Not far southeast of Deep Ellum, Fair Park , a gargantuan Art Deco plaza bedecked with endless Lone Stars, was built to house the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936, and hosts the annual State Fair of Texas, the biggest event of its kind in the US. Among its plethora of fine museums are the Dallas Museum of Natural History (daily 10am5pm; tel 214/421-DINO, www.dallasdino.org ; $6.50), which boasts reconstructions of the 20,000-year-old "Trinity River Mammoth" and a lagoon nature walk; the hands-on Science Place (MonSat 9.30am5.30pm, Sun 11.30am5.30pm; $7.50; tel 214/428-5555, www.scienceplace.org ), which sets out to teach kids and adults about physics and dinosaurs and the like, hosts lively lavish temporary exhibits, and has its own IMAX screen ($6.50); and the Dallas Aquarium (daily 9am5pm; $3; tel 214/670-5656, www.dallas-zoo.org ).
The Women's Museum (Tues 10am9pm, WedSun 10am5pm; $5), is the latest addition to a collection of museums in Fair Park. Young girls will likely benefit the most from the rah-rah attitude on display, from the Electronic Quilt a video project highlighting achievements in women's history to the Wall of Words, featuring inspirational quotes from female leaders. The nearby AfricanAmerican Museum (TuesFri noon5pm, Sat 10am5pm, Sun 15pm; suggested donation $2; tel 214/565-9026) features a superb collection of folk art in its permanent collection,complete with detailed biographies of the artists responsible. These include Clementine Hunter, a Louisiana field hand who used materials left over by artists visiting the wealthy plantation where she worked; Charles Williams, known as Artist Chuckie, from Shreveport, Louisiana, who was "discovered" in 1989 when a neighbor's house burned down and he refused to leave his mother's home until his 700 paintings were brought out; and the real stand-out, Bessie Harvey, who died in 1994. She worked with found pieces of wood, spray-painting them and sticking on other materials to produce scenes such as the extraordinary Jonah and the Whale and Two Heads Are Better Than One . Changing exhibits here focus primarily on African art.
The centerpiece of the park, however, has to be the magnificent Hall of State Building , an Art Deco treasure of bronze statues, blue tiles, mosaics and murals, with rooms decorated to celebrate the different regions of Texas. The park also holds the Cotton Bowl stadium (tel 214/638-BOWL, www.swbellcottonbowl.com ), home of the annual college football classic, while for three weeks in October, Fair Park spills over with more than three million revelers enjoying the riotous State Fair (tel 214/565-9931, www.texfair.com ) itself.