Dallas/Fort Worth

What's Here Show Me The Numbers Venues: Meet and Play in the Fast Lane; 10 Great Place for Group Dinners Finding the West in the Metroplex What's New Resources For more information about hotels and meeting facilities Would you like information about other Texas destinations?

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The Speedway's event planning department assists with customized driving schools, product introductions, conferences, team-building events on the track, and tours with stops at the 2,232 sf media center, some of the 194 luxury suites, and the infield car-care center. For those who just want to joyride the track, there are individual laps with certified drivers in cars for thrills up to 160 mph.

At the Lil' Texas Motor Speedway, a .5-mile track in the complex, guests can drive Legends Cars for $75 per person (minimum: 25 people). And for visitors with a bend towards virtual reality, there's an interactive electronic mini race track with shows that run about up to 20 minutes.

10 Great Places for Group Dinners

1. The Green Room, Dallas, Eclectic/Intl
2. Bistro Louise, Fort Worth, Mediterranean
3. Randall's Gourmet Cheesecake Co., Fort Worth, Eclectic/Intl
4. Javier's, Dallas, Mexican/Tex-Mex
5. City Cafe to Go, Dallas, American
6. Angeluna, Fort Worth, American
7. L'Ancestral, Dallas, French/Bistro
8. Lawry's The Prime Rib, Addison, Steakhouse
9. La Piazza, Fort Worth, Italian
10. Kincaid's Hamburgers, Fort Worth, Casual

Barbecue buffets mix bronco rider thrills in the Mesquite Championship Rodeo that's held just 15 minutes from downtown Big D(allas), Friday and Saturday nights, April through September.

The best place in the region to have some Wild West fun and ruminate about the "good old days" is in Fort Worth's Stockyards National Historic District. Though gunslingers and bank robbers like Bonnie and Clyde once strolled its dusty streets, it's all fun and games now. Visitors enjoy museums dedicated to the old days of cattle ranching and auctioning, unique shops, restaurants, rodeo, and world-famous Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky-tonk with its own indoor rodeo, dance floors, and 25 bars. A herd of longhorns is part of the daily Stockyards scene, and you can invite them to your event. Fort Worth is also the place to find the best of western art. Look for works by masters such as Remington and Russell in the Sid Richardson Collection of Western Art in Sundance Square and the Amon Carter Museum.

If the group is up for a luxury ranch experience quite apart from reality, send them to Rough Creek Lodge in Glen Rose, about two hours southwest of the Metroplex. This five-star executive retreat, which some are calling the country version of Dallas' premier Mansion on Turtle Creek, is on 11,000 acres of hill country and hunting preserve. Features include 39 rooms and suites, fine dining, meeting rooms, and diversions like sporting clays, fly-fishing, and small game hunting.

And you can pay J.R. Ewing and his circle a call at Southfork Ranch, about 20 miles north of downtown Dallas. The home of the infamous stars of the Dallas TV series has been transformed by a $12 million renovation into an event and conference center. In addition to the familiar Ewing Mansion, Southfork has 63,000 sf of indoor space for groups, full-service catering, and event planning amenities. J.R. and the gang will be waiting-on videotape, that is.

What's New

Opryland's Talkin' Texas Big: Not since Davy Crockett crossed the borders of the Lone Star State have Texas and Tennessee made such history together. It's a Tennessee brand export that's causing superlative-savvy North Texans to redefine their image of big Opryland Hotel Texas, a 1,500-room hotel and convention center, emerging from the prairie in the middle of the DFW Metroplex. Opening is scheduled for April, 2003.

Located on 77 acres in Lake Grapevine, about 10 minutes from the DFW airport, Nashville's best is putting 380,000 sf of prefunction, meeting, and exhibition space into a design that combines the grand architecture of a Texas mansion with the feel of a ranch. Included, of course, is Opryland's signature atrium: acres under glass showcasing Texas' colorful topography and history (the Rio Grande River running through rugged canyon walls, a Governor's Mansion replica, and a ranch area with life-sized bronze longhorn cattle drinking from a watering hole).

To survey the climate-controlled four-acre scene, patrons will be able to mount oil derricks flanking the grand entrance. Among the exterior amenities: an 18-hole golf course at the new Dallas Cowboys Golf Club, which opens this fall.

ELSEWHERE IN THE METROPLEX: Dallas The Dallas Convention Center's latest expansion will add 200,000 sf of exhibit space to bring the center's overall sf to one million when it reaches completion in summer 2002.

• The Westin Stonebriar Resort and Hotel, a 301-rm property with 24,000 sf of mtg space, spa, and an 18-hole Tom Fazio golf course, opens this summer north of Dallas and Plano near corporate neighbors like the headquarters of EDS, J.C. Penney Co., Pepsi/Frito Lay, and Dr. Pepper/7Up.
• A $65 million expansion is taking place at the Hyatt Regency Dallas near the convention center, including a 32,000 sf ballrm and a 42,000 sf exhibit hall.
• The Wyndham Anatole, one of the southwest's largest conference hotels with 1,620 guest rms, is completing a 2-year renovation that's added meeting and exhibition space for a total 311,000 sf.
• Gilley's, a Texas honky-tonk legend, is opening a Dallas base less than 2 blocks from the Dallas Convention Center. It will anchor a new enter- tainment complex known as "South Side," which is adding loft apartments, retail, and a hotel to the city core.
• MeriStar Hotels & Resorts is beefing up its DFW Metroplex rm inventory to 3,000 in Aug with the opening of the 224-rm Park Cities Hilton with 8,000 sf of mtg space.
• A 78-year-old downtown Dallas landmark, the 28-story former home of Magnolia Petroleum is becoming The Magnolia Hotel, which will have mtg rms, marble walls, and over 300 guest rms and extended-stay stes priced at under $200 a night when the $40 million renovation is completed this fall.
• The Nasher Sculpture Center is coming on a 2.4-acre site adj to the Dallas Museum of Art in the downtown district by 2002, with an auditorium and rotating displays of contemporary works from the Nasher collection.
• A 350-rm Hotel Sofitel is emerging in the affluent Turtle Creek area with 2 restaurants, Sofitel's traditional French brasserie, mtg rms, and a grand ballrm.
• Doubletree Club Dallas Park Central has added 204 guest rms and 2,500 sf of mtg space in a renovation that brings Hilton's portfolio of hotels in the Metroplex to 35.
• The historic Melrose Hotel in the Turtle Creek area has completed renovations to enhance its four-star rating.
• A museum devoted to women opens its doors in Oct at Fair Park in a refurbished Art Deco building. "The Women's Museum: An Institute for the Future" is coming to reality through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. Auditorium holds 175 people. Special events for up to 1,000. Fort Worth: Cowboys and cowgirls will take center stage on Fort Worth's rich cultural scene by 2003 in three new museums. The $18 million National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, the $15 million Cattle Raisers Museum, and the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame will spotlight the Texas rodeo and ranching scene. For more of that cow-town flavor, there's now a herd of Texas Longhorns on the scene in the Stockyards district, and you can rent the herd and their handlers for that authentic "Texas touch." ELsewhere in Fort Worth: A $70 million expansion of the Fort Worth Convention Center is under way; it will increase exhibit hall space to 254,000 sf, mtg space to 50,000 sf, and add a 30,000 sf ballrm. When all is complete in Mar 2002, the center's grand south entry will connect with the Fort Worth Water Gardens to add easy access and ambiance for group functions.
• A 39-rm luxury hotel, The Ashton, will open this Dec in a historic downtown bldg with a ballrm and bistro restaurant.
• Marriott Dallas/Ft Worth Airport South opened in Mar with 295 rms and 14,000 sf of mtg space three miles from airport's south entrance.
• In Mar, the Fort Worth Zoo will double group capacity with the opening of Texas Wild!-8 acres of Texas hill country, coastal marshes, piney woods, prairies, and an 1890s Texas town.
• Amon Carter Museum is closed for a $36 million expansion that will triple its display size when it reopens in the fall of 2001.
• The historic Worthington Hotel in the downtown district has joined Renaissance Hotels and Resorts.
• The 295-rm Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott South is new with 14,000 sf of mtg space, including a 7,500 sf ballrm.
• Early in 2002, a new 300-rm Westin resort near the Texas Motor Speedway north of downtown will open near Beechwood Business Park. Included will be a conference ctr, ballrms, full service restaurants, mtg space, and a $10 million Greg Norman golf course.

Dallas CVB, (214) 571-1000, Fax (214) 571-1008, www.dallasmeetings.com

Denton CVB, (888) 381-1818, (940) 382-7895, Fax (940) 382-6287, www.denton-chamber.org

Fort Worth CVB, (800) 433-5747, (817) 336-8791, Fax (817) 336-3282, www.fort-worth.com

Grand Prairie CVB, (800) 288-8386, (972) 263-9588, Fax (972) 642-4350, www.gptexas.com

Grapevine CVB, (800) 457-6338, (817) 410-3185, Fax (817) 410-3038, www.tourtexas.com/grapevine

Irving CVB, (800) 2-IRVING, (972) 252-7476, Fax (972) 257-3153, www.irvingtexas.com

Plano CVB, (800) 817-5266, (972) 422-6813, Fax (972) 424-0002, www.planocvb.com