Flashback Friday – Dixie National Rodeo

The Dixie National Rodeo was an annual family trip for my family every year for the majority of my childhood. I have many fun memories from there. Although, we haven’t gone in many years, this is rodeo week in Jackson and I thought my memories of the rodeo would be perfect for a Flashback Friday post!! My mom’s entire family would meet up at the Cabot Lodge on County Line Road in Jackson on Friday before the rodeo. We’d all go down to the Lobby for Happy Hour. It would be packed, but I’d always have my Shirley Temple and back of popcorn. Dana Knight made most of the rodeo trips with us, and sometimes I even got to take more than one friend. We always thought we were such grown ups with our Shirley Temples and Cowboy Hats!!

Dana and I having our annual Shirley Temples with my mom and dad.

Cocktail Hour at the Cabot Lodge

More pictures from Cocktail Hour.  For some reason, all I could find was pictures from cocktail hour and none from the actual rodeo.  Guess the adults had a few too many cocktails and forgot to take pictures at the rodeo!!

My birthday is February 19th, and every year, my family would have a “Surprise” birthday party for me in Jackson. Somehow it was always a surprise….. Art would take Dana and I to the golf store shopping or some other activity and the women would set up my party. I remember one year walking into the hotel lobby and seeing all of the pink birthday decorations and saying, “Look it’s someone’s birthday.” Even after years of the birthday tradition, somehow, I was always surprised.

"Look, New Kids on the Block Tickets for Dana and I!"

Another party, still surprised....

After cocktail hour on Friday at the Cabot Lodge, we’d all go over to the Coliseum for the rodeo. We’d walk through the livestock stables and look at all of the animals and then go find our seats for the rodeo. Somehow, we always ended up in the nose bleed section!! Intermission at the rodeo always featured a country singer and that was one of my favorite parts. We’ve seen Brooks and Dunn, Confederate Railroad, Rhett Aikens and many others over the years at the rodeo. Another favorite event at the rodeo was the bull fighting clown, Lecile Harris. He always told funny jokes!! The calf roping was not one of my favorites, the ladies and us girls, always secretly cheered for the calves and hoped they would get away!!

I remember one year after happy hour, my entire family was on the elevator together. The doors opened and I hopped off. Wrong floor!! Whoops!! “Someone” in the family closed the doors before I could get on and mashed all of the buttons on the elevator so it would take a while to get back to me. I remember my sweet daddy being very aggravated when they finally got back to my floor!

Crazy Cowgirls playing on the luggage cart!  Miki, Where's your hat?!?

Those are such great memories of the rodeo, in the comments section, please feel free to share a memory of our fun times together at the rodeo!!