Where to Go in 2026: The Texas City Getting a Juneteenth Museum, FIFA World Cup Matches, and a Cowgirl Museum Expansion

It’s a shiny new year, so this month on Unpacked, we’re diving into Afar’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠Where to Go list⁠⁠⁠⁠—24 emerging regions and overlooked locales to explore this year.

Like Fort Worth, Texas, a city that blends its cowboy heritage with world-class museums, a thriving food scene, and major developments on the horizon.

In this episode, host Aislyn Greene talks with ⁠Nora Walsh⁠, a travel writer and podcast host who fell hard for the “Unexpected City.” She took line dancing lessons at the world’s largest honky-tonk and had a chance sauna encounter that connected her with a community of female entrepreneurs. She digs into the city’s incredible museum district, the revitalized Stockyards, and how to get yourself a proper cowboy hat shaped to your head.

Related reading: Circle L Five: The Oldest All-Black Riding Club in Fort Worth

Transcript

Aislyn Greene: I’m Aislyn Greene, and this is Unpacked, the podcast that unpacks the world’s most interesting destinations and the deeper stories behind travel. Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome back! This month we’re wrapping up our exploration of Afar’s annual Where to Go list and this year’s list, if you’ve been listening, is a little different because in 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and help expand visitation to other parts of the world. We released our full list of 24 Emerging Regions and Overlooked Cities in December, as well as 8 Unpacked episodes featuring the writers who traveled to and shared our favorite new places.

In January, we have 7 final episodes for you, and today I’m talking with Nora Walsh, a travel writer, podcast host, and yoga and meditation teacher, among many other things. She is a busy human, but she sat down with me right before the holidays to share her newfound passion for Fort Worth, Texas. And I gotta admit, I got totally swept up in her excitement because I researched the city several years ago while writing a story about Circle L Five, the oldest all black riding club in Fort Worth, and I believe in all of Texas.

That link is in the show notes. But what I found so intriguing, and what Nora covers beautifully in her where to go story, is Fort Worth’s mix of classic heritage, like its cowboy and cowgirl legacy, which is still celebrated widely today, and its sophistication. It has world class museums and fantastic food and so much more. And today, Nora is going to share all of that with us, including what’s on the horizon for the city in 2026 from the FIFA World Cup to the country’s first museum dedicated to Juneteenth.

Nora, welcome to unpacked. It’s always lovely to see you and especially here on the podcast. So thank you.

Nora Walsh: Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Aislyn: So why did you pitch Fort Worth for our Where to Go list?

Nora: I had been to Fort Worth last year and I had such an amazing time. It’s called The Unexpected City, it’s one of its nicknames, and for me, it blew me away in terms of what it offered and the history, the culture, the energy. I went wanting to explore the city a little bit more deeper because I had heard so many things about it, but I had never been, and it’s just going on all cylinders.

So I had had such an incredible experience. And then they have these like new hallmark things happening next year, which is one museum is expanding, and the Juneteenth, National Juneteenth Museum is set to break ground. So that’s just historic and incredible and really is so newsworthy to be, why to go in 2026.

Aislyn: Yeah, that’s so cool. So will you share a few of the things that you did that, especially ones that maybe surprised you or might kind of challenge what people think about Texas as a whole?

Nora: Oh God, I did so much in such a short amount of time. I actually extended my stay because I was having. Yes, because I was having such a great time. I originally went because I have really close friends who live in Dallas, and so I went down to Dallas to see them. So it was just we ended up going to the Fort Worth Food Festival.

It was a total solar eclipse, so which was very cool. I watched it in the stockyards and I really. Yeah. Yeah, it really was. I really, really like it was such a variety of experiences there all stitched together and there’s like all these different pockets. And I went to the stockyards for the cattle drive. And it’s this, like very historic part of the city, but it’s also been refreshed. Mule Alley, which is like, you know, where they used to have, you know, like all the mules and the cattle. And now it’s all these boutiques, like really cool restaurants. There’s a really nice hotel there. Another thing that I did in the stockyards that was surprising, how much I loved it, was line dancing at Billy Bob’s, which is the world’s largest honky tonk.

Aislyn: Oh my gosh.

Nora: And I love to dance. I love, love, love to dance. So I ended up taking line dancing lessons. I was, I feel like the least coordinated person in the entire floor, but everyone I mean, I learned how to boxstep and like the jazz step. And one of the greatest quotes that I had heard when I was down there was the teacher. She’s like going through all this stuff. And she was saying, you know, Fort Worth is not Dallas. And I was like, oh, okay.

Aislyn: What does that mean?

Nora: It meant like, you know, don’t confuse do. Dallas and Fort Worth are two different cities with two different personalities. And I really felt that. And so there really was like this American West cow town vibe that I really, really loved.

Aislyn: And you don’t get that in Dallas in quite the same way. Would you say?

Nora: I didn’t personally, I was also there with friends, you know, so I was, you know, doing very local stuff. That’s another thing that surprised me how friendly the locals are, especially when I’m traveling alone.

I talk to everybody and I ask everyone, because that’s how I really get a feel for the city. I was in a sauna one day and there was these two girls and they were there together chatting, and I was the only other one in the sauna. And I was like, ladies, I just want to ask you, like, what are some can’t miss, you know, things I need to do while I’m here? You know, I just have a couple days. And both of them happened to be local entrepreneurs. And they gave me, like a whole list of things that I should do. And then they ended up taking me out to meet their other girlfriends who are all female founders, which I was just, I love this. Like, this is a great you know, this is such a great city for me. You know, I love cities where women are really thriving, you know, and have their own businesses and have these communities that support them.

One had a bodega, one had a candle and fragrance company, one was a professional fine arts photographer who does a lot of shooting for the American West, for a lot of magazines. And the other one was an entrepreneur who has a tequila brand called Pulga, and she has like bars and restaurants all over the city. And I was so this was just people that I randomly met.

Aislyn: In the sauna.

Nora: In the sauna, just because I was talking, you know, it was like, yeah, tell me what to do. You know, I was asking cab drivers. I was asking bartenders like, I that’s how I usually like, find out the best stuff to do in a city when I’m there.

So and then I ended up like leaving there with this group of new girlfriends who I’m still in touch with and adore. So. And they’re always like, when do you come back to Fort Worth? I’m like, it is on my list. Maybe for, definitely for FIFA World Cup next year.

Aislyn: Yes, yes, I know there’s so much happening next year. I was reviewing your story right before we chatted, and I didn’t realize that the Cowboys of Color Rodeo that you mentioned is actually in January, so soon after this episode is coming out. So for people who want to go and catch the rodeo, there’s some cool stuff happening there.

Nora: Another favorite unexpected thing that I wasn’t planning to do, but I’ve always wanted to do. But one of the girls, actually the photographer, I was like, I want to get a cowboy hat. Like, I’ve been wanting a real cowboy hat forever. Actually, I wanted I’ve always wanted cowboy hat and cowboy boots. So she recommended this place called The Best Hat Store. She’s like, it’s the best place to get one in Fort Worth.

Aislyn: Like the name.

Nora: Yeah. And they have, like, celebrities who come and get their hats shaped there and but it’s like very like, you know, the vibe is, is it’s very unpretentious. Like it’s very down home, like you walk in, there’s hats everywhere. And so I got a beaver felt black cowboy hat and they shape it on your head like they steam it. They’re like, what are you looking for? Like what style? I’m like, I don’t know, give me. You tell me. And they did you know which I loved? And so they shaped it on me. And I remember asking, like, what am I supposed to wear with this? And he said to me, A cowboy hat is not an accessory. Everything else is. And I was like, thank you for that piece of information, because that is exactly how I’m going to wear it.

I was living in Miami at the time when I got home, and I went to Homestead, because they have line dancing in Homestead, and I went specifically to wear my cowboy hat and the cowgirl boots that I got, which were from City Boots, which are specifically made for women. They’re super sexy. They have them in every single color. I cannot tell you how long it took me to pick a color. So I got a pair of they were like dark blue, almost black. And I love them and I, I boot scoot around in them all the time. Any chance I get.

Aislyn: You really tapped into both, like the Fort Worth kind of Cowtown era. And I think your own inner cowgirl. It seems like it really spoke to you, Fort Worth.

Nora: I am. I think that I must have been a cowgirl in another lifetime because I was like, this all feels so right.

Aislyn: Outside of that cowboy culture. What else did you experience or notice?

Nora: The museums? It’s the Fort Worth Cultural district. I was calling it in my head, the Museum Mile, but it really was. It’s like this quartet of museums that are in this one location, and you can just spend the afternoon going to each museum, and there’s such different art. So they have the Kimbell Art Museum, they have the Museum of Modern Art, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and the National Cowgirl Museum, which is the one that’s expanding next year. So.

And the Amon Carter Museum. He was the founder and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. So he’s this, like, huge dominant figure of Fort Worth. And this was his private art collection, which takes up, you know, a giant museum. And they’re all within walking distance of one another, which I loved. I spent, like, the whole day just going from one museum to the next. And it was like all this different art and, um, the Kimbell Art Museum, it has Michelangelo’s first known paintings and the only one to hang in an American museum. That is disputed, but it’s like, okay, but it is out there. That’s a big, that’s yeah, that’s, I think, it’s a little bit controversial, but it’s generally held as fact.

And they had Monets, Mondrians, Rembrandt and then they had this other um, section that was designed by Renzo Piano. And then there’s all this beautiful modern art and, and then the Amon Carter Museum. It had really, really beautiful, like American West paintings, photography. I mean, I could have spent like the whole weekend there and so like, and they’re all like, it’s very modern.

And it, um, the Crescent Hotel opened right across the street, which is also like, you know, this new modern hotel. And there’s a lot of other development going on around there. The Bowie House is also not too far from there. That just opened last year as well. It’s an Auberge Hotel and resort, and so that whole area is really still developing and it’s very contemporary.

So the National Cowgirl Museum, they are expanding. They’re adding like sixteen thousand square feet of new space, and they’re going to have Miranda Lambert’s velvet rodeo outfits that she did from her residency in Las Vegas. They’re going to have a new rideable carousel, and they are going to have this like, fashion forward Western wear gallery, which I just love, and they’re extending their, it’s called, I’m gonna do my best to pronounce it Escaramuza Charra exhibit. So it’s Mexican rodeo, and women ride sidesaddle and perform all these, like, incredible choreographed equestrian skills. And so they have these, like, big embroidered dresses that are all from like across the centuries and these embellished saddles. So it’s it’s like a fashion exhibit. And it blew my mind.

And then the Juneteenth museum, it’s going to be in Southside. And I just want to mention and call out Opal Lee. She’s the grandmother of Juneteenth, and she’s on the board. And she really made this happen. And this area, the South side, it used to be like the Black Wall Street. It was like called like the Black Wall Street in the early 20th century. And it’s going to be like a very cool museum. It’s designed by big Bjarke Ingels Group. It’s like in the shape of a Nova star from the Juneteenth flag. It’s going to have a food hall of disparate cuisine. It’s going to have immersive exhibitions. It’s going to have a 250 seat theater. And I think the programming is going to be incredible.

Aislyn: And so they break ground in 2026. Do they have an expected open date?

Nora: Not at this point. Yeah it’s moved. So I don’t even want to say it’s like as you know.

Aislyn: Yeah. Well I mean there are so many more reasons to go that we could talk about, but sadly, we are out of time.

Nora: Maybe I should also mention, like The Nobleman Fort Worth just opened and the Sandman Signature Fort Worth Hotel is opening next year. I would say if you go, don’t miss boot scootin’ at Billy Bob’s, do a rodeo at the Cowtown Coliseum. Walk around Sundance Square downtown because it’s very it’s like a it’s a city vibe. Go to the stockyards and Mule Alley. Definitely go to the museums. And we didn’t talk much about this, but the neighborhoods of Southside and near Southside is where, like all the boutiques are, all these like really cool bars. Shout out to Low Doubt and Tulips, which is a live music venue by a local guy. And my favorite shop was Morgan Mercantile, where they had these like super cool branded Fort Worth branded gear. But it was like very cool style. It was it’s all made by the owners. They designed it themselves. And I got myself a “It’s Fort Worth It” t‑shirt. And I was like, that’s amazing because it was such a cool design. And so definitely pick yourself up one of those.

Aislyn: Well, it’s Fort Worth that you got to do it. All right. Well, Nora, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate you taking the time to just get everyone really excited to boot, scoot their way over to Fort Worth.

Nora: I’m going to boot scoot my way back to Fort Worth in 2026 for sure.

Aislyn: Thank you so much for joining this special Where to Go episode. In the show notes, we’ve included links to all the places Nora recommended, as well as to her website and social handles. And in the show notes, we’ve also included links to all past Where to Go episodes. So happy listening, happy researching and happy travels. We’ll see you tomorrow.