sarge56
I just saw your post. I must have posted mine the same time as you did.
Thank you for all your info. I defintely think it is better to stay in Fort Worth. Sounds like a place the girls will love. I also was looking into the Gaylord which I think is in the Grapevine Mills section? I think that might be too far from everything.
The Worthington sounds perfect.

and touristfiesta - I read about Etta's Place. It seems nice but my girls don't really like bed and breakfast places. thank you for the advice though. It is all appreciated!

I am excited to go! Don't really know what to expect.

If in Dallas, I would stay at the Palomar. Great location, close to Northpark Mall, Mockingbird Station, the State Fair Grounds and all the Dallas museums. You could also drive across the street to Highland Park to see how the Dallas rich folk live Chef Blythe Beck has a good restaurant there, Central 214 and the old Trader Vic's is alive and well on the ground floor. There are other stores and restaurants across the street.
Your daughters would really love the Belmont Hotel.
It's hip and fun with the best Downtown Dallas view:
http://www.belmontdallas.com/
It is also right on the way to the stadium
I would squeeze in a meal at Hatties in the Bishop Arts District. I can't imagine that you would want the French Room. It is fabulous but it would run 500+ for a family of four and it is VERY formal. If that's what you are looking for, it is great.
Smoke, at the Belmont is also a GREAT restaurant!
Southlake is a souless McMansion community that is FAR from everything. I do like the mall and there are lots of good restaurants but it's really just not worth being that far out unless it is the weekend of the art show. I would consider it if that were the case but it's just not at all in a good location for your destinations.
If you have time, I suggest you try to stop at Sam Moon. You and your girls will think you have gone to shopping heaven. I don't care how rich or poor you are, this huge store never fails to bring out the girl in any female. I take lots of people there!
Have fun. Dallas in October is perfect!!! Got to the fair!

Mers, if interested, there is also a gorgeous boutique hotel near the Square. It is in a renovated historic building and was (not too long ago) restored to historic glory. As a matter of fact, Bill Gates recently stayed there when he was in town!

The Ashton is sweet: http://www.theashtonhotel.com/

Good thing you didn't pick the Gaylord. It is a fabulous place to stay, but mostly if you're doing a "destination" wedding or something. It is pretty far away from everything else you would want to see and do here.

(PS My two daughters also love Fort Worth, and they are both grown now with their own families!)

txtravelpro: where is Sam Moon? sounds like something the girls would love. No fair though. I know for sure they would not like it. Also, Is SouthLake worth making a trip to? or only if it is the way to anything?

Sarge56: I had looked into the Ashton, but they do not have availability on one of the nights of our stay. It looks nice though. Is it in a good location and near the Worthington?

Are they outlets near the Gaylord worth going to maybe the day we leave before we go to the airport?

Hi Mers!
Sam Moon is located near the airport.
You might consider it as a first stop in Dallas to get it out of the way when it is close by.
http://www.sammoon.com/
You know those cute boutiques in cute boutique downtown areas? Yep, they get all that cute stuff at Sam Moon for 1/2 of the price you see! Sam Moon is off the hook. Be prepared for huge crowds and a lighter wallet when you leave. It may just be the favorite destination for you and the girls. I have never seen anything like it.

The Allen Premium Outlet Mall is 1000x better than the Grapevine Mills location (which is full of yukky non-outlet stores)... like those old outdated mall in the suburbs. Grapevine Mills used to be a great place. Looking for a 3 ft tall porcelain tiger? You might find it there! My 24 year old daughter would not ever go there. Ever!
She says it is a waste of time! I do like the Marshall's at Grapevine Mills but there are lots of good Marshall's locations.

Northpark is THE mall. Better than Southlake, IMO. It has all the great stores and it is just a few miles from downtown Dallas. Look at both websites to determine if one is better than the other for you:
http://www.northparkcenter.com/
http://www.southlaketownsquare.com/

Very near Northpark you will also find the following:
http://www.uptowndallas.net/explore/shopping.aspx
http://www.bishopartsdistrict.com/
http://www.hpvillage.com/

The Galleria is not too far from Northpark. For me it is a 10 minute drive. There have been many days that I have hit both!
Have a look at the stores there... it is a favorite for international travelers. It has an ice skating rink in the middle:
http://www.galleriadallas.com/#

Across the street from Northpark is the Whole Foods flagship location. A good place to grab something good to eat!
The Park Lane development has lots of things coming up...
http://www.parklanedallas.com/

Last but not least, Mockingbird Station is directly across the street from the Palomar:
http://www.mockingbirdstation.com/

PS... I would discourage you from staying at the Gaylord. It's a cool place but HUGE and after you walk around for a few minutes it just becomes a huge convention place that charges for everything. Great Wolf is a place with a water park. It is packed with children under 12. I would never, repeat NEVER stay there unless I had a bunch of little kids.
They are everywhere in that place.
The Westin Galleria is in the center of that mall and they frequently have GREAT rates! Call direct and ask if they would beat any Hotwire or other website rate. They generally will!
Parking is free and the girls could run around the mall when there is nothing else to do.

Sam Moon is off LBJ freeway and just east of I-35E (I-35 splits south and north of FW and Dallas into I-35W [Fort Worth] and I-35E [Dallas]).

http://www.sammoon.com/

It has been here for ages, wife has fond memories. And you can reach it from the airport by taking the north exit and going on I-635 East (that's LBJ Freeway and no one here calls it anything else). It'll take about 10-15 minutes.

I forgot to give you the URL for the Allen Outlets.
100 awesome stores!
http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=5

Mers, I agree on Sam Moon. You and your daughters will find it VERY difficult to get out of there! We always do.

However, you don't need to go to Dallas for Sam Moon. If you are staying in Fort Worth, you can hit the new Sam Moon that is just 20 minutes north of downtown: http://www.sammoon.com/web3/storeinfo.asp?loc=FWT

And while I do love North Park and Galleria (both in Dallas), if you are going to Sam Moon in Fort Worth, it is only another 10 minutes to Southlake.

I would not go in the evening, as someone else mentioned-it becomes one big teen hangout. But going during the day is lovely. I just love the unique stores there, including Anthropologie and the Clark's shoe store. Here is the website; you can decide if it is worth another 10 mt drive: http://www.southlaketownsquare.com/

To answer your question about the Ashton, yes- it is just a few blocks from the Worthington. It might be worth a visit to check it out, while you are walking the downtown area. I should mention that the Ashton does throw a really nice, true English tea. It is every Thurs thru Sat afternoon. It is not inexpensive, but what a lovely treat for you and the girls: http://www.theashtonhotel.com/dining/index.cfm (you can click on a link at the bottom to see the menu, also).

Wherever you decide to stay, you will have a wonderful time here. Dallas and Fort Worth are very different cities, even though they are so near to each other. The "Metroplex", as we call it, has much to offer for visitors. I guarantee you will want to come back!!

Have a safe trip!

oh my gosh you guys are so great! My daughters will be forever thankful for the suggestions! My husband, not so much, lol. Sam Moon looks like a great place. I am sure will be hitting many of those places in the three short days we are there. Haha, I guess we will squeeze in the Cowboy game on Sunday. I am sure the Dallas shopping can't all be done on one day since it looks like there are many places. I will click on all the links to see which stores we are most interested in.

I looked at the Southlake Townsquare directory, it seems like it has many good stores - most of them we have in our mall near me, but sometimes they have different selections in other states so I will try to check it out.
I will skip the grapevine outlets.
See all this shopping, there is no time for the State Fair!

I think I will defintely stay at the Worthington, especically since the Ashton does not have any rooms available.

Tomorrow we are leaving for Boston to see some Red Sox games and also to go to an Aerosmith concert at Fenway.
Lots of shopping there! I think my husband likes the most unpopular teams in New Jersey!

I agree with the Worthington suggestions. I have stayed at both and the Omni is very nice, but it is out of the action. Reatta is very good and also try a place called Lanny's but absolutely go to Joe T's. Plan to dine in the garden. Family style Tex-Mex. I also agree with skipping Grapevine Mills. It is dried up and scary. I live close by and would rather drive to Dallas than to shop there.. Sam Moon is also a great place for knock off stuff. Northpark is definitely a very nice shopping area. I love to go there a couple times a year. Bring your wallet. You will have fun no matter what you choose. If you like baseball the Ranger stadium has a nice baseball museum too. There is a lot to do in the DFW area!

Only go to Sam Moon if you want knockoff purses. If you want FABULOUS costume jewelry at very low prices, try to find Sam Mi, which is in the neighborhood off of Harry Hines that Sam Moon used to be in. http://www.sammitrading.com/ Get the directions from the website because you really can't see them from the street. I don't work for them or anything but you will not find a better selection of fun jewelry anywhere.

I don't think Grapevine Mills is "dried up and scary." But you'd have to want to shop at the stores they have (Forever 21, Off Fifth, etc.)

Sam Moon is only partially purses. Maybe 1/3. Some are 'knock off styles' and others are authentic as Sam Moon is an authorized dealer of some brands. Sam Moon does not sell any counterfeit items. I am not sure if I have been to Sam Mi, but I have been to other places on Royal and have found lots of things to buy!

My suggestion is to stay at the Westin at the Dallas Galleria. Trust me, you and your daughters will certainly enjoy the shopping. There's way more shopping in Dallas than in Ft. Worth: 1) Galleria, 2) NorthPark, 3) new stores across Central from NorthPark include Off 5th, Nordstrom's Rack and an Aveda Institute, 4) Preston Center (including Taco Diner and Sprinkles for awesome cupcakes) and 5) Highland Park Village (upscale). I've heard that Dallas has more restaurants per capita than New York: they're everywhere and no one really wants to cook. It's a little farther to Jerry's new stadium, but you really don't want to stay in Arlington.

Sprinkles = awesomely overpriced cupcakes. There's a reason cupcake shops are dying slow deaths in this economy -- shelling out 3.50+ for a small cake you could make a dozen of at home for the same price (and as good with Duncan Hines -- I've been unimpressed with Sprinkles' shockingly dry wares) is kind of ridiculous.

But yeah, if you and the girls are needing shopping, you're way better off in Dallas than FW. For example: the FW shills pump up Sundance Square area in downtown FW, but the West Village in Dallas is nearly the same size (and larger if you include the new sections just north of the trolley lines), has more and better dining options and better shopping options for you to spend whatever's left over after Jerry World parking fees.

We just got back from boston. Thanks for all the advice.
hmmm, I am confused where to stay. I mean we are really going for the game, and the shopping is an added plus! Is Fort Worth basically a small area with shopping near the Worthington where you can basically walk to everything? and Dallas is a bunch of different areas to shop in? How is Dallas a far as safety? I am sure it's not any worse then New York City, which by the way even though is so close, we never actually shop there. I know my husband wants to go into Dallas to see the historical JFK areas.

We are planning on staying 3 nights, do you think that is not enough time in the area? Sunday is the game. We want to do a tour of the stadium, but I'm not sure if that is better to do on a different day.

Oh and as far as the cupcakes, we did try out a few places in Boston. We did find one good place, but the rest weren't that great.

Hi Mers! Isn't Boston the best!!!
Ok... You will not be in DOWNTOWN Dallas. It pretty much closes after 5pm. In Dallas you stay in a specific area. You can stay in the Uptown area (Zaza, Ritz, Crescent), the 75/Mockingbird area (Palomar), the Galleria area (Westin), Stemmons/AAC area (W Hotel) or a million other areas.
You pretty much drive everywhere in Dallas. Sure, you can go to certain areas and walk around a good bit but there is nothing in this area that remotely resembles NYC. Ft Worth is a downtown are (NOT like NYC) that is safe and has a lot of touristy things to do... lots of bars and lots of restaurants. I like it there but mostly if I have something specific to do... a show, conference, or the like.
For shopping you can't beat Dallas. For cowboy type attractions, walk around the stockyards in Ft Worth. The little shops in Ft Worth are cute but mostly overpriced Sam Moon type accessories or art dealers.

Hi TxTravelPro - yes I love Boston. We go there every year around this time. There is so much to do!
I kept think Dallas was something like Boston or NYC - where the hotel is right in the middle of everything and you just walk everywhere. I guess I was wrong! If we dedide to stay in Fort Worth, is Dallas ok to go to for the day? We really don't have to do major shopping. I live within a half hour of 5 major malls. We just wanted maybe something different then the big stores. I am also wondering if Fort Worth just has the Sundance area? I looked at their directory, and it didn't seem like they had too much there, but maybe it's a pretty area to walk around and dine?

Mers,

You really need to look at the websites to see the areas. Or stop into your local big book store and find a travel guide on Texas. Then look at both areas.

You will probably get as many opinions here as there are residents of Texas.

Please keep in mind that you are only 30 minutes from the Worthington in downtown Fort Worth to the JFK museum (Sixth Floor Museum: http://www.jfk.org/) in downtown Dallas. From there, it is 15 minutes to Northpark Mall and shopping.

You could stay at the Worthington and "do" Fort Worth for two days and then "do" Dallas for a day. They are really not that far apart.

I feel that if you keep reading more posts, you will just become more indecisive. If you look at the websites for shopping and hotels, you might get a "feel" for where you want to stay.

Again, there is much more to do in Fort Worth than just "Sundance Square". There are the Stockyards, the Arts district (which includes the beautiful Botanical Gardens and a fabulous zoo, not to mention incredible museums [which you stated you were not interested in], and long-established restaurants. If you like Tex-Mex food, I concur with previous poster that dinner at Joe T. Garcia's, on the patio, is lovely that time of year.

Dallas is much more spread out, thus the "areas" for shopping, dining, etc. I don't know when you are getting in, but you could consider getting one hotel reservation in Dallas and the one at the Worthington. Then drive around both areas and make a decision about which one to cancel (provided there is no cancellation fee).

If you want a laid-back, hometown kind of stay, Fort Worth is it. If you are into cosmopolitan, perhaps Dallas is better. But you will have time to explore both if you are here for 3 days. One for the game, one for Fort Worth and one for Dallas. If you can stay an extra day, you will - no doubt - find wonderful things to do. And I'm still betting that you will want to come back.

(PS Here is link to Stadium. If a tour is important [and it is well worth it, trust me], then make sure you plan that first. http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/)

Have a great trip!

Hi Mers -

FYI - I haven't checked the website to the stadium, but I do know that Texas A&M v Arkansas play at the stadium on Saturday (not sure of time), and there is an event on Friday night at the stadium as well. Just keep it in mind when you are planning your stadium tour as it will be crazy around the area on those days.

Also if you are driving btw Ft Worth and DAllas on I-30 on Saturday, you really need to plan accordingly for traffic. The road is much better than last year and the fans usually get there early for college games, but you will still have traffic. Please check the schedule for times (I'm not sure if the kick off time as been set yet by the TV networks).

There is another route btw the two cities as well just in case.