Bandera, TX

Yesterday was quite a busy day in Bandera, Texas. Even tho Fat Tuesday is not until February 5th, Bandera got a jump on all of New Orleans by having their own "Cowboy Style" Mardi Gras parade down mainstreet Bandera. The horse took center stage in this town, as it should. Multi-colored beads were everywhere- tossed to any and all. The locals and the tourists loved every minute- after the parade the local eateries and saloons were to the rim with revelers. The 11th Street Bar had the street blocked off so the overflow crowd could partake in the festivities. Based on the happy faces I saw last nite, this new tradition will be a continuing one.

Yesterday i eavesdropped on a conversation that got me to thinking about my town, Bandera Texas. We are known as the "Cowboy Capital of the World" and I asked myself what that entails. Should we be rough and rowdy as they were in the early west, or should we be refined and genteel suburbanites? We could be considered a suburb of San Antonio. Our Chamber of Commerce and Visitor and Convention Bureau markets our city as cowboy. What do you think of when cowboy is mentioned? Should we stay scruffy and unkempt, or clean and polished?