I first visited the city of Dallas in 1984 when, as a senior at a northwest Ohio high school, my "Academic Challenge" team managed to secure a spot in the national playoffs. We were resoundingly drubbed in the first round, which left us plenty of time to act as tourists.

At the time, what I knew about Dallas amounted to three things: it was home to the Cowboys, who arrogantly referred to themselves as "America's Team"; it was the home and namesake of a popular television show I didn't care for; and it was, as some of my friends back East unfortunately still term it, "the place where they shot Jack."

We used our free time to visit the Kennedy Memorial, to spend a day at Six Flags, and to wander the campus of what was then called Dallas Baptist College. I admit it; I left the city unimpressed.

Little did I know that a dozen years later, my Lone-Star-raised bride-to-be would be explaining to me that not only can you never take the Texas out of the girl, but you also aren't very likely to get the girl out of Texas. So it was back to Dallas, this time to live, and to work in the Communications Department of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.

It was a revelation.

Colleagues in the hospitality industry told me that Dallas was widely, even internationally, viewed as a world-class convention and meetings city (and about that they are correct) but that it could never sell as a tourist attraction. Wrong.

Dallas tells a story — or to be more accurate, it tells many stories ... tales of an Old West heritage and a gleaming, cosmopolitan future. It offers, as our publications at the DCVB will tell you, "a unique blend of Southwestern warmth ... and modern sophistication." Visitors tired of the "same old, same old" on American coasts are literally flocking to the more centralized city known as "Big D" from all over the country and, indeed, all over the world.

Imagine the stories that this city could tell; here are just a few ...

Dallas, City of Champions. One of the few cities in the country with teams in six major league sports, Dallas is proud home not only to the Cowboys (who have eight Super Bowl appearances, while no other team has more than five) but now also to the Stanley Cup Champion Dallas Stars Baseball's Texas Rangers are one of only five teams to make the playoffs in three of the past four years. Southern Methodist University is home to a proud Mustang college football history, including NFL Hall of Famers Doak Walker and Eric Dickerson and beyond. And if you want college football, every New Year's Day the Cotton Bowl classic matches two of the country's finest teams in one of the great Bowl traditions. And I haven't even mentioned soccer's Burn, the NBA's Mavericks, and well ... perhaps I can explore Dallas' rich sports history a little more closely in another column.

Dallas and the Old West. You think Dallas is all about cowboy boots, ten gallon hats, and spurs? If that's the story you want to hear, Dallas can tell it. Visit one of the many active ranches in the area (yes, including Southfork), stuff yourself in a Texas steakhouse, and be sure to visit Pioneer Plaza downtown, home to the world's largest bronze sculpture, depicting more than 40 larger-than-life bronze cattle, three Texas cowboys, and the cattle drives which traveled the Shawnee Trail at this very location over 100 years ago. Oh, and did I mention the Mesquite Rodeo?

All's "Fair" in Texas! Dallas is home to the State Fair of Texas, the world's largest state fair, which each autumn hosts more than 3.5 million visitors. Imagine the city that invented the chicken fajita and the margarita and perfected the corny dog, hosting you in a three-week celebration of carnival sights, sounds, and smells. And when "Big Tex" closes shop each year, Fair Park remains a vibrant tourist attraction as home to eight museums, including the Dallas Museum of Natural History, the Science Place and IMAX Theater, the Age of Steam Railroad Museum and much more.

And that's just to start. Did you know that Dallas has more restaurants per capita than New York City? Or that there are more than 160 museums, galleries, and artistic attractions in Dallas and more than 110 live performances nightly? That Dallas "plays Hollywood" in producing major motion pictures and television series, filmed on location? That in the past 35 years, Dallas has developed a spectacularly moving series of tributes to the life and legacy of President Kennedy?

These are all stories told by the city of Dallas. In the coming weeks, I'll look forward to sharing those stories (and more) with you as well. In retrospect, I can only smile at how wrong my 17-year-old self was during my first trip to this city ... and sigh with relief that I took another look.