Wheel of Fortune...the adventure!

If you're a friend on Facebook, you likely saw the status update about my mom and I deciding to try out for Wheel of Fortune. This is the story...

About a week or so before my birthday, our local CBS station (which is really based in Dallas - but is as local as we get, thank you FCC and your silly satellite rules) began running notices that WOF would be hosting tryouts on March 6th in Dallas and on the 7th in Fort Worth at Billy Bob's Texas. My mom joked and asked if my dad and I wanted to go. Pops declined, but I was totally up for it. So we scheduled a room in FW for Saturday night (Dallas was out due to a much more pressing engagement - Rex's 4th birthday party).

We got into FW at about 6 that evening. We decided to drive by Billy Bob's and get a lay of the place. Once we were there, we decided to go ahead and have dinner at the restaurant across the street. Cooper's BBQ was greatness. We went in wanting ribs, but as you walk in, you can see all of the meat selections laid out in front of you. The grill master showed us various options and once our eyes met the ribeye on special that night, it was a case of steak lust. We decided to split it (and had enough left over for my dad's dinner the next night - the sucker was HUGE) and the baked potato (which was rubbed with their steak seasoning - so good!). Like all good BBQ joints, Cooper's supplied complimentary beans, bread, sauce, pickles, onions and jalepenos. We got to our table, split the steak and what was lust at sight turned to love at first bite! I highly recommend Cooper's if you're ever in FW or New Braunfels has a location too.

From there, we wandered across the street to Billy Bob's to see who was playing that night. Turns out, it was Randy Travis, which was great since my mom and I both enjoy his music. We walked around to get our tickets and noticed a guy at the window on the phone. When he walked away, we stepped up to the window, but it was not the right one to buy tickets (seriously, Billy Bob's could use some signage). Before we made it in, the guy stopped us to ask if we needed tickets. My mom asked how much he wanted for them. He explained that his friend had bought them but couldn't make it and told him to give them away. We tried again to pay, but he said his friend insisted on him being a good samaritan. How cool, huh? I told him we were up for a birthday weekend adventure and we talked a little. Turns out, he grew up in Henderson (about an hour from where we live now). Crazy good luck in a crazy small world, huh?

Once inside, we milled around the store, enjoyed a slice of pecan pie and wandered a bit. I took a picture on a bull - I'll have to scan and post it later. They host two bull riding competitions each Friday and Saturday night. The first started at 9 and Randy didn't go on stage until 10:30. We enjoyed the bull riding. One guy nearly got hurt pretty bad and the bull was so lost he couldn't figure out how to leave the arena. It made for a tense few minutes, but they let another bull in to lead him out and it all worked out.

Then the show started. We enjoyed it a lot. Randy Travis sounded awesome. I kept telling my mom he sounded the same. She finally asked, "the same as what?" Talk about a generational gap. I'm shocked when live performers sound like their recordings and that is her norm. So much of the music on the radio these days is produced, engineered and electified such that there is no hope of the live performance being as good. Anyway, he sang what he's known for, a rendition of Roger Miller's King of the Road, stuff from his new album and a remake of a Bob Dylan hit before we left.

Sunday morning, we got up bright and early (okay - it was about 8), packed up, ate breakfast and headed over to BBTX to stake a spot in line. We got there and there were maybe 20-25 folks ahead of us. It was rainy and cold, but there was an awning we could wait under. After an hour, the owners took pity and opened their doors to a gate so that some folks could wait inside and more folks would have awning protection. We waited there another hour and a half before being let in. Once in, we walked a roped course to the showroom. We completed our applications and dropped them in the boxes so they could be put in the hopper. All told, there were 2,000 people in our group.

We made our way in to sit and wait some more. Pat and Vanna were there in cardboard form, so we took some fun pictures. We also made a video...

Untitled from Summer Stewart on Vimeo.

Please ignore the beginning where I didn't think it was on yet and excuse the videographer. She's learning...

To wrap it up...they select groups of 5 names to play "rounds." If you're name is drawn, you go on stage and introduce yourself then play a puzzle with your group. They want to see how well you present and whether or not you call out crazy letters. They selected a total of 6 or 7 groups of names during our group's audition. And out of the 30-35 names drawn, guess what? One was totally my mom! And after she introduced herself, the host commented on how well she did (she was the first he did that with). It was so cool! We havent heard anything yet...but if she made the next round of auditions, she'll get a letter or email this week or next. How very cool is that?

All in all, it was a wonderful adventure and we had a blast. I hope the opportunity presents itself to do something like that again.