Nasher Photograph by Tim Hursley

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Living in the middle of the country does have its perks. At any given time you can hop a plane at Lambert International and fly directly to any of 74 cities in the U.S. and beyond. We selected 10 destinations that are doable in a weekend and homed in on their strengths. From hitting the links in Phoenix to catching Jersey Boys on Broadway, exploring Albuquerque’s ancient pueblos to chowing down in Chi-Town, we’ve got you covered on some great weekend getaways.

Albuquerque: Native Land
Probably because of its history, sitting astride the Santa Fe Trail and Route 66, Albuquerque has developed a reputation as a pass-through town. But breezing by is a major mistake—one misses much by not stopping to savor the Albuquerque scene.

Albuquerque rocks, especially for ballooning (there’s even a museum devoted to it), hiking and biking in the forest-filled Sandia Mountains, getting one’s kicks on Route 66 and sampling Southwest cuisine (locals love El Pinto Restaurant, elpinto.com).

The city is as good as it gets for getting up close and personal with Native American culture. The city serves as a hub for the state’s 22 tribes—19 of which are Pueblo, two Apache and one Navajo. For an overview of Albuquerque’s American Indian culture, tour Petroglyph National Monument (nps.gov/petr), visiting a pueblo and staying at a Native American–owned and –operated resort, particularly the Pueblo of Santa Ana (santaana.org), the Pueblo of Sandia (sandiapueblo.nsn.us) and the Pueblo of Isleta (isletapueblo.com). In addition, all visitors should stop at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (indianpueblo.org), where you can find exhibits, enjoy a restaurant serving native-fusion cuisine and see tribal dances and art demonstrations on weekends.

When it comes to visiting pueblos, keep in mind that each is different. Not every pueblo accepts visitors at all times, and each has specific rules for visiting. If you have time to see only one, then make it Acoma Pueblo (skycity.com). Located 45 miles west of Albuquerque, Acoma piques visitors’ interests as not only the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in North America but also a location that’s sky-high on a 70-acre mesa rising 367 feet above the valley.

One last tip: Don’t forget your ATM card. Albuquerque is a fine place to buy rugs, jewelry, pottery and other Native American art and artifacts, particularly in Old Town’s shops.

For more information, visit itsatrip.org.

Chicago: Windy City Fare
When you visit Chicago, go on an empty stomach. By the Chicago Tourism and Convention Bureau’s count, the city has more than 7,000 restaurants. They run the gamut from lowdown dives to upscale eateries and include every style of food, price and ethnicity. If you plot out your weekend correctly, arriving in time for cocktails on Friday night and leaving after Sunday night dessert, you can enjoy a minimum of seven blowout dining experiences. And you can add between-meal snacks of Windy City specialties, such as Chicago-style hot dogs, deep-dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-born Shrimp de Jonghe and Chicken Vesuvio.

With so many options, it’s impossible for even the most devoted gourmands to stack their plates with a significant fraction of what Chicago has to offer in a single weekend. Foodies are going to have to settle for skimming the cream. And where is that cream? According to Scott Manlin—a Chicago resident, avid wine-collecting bon vivant and (full disclosure) my nephew—the city’s tiptop restaurants include Alinea, Custom House and L2O. He also fancies Boka, Blackbird and NoMI. I also asked Carol Haddix, food editor of the Chicago Tribune, about her favorite inexpensive, little-known and/or ethnic places. “Oh, there are so many,” she says. After considerable thought, however, she narrows the list. “For ethnic food, I love Sol de Mexico for their great mole sauces, Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown for the duck hot pot and Emilio’s Tapas for Spanish.”

How should visitors fill their time between meals? Not to worry—Chicago makes it easy to stay focused on food. In addition to great restaurants, the city offers a cornucopia of food-related activities, such as 125 nonprofessional cooking schools, a wide variety of guided culinary tours and enough food festivals and food-related special events to gorge a glutton. And then there is food shopping. Don’t leave without loading up on Sarah’s Pastries & Candies (sarahscandies.com) and Garrett Popcorn (garrettpopcorn.com).

Where to stay? The Peninsula Chicago (chicago.peninsula.com) and The Drake (thedrakehotel.com) are known to have great restaurants.

For more information, visit cityofchicago.org/tourism; for restaurant details, see metromix.com.

Dallas-Fort Worth: Plenty to Muse About
Texas is a big deal. Literally. Everything about Texas is big. Huge. Enormous. Of course, Texas is the nation’s second biggest state, but telescope in on parts of Texas and everything is still big. For example, where else would two major cities join forces and lasso in a bunch of surrounding cities and counties to form one mammoth metropolitan area called the Metroplex? Combining the urban sophistication of Dallas with the Western-style pizazz of Fort Worth, the Metroplex provides a huge number of far-reaching, wide-ranging attractions.

Take museums alone. Within the sprawling Metroplex are museums dedicated to African-Americans, natural history, Holocaust studies, Dwight D. Eisenhower, aviation, baseball, cowboys, cowgirls, Boy Scouts, Sam Rayburn, JFK’s assassination, Victorian furniture, steam railroads and cattle raisers. In addition, Dallas-Fort Worth has one of the best fine-arts scenes in Texas.

Covering 60 acres and containing such masterpieces as the Nasher Sculpture Center (nashersculpturecenter.org) and the Dallas Museum of Art (dallasmuseumofart.org), the Dallas Arts District represents the single largest contiguous urban arts district in the United States.

The Fort Worth Cultural District (fwculture.com) is equally exciting, with gems such as the Louis I. Kahn–designed Kimbell Art Museum (kimbellart.org), the Philip Johnson–designed Amon Carter Museum (cartermuseum.org) and the Tadao Ando–designed Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (themodern.org).

Diana Pfaff, director of communications for the Metroplex city of Irving, advises tourists to maximize weekend time by renting a car at the airport and using Irving as a base. “Irving is near both area airports and centered between Dallas and Fort Worth,” she says.

“Tourists can save time by sightseeing in Dallas one day and in Fort Worth the next.”

Although Pfaff is paid to promote Irving, her plan is perfect, as—in true Texas style—the little (yeah, right!) city of Irving contains about 75 choice hotels. Check into the Four Seasons Resort and Club (fourseasons.com/dallas), and you can supplement the eye candy of fine art museums with world-class golf, spas and fine dining.

For more information, visit www.fortworth.com and visitdallas.com.

Las Vegas: Roll the Dice
What do Bugsy Siegel, Elton John and Howard Hughes have in common? I’ll bet $50 you already know. These personalities helped make Vegas what it is—yet just what that is remains hard to define. Descriptions include the ultimate adult theme park, America’s best shopping center, the first-rate chefs’ second city, a quickie-wedding Mecca, the night-lover’s lifeline and the ultimate center for the big G—gangsters, girls, glitz, glitter and pull-the-lever, throw-the-dice gambling.

Gaming is at the razzle-dazzle core of the city. Casinos take the money when you lose; everything else—restaurants, shops, spas, hotels—is there to take the winnings. In Vegas one can gamble in all ways, anytime, everywhere. Step off the plane, and even before picking up luggage, you can lose a fortune or win big on the slots. (Just remember: Vegas isn’t one of the nation’s fastest growing cities because it’s going bankrupt.) Ever since 1946, when Siegel first took a gamble on gambling and set up shop at the Flamingo Hotel, the city has kept upping the ante. Today, Vegas is a mega land of movie-set magic spread across two main tourist areas, the 4-mile “strip” and the four-block “downtown.”

Vegas wears an “ultra” label. It’s ultracampy—think female impersonators, quickie weddings with Elvis attendants and activities that earn it the Sin City reputation. It’s ultraclassy—flush with great restaurants such as Restaurant Guy Savoy (guysavoy.com). It’s ultracomfortable—bursting with extravagant resorts, luxurious shopping malls and fabulous spas, exemplified by The Palazzo (palazzolasvegas.com), where enticements include Barneys New York and Canyon Ranch Spa. It’s also ultracontrived, especially the casinos, which create a never-never land of perpetual twilight unencumbered by windows, clocks or other reminders of reality that could bust the gambler’s concentration or stop the flow of cash.

For more information, see visitlasvegas.com.

Nashville: Music City
On any given night of the week (even Monday or Tuesday), Nashville offers more than 200 venues with live music. Count ’em, folks, 200—an astounding number for a city with a population of 1.5 million. I would guess half the population is involved in the music business. “Not so,” says Nashville resident and singer/songwriter Betty Ladas. “In Nashville everyone is connected to music.”

The city is packed with singers, songwriters and musicians, as well as those promoting, recording, feeding, housing, living with, sleeping with and/or listening to them. “Not all the musicians are even employed as professionals,” says Ladas. “That’s why we’re so nice in Nashville. The guy flipping burgers at Burger King could be the next Garth Brooks or head of a major label. No one is going to take a chance at offending, so we’re nice to everyone—just in case.”

Nashville comes by its title of “Music City” naturally. The city is totally and tonally focused. And not just on country music, although lovers of the genre will find more than enough to fill any achy breaky heart. Nashville embraces Christian and gospel, pop and rock, bluegrass, Americana and classical. Even opera’s voice is heard, on occasion.

If you only have a weekend, cut to the chase and get advance tickets to the Grand Ole Opry (opry.com) and The Bluebird Cafe (bluebirdcafe.com). And don’t miss the funky old clubs on Honky Tonk Row, especially Tootsies Orchid Lounge (tootsies.net). And no music lover’s tour would be complete without a peek at the past, found at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (countrymusichalloffame.com) and Historic RCA Studio B, where Elvis, Roy Orbison and Dolly Parton all recorded megahits.

Last tip: If you are a secret songwriter yearning to be heard, then try the Hall of Fame Lounge in the Best Western Music Row (nashvillebestwestern.com). “If it’s late enough, a guitar is usually passed around the bar, and anyone who wants to can take a turn,” says Ladas.

For information on accommodations, restaurants and attractions, see visitmusiccity.com.

New York City: Life’s a Stage
It’s noisy, crowded, stressful, dirty, expensive—and how I love it! In fact, I can’t get enough. I’m talking about New York City. More specifically, the “can’t get enough” refers to New York theater. Don’t bother giving my regards to Broadway; I’ll give them myself.

The term “Broadway” refers to performances presented in any of the 39 theaters, seating 500 or more, located in Manhattan’s Theater District, defined as the area between 42nd Street and 53rd Street from Sixth Avenue to Eighth Avenue. Broadway plays tend to be mainstream favorites—the Tony winners and profit makers. More experimental and edgy productions are referred to as “off-Broadway” and “off-off-Broadway.” But “off” doesn’t mean the plays are offbeat (though they often are) or the theaters are necessarily out of the designated Theater District (some are, some aren’t). It’s the number of seats in the theater that accounts for the labels. Off-Broadway theaters have 100 to 499 seats, and off-off-Broadway theaters have 99 seats or less.

If you think Broadway is the best bite of the Big Apple, then head directly to the Theater District, where you’ll find everything you need to spotlight a weekend of theater indulgence. District hotels run the gamut from the superlarge, 1,892-room, 57-suite Marriott Marquis (marriott.com) to the intimate, 48-room/suite Casablanca Hotel (casablancahotel.com). And restaurants fill the area, including the theater crowd’s darling, Sardi’s (sardis.com).

In NYC the play’s the thing, and there are many ways to get tickets. Buy online at ilovenytheater.com, in person at any given theater’s box office or at the Broadway Concierge & Ticket Center in the Times Square Information Center. If you are willing to stand in line at the TKTS booths (tdf.org) in Times Square, then you can get same-day tickets at good discounts.

For more information, visit broadwayleague.com.