Saturday--Pack Your Swimsuits
Rise for breakfast at the Paris Coffee Shop, an old-fashioned diner that's been in owner Mike Smith's family since 1926. You may have to stand in line for a table, but if you're really nice, one of the friendly locals might share the morning paper with you. Go with the basic Two Egg Breakfast Combo ($5.25), and keep your ears open for gossip.
If you're in town between July 6 and 25, head to the Will Rogers Memorial Center for the National Cutting Horse Association's Summer Cutting Spectacular (call (817) 244-6188 or www.nchacutting.com). Free and open to the public, the event hosts several daily rounds beginning at 8 a.m. (schedules change daily, so call ahead or check the Web site). Watch male and female riders guide their horses through hitches and lunges to separate, or cut, a single cow from a herd. Talk about cool--they keep the coliseum a wintry 65 degrees, so you may even need to pack a light jacket.
Now that you have dirt in your boots, walk across the parking lot to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. From Annie Oakley to Georgia O' Keeffe, the museum tells the stories of extraordinary Western women united by their trailblazing spirits.
Head to lunch at Lucile's, not too far away on Camp Bowie Boulevard. Friendly servers lay out spreads of great American cooking on green-and-white checkered tablecloths. Go with the fried green tomatoes ($4.95) and chicken-fried steak ($8.95).
If you left enough room, pull into Curly's Frozen Custard just down the street from Lucile's for a little something sweet (cones or cups, $1.50 to $4). Sit right outside at a picnic table.
Hope you brought your swimsuit. We would tell you to wait for your food to settle, but we're sure your mama covered that base a long time ago. Become a kid again at Burger's Lake ($10 ages 7 and older). The water in this old-fashioned, spring-fed swimming hole on the outskirts of the city stays a cool 83 to 84 degrees. With sandy beaches, several picnic tables, and six diving boards, you'll easily laze away the rest of the afternoon.
Go back downtown for dinner at The Chisholm Club on Main Street. Local celebrity chef Grady Spears is a consultant for the stylish cowboy cuisine restaurant and keeps an eye on the menu. We really enjoyed the house specialty--beef rib eye with onion strings ($35). The waitstaff will smile and tell you it's cowboy grub, but we daresay few cowboys eat this well on the open range.
