women of the American West — the National Cowgirl Museum chronicles the women who shaped western life from the frontier era through the present: ranchers, rodeo performers, artists, writers, and activists. Honorees include Georgia O'Keeffe, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dale Evans, and Anne Oakley. The museum's design uses photographic floors, interactive simulated bronc-riding, and oral history recordings to create a distinctly experiential approach to Western women's history. The museum is in the Cultural District, 3 miles from the Stockyards.

The revitalized 35-block pedestrian-friendly downtown district in central Fort Worth — an outdoor entertainment and commercial center built through the Bass family's private investment from the 1970s through the 1990s that avoided the suburban mall migration that hollowed out most Texas downtowns. The Sid Richardson Museum (free admission) in Sundance Square holds a significant collection of Frederic Remington and Charles Russell bronzes and paintings. The Bass Performance Hall (1998) hosts the Fort Worth Symphony and Opera. Sundance Square's main plaza has frequent outdoor concerts and events.

A full-service hotel in Sundance Square, Fort Worth's pedestrian downtown core — connected to the Convention Center and within walking distance of Sundance Square's restaurants and the Sid Richardson Museum. Tomorrow's drive to Waco takes 90 minutes south on I-35W.

The official repository of Texas Ranger history — the Rangers were established in 1823 as a frontier protection force by Stephen F. Austin (predating the Republic of Texas by 13 years), making them the oldest state law enforcement agency in North America. The museum's collection spans Ranger history from the frontier Apache and Comanche conflicts through the border wars of the early 20th century, Prohibition-era lawlessness, and the contemporary criminal investigation division. The firearms collection includes Colt Walker revolvers specifically designed for the Rangers in 1847 (the most powerful handgun in the world at the time), iconic Ranger-issue Winchesters, and recovered weapons from famous criminal cases.

The 1891 Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building in downtown Waco — where Dr Pepper was first commercially bottled, making it the oldest major soft drink in the United States (predating Coca-Cola by two years). The museum occupies the original five-story red brick bottling plant with its original industrial equipment, the soda fountain where the drink was invented, and a collection of Dr Pepper advertising spanning 130 years. The basement soda fountain serves Dr Pepper at the original 10-2-4 temperature (36°F) in period glassware.

The flagship retail destination of Chip and Joanna Gaines's Magnolia brand — a restored 1950s cotton silo complex converted to an outdoor market with a bakery (Magnolia Bakery, known for the lemon bars and cupcakes), retail shops, gardens, and food truck vendors. The silos draw over 1 million visitors per year to Waco and have significantly reshaped the city's economy and self-image. The market is at the corner of the Brazos River waterfront near the Waco Suspension Bridge (1870, the first suspension bridge in Texas, which cattle drives used on the Chisholm Trail). The drive back to Dallas on I-35E takes 90 minutes.