Shooting the Breeze - Aug. 6

American cowboys are the stuff of legends and I had the chance to celebrate them recently. A National Day of the American Cowboy celebration was held July 25 at the Fort Worth Stockyards.

My family and I don’t take plane rides, train rides, cruises or even hikes. We do road trips. Check that. We do hot car, fighting kids, junk food, sing-alongs, are we there yet? trips cross country (or across Texas, same thing) that would put the Griswolds to shame.

So it was that when we decided to head out for my daughter’s birthday trip, we stumbled into the Fort Worth Stockyards. When I originally started planning this weekend trip back in the spring, I was going to take the kids to Six Flags. Not sure how I ended up west of Arlington, but it probably had something to do with triple-digit temperatures and three-hour lines for rides that would have made everyone queasy anyway.

I try to pick things that none of us have done before, so the Stockyards was a perfect fit. We’ve all been to the rodeo, but we’d never been or the birthplace of cattle sales in Texas. We’d also never seen a cattle drive and there are two per day at the Stockyards, right down Main Street.

We just happened to get there Saturday in time to see the tail end of the morning drive and I have to say – pretty neat. Because they were celebrating National Day of the American Cowboy, there were plenty of wild western activities packing the day, starting with a parade following the cattle drive featuring horses, buggies and folks in western attire than you could shake a stick at.

We barely had time to get our bearings before my 9-year-old son entered a watermelon eating contest. This kid should have brought home a trophy judging by how fast he can snatch melon off my fork, but alas, he only broke the top six. Still proud of the little fella and I know I still have to guard my fruit.

My too-cool-for-this-day daughter (she’s 13 – what did I expect?) actually entered the cow milking contest after finding out she wouldn’t be touching an actual cow. Much to my chagrin, she wasn’t huddled up under a Jersey or Holstein, but rather a cow statue with fake udders squeezing out fake milk. C’mon Fort Worth. I need blackmail photos and only a real cow will do.

My husband entered the Riscky’s Barbeque rib eating contest and came in fourth. We still had to go to Riscky’s afterward to order more. In his defense, he’s a growing boy – and they really were THAT good.

I had a ball going to the shops dotting the stockyards area which feature everything from hand-tooled and handmade leather purses to flavored olive oils. It was like a mall if that mall was in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Best part of the day was finding a live band outside one of the shops. I danced as only a middle-aged woman who wants to embarrass her kids can dance. Oh, how I danced.

I highly recommend the Stockyards as a weekend trip, but be sure to bring cash – both literally and figuratively. Several attractions, including the cow pen maze, are cash only and although it’s free to look, it isn’t free to shop. Make sure to allow two days to see it all. The wild west can’t be rushed.