Rocky Ford's Famous Watermelon Day

One of my dear mom's claims to fame is creating a drawing of her high school mascot...the Rocky Ford Meloneers!! Now, back in the day, no one knew what a Meloneer was, exactly, so she helped to put a face on the name. I'm not sure if this is her drawing, or if it's been updated in the last 30 some years, but take a look:When I think about my childhood, I have fond memories of taking trips down to southeastern Colorado to Rocky Ford...a small town about 50 miles out of Pueblo. Now, when I say small...I mean SMALL. The only place to eat there is Pizza Hut or Sonic. Not even a McDonald's. Now, if you drive about 10 miles south, you can find a few more luxuries like a Village Inn and Wal-Mart, but don't get too excited, La Junta isn't big either. When I go there, I feel this responsibility to spend as much money as I can in order to help their economy. It may not be much money, but it's more than they'd get normally anyhow. To put things into perspective...you can buy a HOUSE for anywhere between $20,000-$80,000. Nope, that's not a typo...$20k will get you a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom ranch-style house. It'll be a little work to get it in shape, but honestly, that wouldn't cost too much either!!

Now, I'm not exactly sure what made me want to go to Rocky Ford for the 129th Annual Arkansas Valley Fair, but I just had a hankerin' to go down for the weekend with my family. So, we all piled up into the stylish mini-van for a 4 1/2 hour drive. The rain during our drive was horrific...both ways!

But we made it, and we got to see lots of family that we hadn't seen in nearly 8 years! It was so strange!! It was great to see familiar faces though, and not so familiar faces (like meeting new cousins, a new wife of a cousin, etc.). A face I won't forget though was one of those strangers in a crowd. The long flowing locks immediately grabbed my attention...yes, an MIA (Mullett In Action). Next, the facial hair added an unique twist of Red Neck-age that I hadn't ever seen before. Check out this work of beauty:





Yes, yes.....












I know....INCREDIBLE!

Anyhow, before we actually went to the Watermelon Day gathering, we went to breakfast at this relic cafe. Let's just say that restaurants try to 're-make' the atmosphere of this cafe. When my family (all of us city folk) walk in, everyone just turns around and stares at us all. It was quite un-nerving at first, but then we got a table and they all stopped staring at us. The decore is literally still hanging from the 60's. Nothing has probably changed there in over 30 years (including the owner). HOWEVER, the food and service were outstanding! I had the most amazing biscuits & gravy with hasbrowns and bacon EVER. You look around and the place is filled with farmers, cowboys, and folks without teeth...and the bar area is prestine and exactly how any breakfast cafe should serve its delicious classic, home-style feast. I mananged to catch a few shots from our time there....check this out...the Lone Cowboy as I like to call it:

Notice the original upholstry on the chairs. Yup...that's just amazing!

Now, the rest of the day was full of corndogs, carnival rides, and of course, watermelon! We got to spend time as a family, and it was totally great! It was a perfect little get-away for the weekend, and I would suggest everyone should take time to get back to their family's roots every now and again. I also claimed lots of cows, sheep, goats, horses, etc. during the continual game of "All my cows (fill in the appropriate animal name)!!!" I got an awesome t-shirt that says, "Rocky Ford, Colorado...World's Melon Capital." I really wanted the shirt that said, "Rocky Ford, Colorado...Small Town, Big Melons," but they were all out of that one. Maybe next time...