Spirit of the Wild West

Are you ready to travel back in time? The Fort Worth Stockyards in the synonymous city in Texas is a place where you feel carried back in the adventurous past of cowboys, rodeos and cattle drives. At least this how I felt when a friend and I visited the Stockyards about a year ago. Due to the truthfully restored shops and restaurants and the dressed up staff, the historic district still captures the spirit of the Wild West. As soon as we entered the Stockyards this Saturday morning, the whole world around us changed immediately. Compared to other parts of the city, people here must have changed their baseball caps and sneakers into cowboy hats and boots. Suddenly we were surrounded by a lot of cowboys and cowgirls, some of them even riding horses.
The atmosphere got even better when we continued walking down the street. We saw cozy restaurants and bars in the western style, as well as truthfully looking shops along the street. After we had strolled through some of the authentic shops, we went to a bar with a great inner courtyard and enjoyed a cold beer while listening to country music. Preoccupied in thoughts, we sat there for a while and listened to the live band playing their songs. When we threw ourselves into the fray again and walked down the street to the old train station, we were able to see the vintage railroad and watch a real gunfight show.
There is one event in the Stockyards that you better keep in mind for your visit. Either at 11.30 a.m. or at 4 p.m., you have the chance to watch an authentic longhorn cattle drive in the Stockyards National Historic District. The cowboys drive the herd of longhorns down Exchange Avenue and you are able to watch it from the sidewalk, almost able to touch the animals walking by. We decided to try the authentic restaurant called Risky´s Barbeque for dinner. We were thrilled by the size of the portion and especially by the taste of the ribs! After dinner and on our way back to the parking lot, we saw the advertisement of the Stockyards Championship Rodeo for later on this evening. Since I had always wanted to watch a real rodeo, we didn`t hesitate one second and bought two tickets for the show. A few minutes later, I found myself sitting in the big arena of the Stockyards Stadium watching a breathtaking and exciting rodeo. On our way back to the car afterwards, we became a little bit melancholy, knowing that we had to leave this awesome place of history behind and go back to the hectic city of Fort Worth.