Cowboy Breakfast Report: Brrr....

For years, I have been just like you on my drive in to work, listening to the radio hearing reports about the big Cowboy Breakfast. It is an annual tradition here in San Antonio to mark the beginning of Rodeo, and because of the need to work, I have never joined the thousands of people all duded up in cowboy gear to get free breakfast tacos, biscuits and gravy, and of course, hot coffee.Today, because I had to take the morning off for a service call at the house, I decided to find out what all the excitement of the cowboy breakfast was, first hand. Oh, my wife was glad to simply observe the event via the local morning news, and while I headed out into the 30 degree weather at 6AM, she was safely snuggled in the bed, no doubt laughing at me and the other suckers attempting to set a record for the most cups of free coffee served.

By the way, I never could get it straight as to what the number was supposed to be. I heard people saying things like 4,000 cups and I heard others saying 40,000 cups. I don't want to sound like a party-pooper, but wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that the Red Cross would easily serve 4,000 cups of coffee during any hurricane event?

Anyway, I got to The Rim without a lot of traffic or fanfare. In all honesty, I was expecting serious traffic issues, but really, there was no more traffic (in my mind anyway) than a normal visit to the same shopping center during Christmas.One of my main goals was to take pictures of the KENS-5 TV folks broadcasting from the CB. That was a big fat FAIL. As it turned out, I simply could not get to where they were at, apparently behind some sort of long line that involved the free tacos and biscuits and such. Honestly, I could not find them, even though I did see several different people they had interviewed earlier in the morning. Oh well.

The CB had two big stages with bands playing. My fingers were so freakin' cold, I could not for the life of me understand how these artists could play guitar. Maybe they had some blow torch like heaters up on the stages that I couldn't see.As I looked at the lines of people trying to get their free food, I came across our police chief, Bill McManus. He was nice enough to pose for me twice. The first picture I took was really blurry so I just said, "Wow, that came out really blurry", and by God, he stood there until I could get it right.His public information officer didn't wait for the better picture. And now look at him.The CB wasn't just full of important people either. I came across this guy standing in front of a radio station booth, MIX 96.1, and I'm not sure if he was just there hanging out or if he was one of the random characters on the show. Anyway, he needed a hug because it was cold. I offered him the flash of my camera, but not much more. I think he had hugged quite a few people though because to be honest, he smelled a little.Then there was the chick with blue hair. It turns out that a new magazine was being launched called Stash, and she was passing out copies of the mag and taking pictures with people. I don't know the two guys posing with her; they just happened to be there when I was snapping pictures.I have to tell you, I spent probably 45 minutes walking around the place and never once even considered standing in line to get the tacos, the biscuits or the free coffee so I could be part of the big record. Because of all the news and fanfare it gets every year, attending was actually a let down. I was hoping to see people getting liquored up and doing crazy things (all before work, mind you) but for the most part, it just seemed like a bunch of really cold people waiting in long lines for food they could have easily paid a buck for in a drive-thru somewhere. And what a mess!Speaking of messes... one bright spot for me was on my way back to my vehicle. I spotted this gem in the lot parked just a row over from me. Egad! Perhaps these people were trying to get a start on the Cowboy Breakfast clean-up by tossing crap in the back of their car.

Giddy up! See all the pictures over on Flickr.

Update: Here is a small video I made before my camcorder ran out of tape...