With its endearing small-town warmth and surrounding big-city enticements, Grapevine is a distinctive gateway destination and home to Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Its magnificent Main Street and Historic District are not just cat nip for your Insta feed, but burst forth with homegrown retailers and enterprising artisans offering indelible authentic encounters. A great example is the gorgeously evocative Bermuda Gold and Silver jewellery store on Grapevine’s Main Street, where I got a surprise Bonnie and Clyde education. The jewellery store building was previously the Grapevine Home Bank and was robbed by two members of Bonnie and Clyde’s gang in 1932. Owner Debi Meek, a wealth of Bonnie and Clyde lore, will tell you the history of the framed newspaper from the 1932 Fort Worth Star-Telegram on display in the store, which describes the robbers’ eventual capture and their part in helping the police locate Bonnie and Clyde. Their guns are still on display in City Hall. 

Bermuda Jeweller on Main Street. Photo / Mike Yardley 

Amid the stirring array of boutiques and independent stores flanking Main Street, do not miss the Grapevine Olive Oil Company. Established over 15 years ago, they offer a dazzling selection of small farm olive oils, artisan vinegars, spices, along with locally roasted whole bean coffee, olive oil skincare, local honey and gourmet chocolates. The generous free tastings across their whole range of goodies will keep you lingering! You may have heard that Grapevine is the Christmas Capital of Texas. The town is famed for its heavy roster of festivals, but the run-up to Christmas features 1400 festive events. Needless to say, the stylish gift stores tout custom-made Christmas ornaments year-round. Pop into the splendid Willow gift store, where Willow the Cat is always up for a pat. 

Book a ticket to ride on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, where history and hospitality meet to produce a characterful heritage experience. Climb aboard the train and enjoy the authentic 1920s coaches (with all the mod-cons!) while chugging your way through one of the three routes, including the Cotton Belt Route that takes you to the Historic Stockyards. In 1888, the arrival of the Cotton Belt Railroad in Grapevine transformed the small farming community into a regional commerce hub (during the festive season, tens of thousands of visitors flock here to ride the flamboyantly themed North Pole Express). 

Grapevine Vintage Railroad. Photo / Grapevine CVB

Grapevine Main Station is a striking hub for day-trippers from DFW. You can even leave your luggage at the visitor centre, so you can footloose it, stress-free, amid Grapevine’s delights. Within this grand complex which is reminiscent of a 19th century American train station, the gorgeous Hotel Vin is a luxury boutique property, while the European-style food hall, Harvest Hall, brims with food and beverage enticements, including chef-driven kitchens, craft coffee and bespoke cocktails. For unrivalled views across Grapevine and the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, zip up the Observation Tower. Right outside in Peace Plaza, I marvelled over the Peace Circle sculptures. This beautiful installation celebrates a moment in time, when Republic of Texas President Sam Houston met with 10 American Indian chiefs and captains on the Grape Vine Prairie in 1843. The larger-than-life bronze statues are exquisitely designed, highly detailed and a soulful joy to admire. 

Engage with Grapevine’s thriving art scene by visiting one of the many galleries and artist studios sprinkled throughout the region. I tried my hand crafting a vase at Vetro Glassblowing Studio. The furnace heat is unbelievably intense, typically operating at 1300 degrees Celsius, intense, for melting and shaping the molten glass. This nationally recognized, active glassblowing studio also has a Fine Art Gallery, sporting a radiant variety of professionally crafted glass art, from hand-made sculptures to small glass art gifts.  

Housed inside Grapevine Tower, the gallery is home to a variety of touring exhibits throughout the year, including the Texas America250 Exhibit, which celebrates the founding of America and Texas's role in American history. I also jaunted to Nash Farm, just a block over from Main Street, where you can experience late-19th century prairie farm life at the oldest working farmstead in Tarrant County. Dating back to 1859, it’s very hands-on with numerous interactive experiences. I even made whipped butter after vigorously shaking and shaking and shaking some cream in a small jar. The cream thickens significantly and finally separates into a solid lump of butter and liquid buttermilk, which you drain away from the delicious blob of butter. The farmstead consists of the original house, the original barn and a family cemetery and farm livestock included cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, oxen, mules and chicken. 

Nash Farm House. Photo / Mike Yardley 

A truly novel experience is to check out the Cowboys Golf Club – the world’s only NFL themed golf club. Golfers love the 18-hole championship course, but it’s fun to visit without even swinging a club, for the massive bar and grill and to take a selfie on the iconic Dallas Cowboys star. Etched into the rolling hills of Grapevine, it’s like a grassy shrine to America’s Team and its five Super Bowl titles. Its clubhouse is a museum of Cowboys memorabilia including the Cowboys’ five Lombardi trophies (they haven’t won Super Bowl for 30 years). And there’s stacks of Cowboys merchandise on sale, too. 

I also ventured to Grapevine Mills, the largest shopping mall in North Texas, and it offers tax-free shopping for international travellers. This mega-mall is like a world unto itself, catering to all budgets. But one iconic Texan store to check out is Cavender's Boot City – an unabashed western store brimming with thousands upon thousands of cowboy boots and hats to size up. It’s that pervasive, primal scent of leather that is just as alluring! Travelling with kids? Treat them to a meal at Rainforest Café, ingeniously themed, beautifully lush, and teeming with animatronic wildlife.  

Boots galore at Cavender's. Photo / Mike Yardley 

They certainly do everything bigger in Texas and for a cultural experience of a different kind, check out Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World. It’s one of the largest Bass Pros in the USA, sprawling over 200,000 feet. Channel your inner-most hunter/gatherer impulses and treat yourself to the most lavish displays of their hunting, fishing and camping equipment and apparel. From fishing boats to rifles, the staggering array of stock is interspersed with extravagant exhibits and displays that make the store look like a nature museum. From the massive aquarium teeming with fish life, to the taxidermized collection featuring over 30 of North America’s big game animals, it’s an eye-popping store of outdoors escapism. 

I also suspended my sense of reality, plunging into the wacky world of Meow Wolf Grapevine. Meow Wolf is an art collective specialising in immersive, story-driven art installations. The Real Unreal is the theme of Meow Wolf’s Grapevine attraction, where explorable art and an entertainment wonderland awaits. Beginning in what looks like a typical suburban house, things get strange when you step inside. The walls bulge, the doors of the washer and dryer open into playground slides, and the fireplace and cupboards serve as portals to other dimensions in a looping, maze-like exhibition. I made my way through over 70 mind-bending installations of hands-on art, secret passages and portals, all packed with playful surprises. The Neon Kingdom is particularly trippy with its fantastical creatures– although, in truth, the whole experience is a swivel-eyed head blast. Don’t go drunk.  

Surreal art in Meow Wolf. Photo / Mike Yardley 

Where to stay? Embassy Suites by Hilton Grapevine DFW Airport North is an ideal base, in easy reach of Grapevine’s plethora of treats. Spread across twelve floors with comfortable accommodation and an excellent buffet breakfast in the atrium, I particularly enjoyed the constant window views of departing and arriving jets, at DFW. Another signature accommodation option in Grapevine is Gaylord Texan Resort. Set along the shores of Lake Grapevine, the resort is like a pleasure land, bringing together expansive indoor atriums, seasonal outdoor attractions, and year-round entertainment in one destination. With immaculately landscaped gardens beneath soaring glass roofs, I love how so many Texan landmarks like the Alamo have been theatrically recreated here.  The resort is a crowd favourite with families and leisure travellers alike. It’s also the official hotel for the Dallas Cowboys who are based here, for home games. 

Old Texas soul meets modern fun. Discover the myriad charms of Grapevine, from the best wineries of Texas to its historic downtown experiences, world-class resorts and eye-popping attractions – all just minutes from Dallas Fort Worth Airport. 

I flew to the USA with Fiji Airways who have spread their wings with an extensive international network, including multiple American destinations. From New Zealand, fly to Nadi from Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch and enjoy seamless connections to the well-timed USA services. Fly your way with Fiji Airways with a flexible range of fares and add-ons, in Economy and Business class. If you fancy some extra comfort in Economy, opt for a Bula Space seat. 

Mike Yardley is Newstalk ZB’s resident traveller and can be heard every week on Jack Tame Saturday Mornings.