Kick It Up in Fort Worth All Weekend

Saturday--The Stockyards Standards
Rise for a straightforward flapjack breakfast ($6.25) at Hunter Brothers' H3 Ranch, adjacent to the hotel. Afterward, make your way down to the Livestock Exchange Building around 11:30 a.m. for the daily cattle drive, where real cowboys and cowgirls on horseback lead about a dozen longhorns clip-clopping down Exchange. (Note: The drive is also at 4 p.m.)

Stroll through nearby Stockyards Station, an old hog and sheep marketing center converted into shops and restaurants. Grab a Sliced Beef Brisket Sandwich ($6.95) at Riscky's BBQ. At Ernest Tubb Records find traditional country, Western swing, bluegrass, gospel, and cowboy music. Home to vintage records and hard-to-get CDs, the shop also features live music every Saturday afternoon.

For a break from the cowboy life, make dinner reservations at Michaels ([817] 877-3413) on West Seventh Street. Contemporary prints by Andy Warhol and local artist Matt Clark line the walls, giving nods to the myriad of museums in the surrounding Cultural District. Order the house specialty--pepper-crusted, pan-seared tenderloin with Ancho chile-bourbon sauce ($32.50) for chef Michael Thomson's take on Texas cuisine.

Snag a table at Pearl's Dancehall & Saloon because when it's hopping, the neon sign-lit dance floor is as crowded as a dictionary. Where Billy Bob's feels clubby and modern, Pearl's focuses mostly on honky-tonk and Western swing. Here, boot-clad couples shuffle counterclockwise ad infinitum, like an endless flotilla.

Sunday--Rest Those Dancing Feet
For an authentic Mexican breakfast, head to Esperanza's. Most diners order the Migas ($7.25), strips of fried corn tortillas scrambled with eggs and a mild red sauce and topped with shredded chicken and white cheese.

If you need to ask forgiveness, George Westby leads Cowboy Church, a casual, nondenominational service starting at noon at Stockyards Station. After this Fort Worth weekend, partners, don't be surprised if your toes keep tapping all the way home.