Best Of Play

ANNUAL FESTIVAL Mayfest
You know Mayfest as an outstanding family event with rides and attractions and food booths. But you may not know that it was founded 40 years ago as the Trinity River Festival to celebrate the restoration of the lovely river from the devastation caused by the historic Fort Worth flood of 1949. There were four original sponsors - the Junior League of Fort Worth Inc., the City of Fort Worth Parks and Community Services Department, Streams and Valleys Inc., and the Tarrant Regional Water District. Over the years, Mayfest has put more than $6 million into community programs, recreational development of the Trinity River and support of our Fort Worth's city parks.mayfest.org

BIRTHDAY PARTYDESTINATION – 21 and up Four Day Weekend
What's the point of a birthday party without a little humiliation for the guest of honor? And these are just the guys to do it. All in good fun, of course. This is the longest-running show in the Southwest. They have performed for presidents and delivered a keynote address to the United States Congress. What Second City is to Chicago, Four Day Weekend is to Fort Worth. In spades.
312 Houston St., Fort Worth, Texas 76102, 817.226.4329, fourdayweekend.com

BIRTHDAY PARTY DESTINATION Flight DeckTrampoline Park
Three different birthday packages are available at this popular party place. We suspect that they are primarily aimed at children, but perhaps you might apply your imagination to honor other worthy victims of a birthday bash.
7751 Scott St., Fort Worth, Texas 76108, 817.246.2710, flightdecktrampolinepark.com

DAY TRIP Granbury
Depending on traffic, you can drive from Fort Worth to Granbury on Highway 377 in about 48 minutes. Named for Confederate Gen. Hiram B. Granbury, this is a city aware of its history and careful in the preservation of it. We like to stroll the courthouse square, sampling the shops and restaurants and admiring the Granbury Opera House, first opened in 1886. It is one of the few remaining from an era when having an opera house was a mark of civilization in small Texas towns.granbury.org

STRAIGHT SHOOTER Shoot Smart Indoor Range & Training Center
The newest kid on the block in shooting centers promises a shooting experience with training classes, firearms rental and sales, gunsmithing and 15-yard indoor ranges that are heated and air conditioned as warranted.
10305 North Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas 76177, 817.984.8020, shootsmartusa.com

LIVE MUSIC VENUE Panther Island Pavilion
Texans worship water because they spend a good portion of their lives praying for rain. So when you combine an outdoor live music venue with the Trinity River, you've got a sure winner in the state's Texas-most city. The events are varied, including rental of stand up paddle boards, kayaks, canoes and pedal boats. And in a state that brags on bragging, it has the only waterfront stage in Texas.
395 Purcey St., Fort Worth, Texas 76102, 817.698.0700, pantherislandpavilion.com

MOMMY & MEACTIVITIES Fort Worth Museum ofScience and History
This is a great place for kids, but don't let them know that mommy also has a good time here or you lose points for your selfless sacrifice of your time for their benefit.
1600 Gendy St., Fort Worth, Texas 76107, 817.255.9300, fwmuseum.org

EAT, DRINK, PLAY Barcadia
Games galore, plus specials on drinks and lots of variety in food and at the bar. Hang out inside or on the patio. And open every night until 2 a.m. That's rare in Cowtown.
816 Matisse Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76104, 817.348.8606, barcadiabars.com/barcadiafortworth

MAKE-OUT(OR SCENIC) SPOT Coyote Drive-In
Shades of high school. But the drive-in of our youth in Small Town, Texas, was never like this. For one thing, the views outside the windows (if you were looking outside the windows, which was never the point) weren't of the lovely Trinity River or the lights of Fort Worth's downtown. And there was no Panther Island Pavilion nearby for concerts and skinny-dipping. (We just made that last one up; the local gendarmes might be perturbed. Try this only at home.)
223 N.E. 4th St., Fort Worth, Texas 76164, 817.717.7767, coyotedrive-in.com

MUSIC ACT Vocal Trash
This seven-member local group makes music in harmony with the environment with an eco-friendly act performed globally. They practice what they preach by making items that normally would end up in a landfill into musical instruments. They even have a new kids" book for sale on the website, Think … Before You Throw It Away. They drew a stunning number of votes in our poll.
817.538.2850, vocaltrash.net

PARTY BAND Trey and the Tritones
Trey Gunter, a professor of music theory at Texas Christian University, proves that those who can also do. This party- and dance-friendly band covers genres from country and classic rock to swing and Sinatra.
817.614.2628, tritones.com

PUBLIC GOLF COURSE The Cowboys Golf Club
Some people just can't get enough of their Dallas Cowboys. And they can get their fix here while playing golf. Stone markers around the course honor the team's historical highlights. You can read them while you argue with your buddies about whether you get a free drop from behind an immovable object. The course is 7,017 yards from the tips. Wimps who play the Gold Tees only face 4,702 yards. Or, to put it in terms football freaks will understand, the equivalent of 47 football fields.
1600 Fairway Drive, Grapevine, Texas 76051, 817.481.7277, cowboysgolfclub.com

PRE-/POST-GAMEHANGOUT Frankie's Sports Bar
USA Today referred to Frankie's bar food as a "menu on steroids." Don't know how appropriate that is in relation to sports, but in relation to game day - which is pretty much 24/7 here - that's not a bad thing.
425 W. 3rd St., Fort Worth, Texas 76102, 817.870.9090, frankiesbar.com

LAZY SUNDAY Sundance Square Plaza
Great downtowns the world over have central gathering places that draw people to them even when there is no special reason to go. The opening of the Plaza was another major step in the almost amazing revitalization of Fort Worth's central city area. There's plenty of entertainment, shopping and food nearby, so this is a great place to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
sundancesquare.com

SUMMER CAMP YMCA Camp Carter
YMCA of Metropolitan Fort Worth offers a variety of camping activities. Camp Carter is located on land donated by Star-Telegram founder and publisher Amon G. Carter, partially in gratitude for the assistance of the YMCA in helping locate his son, Amon Carter Jr., at a World War II prisoner-of-war facility near Szubin, Poland. The younger Carter had been taken prisoner in North Africa. The camp opened in 1948.
6200 Sand Springs Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76114, 817.738.9241, ymcafw.org/locations/camp-carter.aspx

UNIQUESIGHTSEEING Cowtown Cycle Party
The Cowtown Cycle Party is a 15-person, BYOB bicycle tour that pedals around for a pub crawl in downtown Fort Worth. It's the first and only pedal-powered, bar-hopping, party-rocking bike tour in Fort Worth.
950 Calhoun St., Fort Worth, Texas 76102, 682.422-9253, cowtowncycleparty.com

BEST PARTY VENUE Cendera
This is one of the most versatile spaces around, and the staff is most willing to work with party planners to configure for just about anything they desire.
3600 Benbrook Hwy.,Fort Worth, Texas 76116, 817.984.6800, cenderacenter.com

SPORTS FACILITY