It was awesome to leave Sydney on Friday as it was wet, wet,
wet! Not to say it wasn’t going to be wintery in Texas too, but I was keen to get
away from this not quite winter not quite summer thing Sydney has going on at
the moment! Our flight to Dallas was uneventful and we landed into 15 degree celsius
gloomy weather in the Lone Star State.
After some Christmas shopping and sleeping during the
layover a few of us crew decided to go to Fort Worth to see the rodeo they hold
at the Stockyards there. I actually went to the Stockyards on one of my other
trips but only went during the day and didn’t get to see the rodeo, so I was
pretty keen to get my gosh darn, bootscootin’ cowboy on!
We drove the 45 minutes from Dallas to Fort Worth and bought
our tickets for the rodeo later that night. The Stockyards at Fort Worth is a
forty acre historic tourist precinct that has many restaurants, bars, shops and
western themed museums (living up to Fort worth’s unofficial title of being ‘where
the west begins’). Of course, there are also the stockyards here, which are the
last standing stockyards in the United States. Twice a day there is a cattle
drive down the main street, led by riders on horseback. It’s all very western
and very cowboy and basically just a whole lot of fun.
The first time I went there I went by myself and browsed the
shops, buying everything from guacamole mix to Christmas decorations shaped
like Stetsons and cowboy boots, and had me some ribs for lunch! I also had a
look in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame, and took in the cattle drive. This time,
since I was with some other crew we just looked at the shops and went to dinner
(more ribs! We were in Texas after all!), and then made our way to Cowtown Coliseum
where the rodeo was being held!
Thankfully Cowtown Coliseum was an indoor venue, so we didn’t
freeze to death while the show was on! We decided to pay an extra five bucks
(tickets were usually $18 for adults) to get reserved seats at the front so we
could be really close to the action, and this was SO worth it. We were so close
to everything that was going on, and had such a good view!
You can’t get much more American than a rodeo, and I was not
disappointed, let me tell you! The rodeo started with a very patriotic
rendition of ‘Proud to be an American’, which much of the crowd got very, very
into. So into that the two women in the box beside ours got angry that not
everybody stood up for the song. I believe their exact words were ‘I’ve never
been to a rodeo in all my life where people didn’t stand up for this!’. They
were not happy, but I think it was a bit unfair, as most of the crowd were
tourists, and while they stood for the Star Spangled Banner which was played
afterwards, they didn’t know to stand for Proud to be an American. Technically
I don’t think we really needed to stand for the first song – it’s not like it
was the national anthem (it was certainly the first time I’d ever heard the
song) – and even though I did (because those women next to me did, and also
because I at first mistakenly thought the song being played WAS the Star Spangled
Banner so I SHOULD stand, out of respect of course) – not everyone would think
like me and my crew did. I think those women next to us were just very
patriotic and very passionate about being American. Nothing wrong with that at
all, but it would’ve been nice for them to take a moment to realise that many
people in the arena were visitors and many probably didn’t even speak English,
so they were not being disrespectful intentionally.
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| Getting our rodeo on! |
ANYWAY. The rodeo was fantastic! The closest thing I’ve been
to a rodeo was the Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast in Queensland, and really,
that was not a rodeo. Not like this. Here there was bare back riding, barrel
racing, lasso-ing, cowboys, cowgirls, bucking bulls, the works! They even got
the kids in the crowd out a few times into the arena to chase around a calf and
get a piece of paper that was tucked into his harness and take it to the rodeo
clowns for a prize. And boy did those kids get into it, racing around all over
the arena after this poor calf, and later a sheep! It was super cute! One kid
even lost his little cowboy boots in the chase and when it was all over had to
run back to the other side of the arena to collect them out of the dirt!
The show lasted a good two hours and was edge of your seat
stuff! I was constantly holding my breath when these rodeo riders came out of
the gate, hoping they would last until the buzzer went off, or that if they
fell off the bucking bull that they at least didn’t get trampled! It was also
amazing to watch the cowboys with their rope skills – they could lasso a
bolting young calf and get off their horse and tie the calf’s legs together in
under ten seconds! Such precision and skill!
I highly recommend going to the Stockyards at Fort Worth if
ever you’re in that part of Texas. It’s very interesting being immersed in such
cowboy culture – you really get a feeling of the real Texas. Plus Texans are so
friendly, and it’s fun to peruse the huge array of Stetsons and cowboy boots
and belt buckles and barbeque cookbooks and all things southern in the stores
there. And who doesn’t like drinking a beer and getting grubby fingers with a
plate full of sticky messy smoky ribs!? It’s a good value night out, no
question!
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| Ribs baby, RIBS! |
I also briefly visited downtown Fort Worth on my first trip to the city when on my way back to Dallas from the Stockyards .While waiting for my train I came across a lovely memorial to John F Kennedy outside the hotel where he gave his final speech before he headed to Dallas and was assassinated just hours later. Texas seems to have a lot of connections to the late president, and documents and memorialises it at every opportunity, but they do it so well, so no complaints here!
Until my next adventure,
Jorgs
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| We couldn't leave without a horse selfie! |
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