Bootfest Victoria Texas

As summer winds down and the days become more tolerable, lots of towns put on some sort of festival and Victoria, Texas is no different, hosting it's own Bootfest.

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It's pretty much the same as other and the idea of a Boot festival in south Texas is like having a Southern Drawl festival in Hattiesburg, Mississippi...everyone has one.

Young and old gathered, some young enough to be in strollers and others old enough to be in wheelchairs and walkers.  Around the square, the usual booths were there such as funnel cakes, barbeque, ice cream and of course, ... beer.  There was a line up of bands and of the couple I heard, they were pretty good.

One group from Cuero was a blend of country, hiphop and rock with a heavy dose of Mexican thrown in with the front man singing and speaking Spanglish   Another band played a mix of 70s music and country. I was really enjoying them until they tried make Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl into their own style.  That ended it for me.  Don't be messin' with Brown Eyed Girl.

Other venders included home crafted art, leather, boots and t-shirts.

What I found most interesting was the car show.  There was the usual restored 58 Corvette, 66 chevys, sports cars and trucks but what really stole my heart was a generous exhibit of Rat Rods.

Here's a few of my favorites that should be right at home on the set of Mel Gibson's Mad Max.

The winter blahs

Wow, this winter has been one of the more uneventful ones for me in quite a while.  Maybe that's good but really leaves me not much to write about, let alone, take a picture of.

Let's see, since Michigan, I've had a short stay in Kaufman/Mesquite, Texas, a week and a ½ in Moss Bluff/Lake Charles, a couple of weeks in Grenada, Missippy (that's the way it's pronounced there) and the week before Christmas, I was sent to Buggtussel, Tennessee. Actually, it's Waverly, a little burg in north central Tennessee and a very long drive from Memphis, especially when it's snowing and cold.

I'm guessing it will be a fairly short stint or at least that's what I'm hoping for.  Aside from being about 7 miles north of  Loretta Lynn's Ranch, on the banks of the Hurricane Creek, there's not much I find noteworthy.  Possibly there may be to it during the spring and summer months.

An update may be forthcoming once I get out of the hotel for the weekend.

Update:  Saturday, 12/29/12.

I could not take sitting in this hotel room.  I've looked at motorcycle websites, cruised bike and camera forums, edited pictures and watched some of the most awful TV ever broadcasted, so I thought I'd check out some of the local towns nearby.

Gray and gloomy with a light snow falling, the drive through Bucksnort and Dickens just wasn't much of an inspiration.  I had heard Franklin was a nice spot so I took the new 4 lane down that way.

Franklin proved to be a very nice and vibrant downtown with trendy shops, coffee shops and even the old theater was still in business.  Even though it was in the low 30° ranges, people were out, some with friends, some with their little kids and some with designer dogs.

 After having a reasonable gumbo (who would have thought) at Papa Boudreaux's Cajun Restaurant, I headed back to the car and looked at a map.  I was only 30-35 mile from Nashville.  Oh, what the heck, I have nothing better to do.

Still, a light snow was falling when I arrived and parked near the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry and walked a few steps down to Legends Corner on Broadway.  I hadn't even made it to the corner before I was accosted by bums looking for a handout.  Sure, I'm a softy, it was cold and wet so I handed him a few bucks.  On Broadway, dodged a gaggle of other tourists with Canons and Nikons dangling from their necks.  Even with it cold and wet, there was a significant amount of foot traffic walking by the ever present mandolin or guitar picker, playing for tips.

Broadway still has quite a few bars, clubs and pubs on it but I can see how it is becoming Nashville's version of Bourbon Street.  Broadway has it's T-shirt and tourist traps like Bourbon but being what it is, there's also boot and hat shops.  The thing about those shops are, they still carry those  old pointy toed roach killers worn mostly by entertainers and are almost a cartoon of western wear.

So, having my fill of walking in the rain and snow, I took leave and made my way back to the parking garage  through a gauntlet of beggars and hustlers.