In February, a colleague of mine, Adrian, and I had the chance to represent our start-up media company at one of the largest newspaper industry conventions called the Key Executives Mega-Conference that was held in Forth Worth, Texas. It's an event hosted by three of the industry's largest organizations: America's Newspapers, the Local Media Association and News Media Alliance.
According to the convention's website, it's billed as "a joint effort of newspaper media associations with an estimated combined membership of more than 5,000 publishers. Hosts are America's Newspapers (formed from the merger of Inland Press Association and Southern Newspaper Publishers Association), Local Media Association and News Media Alliance. Mega-Conference attendance ranges from 700-900 attendees. Most of the attendees are owners, publishers, digital officers or revenue officers of media operations with both print and digital assets, serving their local communities."
Honestly, this was another of those work events where I felt grateful for the opportunity to get to see another great city I'd never seen before, but there was little time to dally. Taking out the convention time and the evening networking events, my colleague and I had parts of two evenings to get out to explore, a couple hours the night we arrived and then the night before we left.
The first night, in the interest of time, we asked the hotel concierge where we could grab something to eat. It was later, and we knew we weren't going to get our pick of the crop, but they said we wouldn't be disappointed with a little place called the Little Red Wasp Kitchen + Bar. Its website bills it as offering "straightforward food, lots of beer and a full bar."
The Little Red Wasp boasts a lunch, dinner, cocktail/beer and Texas craft beer menus. You can bet that it was the latter that interested me.
There were only about a dozen or so patrons by the time that we strolled in at 8ish. But the inside was a cool, modernized design, with a waist level to grand ceiling tall mirrored bar that was the center of attention.
My colleague Adrian from the beginning of our trip was looking for barbecue, as Fort Worth is known for its barbecue. But I wanted something that I'd never had before: Traditional southern fried chicken. We found both at the Little Red Wasp. I think Adrian had some barbecued beef tips. And I got my fried chicken, mac and cheese and some fried okra. I also got to try a couple of fantastic Texas craft brews, and unfortunately for the life of me I can only remember the one: Blond Bombshell by the Southern Star Brewing Company. But trust me, if you can ever get your hands on it, do so!
I'd like to tell that my first experience was Southern fried chicken was life changing. ... But, whether it was jet lag, nerves about the convention the next day, or some other reason, I didn't find that the chicken rocked my world. It was good. Better than KFC for sure, but I didn't get tingles. And my mac and cheese and fried okra was fine. But, all in all, it was mostly like bar food. ... But it was cool enough that I would give it another shot.
We had three other culinary experiences while there: Bob's Steak & Chop House, which was located in our hotel, the Omni Hotel, the TIE Thai Restaurant & Bar and the H3 Ranch, located in the historic Stockyards district of Fort Worth.
We dined one night at Bob's in the Omni as we took a potential client to dinner. Think classic, up-scale steak house in a steak town. It was all delicious, from the appetizers to the drinks to the main courses and their sides. But the bill for three of us was upwards of $300. Frankly, while the food was delicious, I would just assume try a few "good" restaurants for the same price. But I'm not complaining. The food was delicious and I feel lucky that I got to eat there. ... But, if you do go, please order their Brussels sprouts that are on the appetizer menu. Again, you will thank me.
The other place we went was the TIE Thai Restaurant & Bar. I don't know the origin of their clever name, but their website says, "We have been proudly serving the Dallas area for many years, and our name has become synonymous with fine Asian dining." I ordered their orange chicken, and I can't remember what Adrian ordered, but I do know that my chicken was fantastic. I'm pretty sure that we ordered a sushi appetizer, but I can't remember what it was.
And while I enjoyed the dish, the most memorable aspect of the lunch (which was on our last day after the convention had ended, and we were killing the rest of the day before we flew out the next day) was that the table next to us, not more than 18 inches away, was a table of newspaper executives that talked about our major competitor for the entire time that we were eating lunch. It was humorous.
The last place we ate was the H3 Ranch, located in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards district.
When we approached the hotel's concierge and said, "We have one evening to spend here, what do we do?" ... The instant answer was: "Go to the Stockyards." ... It's hard to succinctly explain the Stockyards. So, I'll let their website do it for me: "Fort Worth is where the West begins, and nothing embodies Western heritage better than the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District. From the original brick walkways to the wooden corrals, every inch of the Stockyards tells the true history of Texas’s famous livestock industry."
There are western shops, restaurants, saloons, antiques, apparel and jewelry and so much. But what now is a tourist mecca once upon a time was something much different. From the Stockyards' website: "In 1976, Charlie and Sue McCafferty founded the North Fort Worth Historical Society to preserve Fort Worth's livestock heritage. This new venture helped establish the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historical District and bring about the restoration of landmarks including the Livestock Exchange Building, the Coliseum and the former Swift & Co. headquarters. In 1989, the North Fort Worth Historical Society opened the Stockyards Museum in the historic Exchange Building. Today, the museum hosts thousands of visitors from all over the world each year, and is constantly growing its facilities and its collection. True to its history, the Stockyards still hosts the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive, and every week, thousands of head of cattle are sold from the Exchange Building by satellite video. All this – plus more than a hundred new shopping, dining and entertainment venues – makes the Fort Worth Stockyards National Historical District one of Texas’ most popular tourist destinations."
After hours of playing tourist in the Stockyards, me picking up trinkets for all the kids and Shelley, and Adrian buying jewelry for his wife, we decided on the H3 Ranch for dinner. This is a confession: Being we hadn't used much else of our company per diem that day, we splurged.
We started with their burnt ends and original nachos appetizers. In a cow town, you can imagine that the burnt ends were indescribable. Just order them. And then there were the nachos: "Six crispy fried whole corn tortillas covered with melted cheddar cheese & diced pickled jalapenos. Served with pico de gallo, guacamole, & sour cream." ... I'd never had anything similar, and they were awesome!
I had a steak and lobster tail, and again my memory is short on what Adrian had, but I can tell you that everything was delicious. A lifetime experience. Maybe this is how people who live in cow towns eat all of the time, but if it is, then I am pursuing the wrong dream!
The other memorable aspect of the H3 Ranch was the fact that they served their beer in 24-ounce schooners. ... I had some good bears there, but the best part was that Adrian and I had Ubered to the Stockyards so it was no hold barred. The both of us imbibed because we had just spent three and half intense days trying to get our start-up company off the ground. ... I'm happy to say that we lived it up, and bonded our work relationship into a friendship.
Thankfully, I was lucky that Adrian also enjoyed historical architecture, and so we spent a couple of nights walking the downtown, checking out hundred year old buildings.
And I'll include those photos in the gallery at the end.
One day, I will get back to Fort Worth and take my family with me. At the very least, I owe it to my daughter who is a barrel racer, and so the Stockyards, home to rodeos every Friday and Saturday night would be like Disneyland.
So, we had a very brief visit, and did mostly a bunch of shoe leather tourism, so what are your stories about Fort Worth? And what do I need to see the next time I am there?
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