Black Rodeo

Brandon called me up and let me know that things were going so good for the business. We had a lot of big jobs coming in, and he recognized how hard Devin was working and wanted to do something for him, something Devin would get excited about. We thought maybe we'd try out a rodeo. 

      

We ended up getting tickets to Richmond's First Annual Black Rodeo, part of the Southeastern Rodeo Association. We were making all kinds of jokes going into it, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But it was a weekend away from kids with friends! My mom flew in to watch the kids and we were excited about taking some time off! 

We ate dinner at Tarrant's Cafe. It is an upscale restaurant (fancy for us at least) that used to be a corner drug store (Tarrant Drug Co.) right on W. Broad Street. The building has retained it's old time charm. On TripAdvisor it was rated #4 and for good reason... the food was amazing!  We hadn't told the Calderwoods, but we decided to use the trip to also celebrate our anniversary (9 years!). So at dinner I didn't feel shy about ordering appetizers or a fancy meal. Everything we got was delicious, we sampled each dish and there wasn't anything that I wouldn't order again. I didn't know I was a foodie until we ate there, but it was so good, I loved my meal. I knew that if nothing else proved as good as we planned, dinner was worth going to Richmond for!

The rodeo turned out to be less than what we had hoped, but it was almost to be expected... I don't know if Eastern rodeo's could ever compete with what we have back home in the West. It seemed obvious it was the 1st (annual) rodeo they've held, the transitions were slow and the participants were few. For both buckskin and bull riders there were three riders each. On the other hand, for obscure events like cowgirls tearing duct tape off the back of a calf, there were at least ten riders. We missed the good 'ole country music that was replaced with rhythm & blues. Brandon and Sarah didn't know what they were missing because it was the first rodeo they'd been to, and it was fun just hanging out with them. 

The best part of the rodeo actually was the dance off. They invited couples out of the stadium to come down to the arena and show off their moves when the music started. Out of all the dancers down there, it was the sole white couple who won the prize. They definitely were not the best dancers in the arena, but they were all out there, big moves, full into it. We laughed and cheered them on. When they asked the audience to vote on the best dancers we whistled and whooped as best we could for this couple. 

So I am changing my motto... Instead of  "Whatever you do, do it well" I think I should take up "Whatever you do, do it with enthusiasm!" Why hold yourself back just because you don't think you're the most talented, prepared or experienced one out there. Have fun and do it with enthusiasm!