Random Thoughts From The Fandango

The first ever Firefly Funnel Cake Fandango ended in Austin, TX last Monday. A 31 hour drive to get Big Red back to Virginia followed and I assure you, it wasn’t much fun.  But the Fandango was a blast so I guess it was worth it.

There were some problems along the way and we learned some lessons.  But I got to meet a lot of people, make so valuable contacts and have a much better handle on doing something like this again in the future.  To our knowledge, something like this has never been done so we were blazing new trails in the funnel cake business.

My thanks to Firefly Vodka, Tim Hayden and Tom Martin, and of course, to Jason. I hope you enjoyed following our antics.

After meeting Jason in Nashville, we had to make a last minute change of location due to a conflict at the original location, and opened on Music Row at Wheels. Despite a great location and a lot of foot traffic, I wasn’t that busy but really enjoyed the live music coming from several bars.

Little Rock was next and was the best of the traveling events. Big Whiskey’s was a fabulous place. The staff and customers embraced us and we had a night like I’d envisioned from the conception of the Fandango idea.  The Firefly distribution folks in Little Rock were great as well, which was something that was missing in Nashville and Dallas.

The only negative to Little Rock was the tornado warnings while I was cooking that I eluded to in a previous post.  I still get a little queesy thinking about that.

Dallas featured another last minute change of location and to a place where I couldn’t even open Big Red.  So, it was a complete bust for me, but I got to spend an evening with Jason and made a couple of great contacts for possible future business.

Friday, at Molotov’s in Austin was the Big Event of the Fandango and what will probably be a legendary party for SXSWs for ever. Only, just before opening, I was shut down by some city official because my set up location in front of Molotov’s was enfringing on City Right of Ways. Nobody, including the owners of Molotov’s and the Austin police who helped me with traffic control while I parked Big Red, had any idea that was a problem. I had to move to a nearby parking lot which required anyone from the party to cross two heavily trafficked streets to get to me.  While it was a good night and a night to meet many of the folks I wanted to meet in Austin, it would have been ten times better right outside Molotov’s and the Party.

For the next three days, I was at Little Woodrow’s because I could avoid that same Right of Way problem had we moved on to the other planned locations in Austin.  And, Little Woodrow’s was a fabulous place with a huge outdoor patio. A very pet friendly bar, they are a favoite with the locals.  Also, they have a Taco vendor that gave me access to a concessions person familiar with Austin and I was able to start a plan for another year correcting the problems we faced this year.

While we drew in some folks, it wasn’t as successful as I’d preferred.

One thing worth noting:  Austin has about a million Great Tailed Grackles, a bird I knew nothing about. We have Grackles in Virginia but they are nothing like their cousins found in Texas and Louisianna. Gave me something to do while waiting for customers: Watching the mating rituals of the males that strut around like the NBC Peacook with their foot long tails all ruffled up, and the slightly smaller females who keep saying, ” Go Away.”

The most valuable lesson for me was that the bar scene just isn’t a great venue for funnel cakes. Even with a Firefly Vodka Peach Tea Glaze for the cakes. (By the way, that was extremely popular). I need to stick to what I do best: the major sporting events or at least shows at major venues like the Civic Center in Austin for SXSW.

I got back to Virginia and had to make a terribly difficult decision. Both my grandson, Grant, and Peggy’s grandson, Kagen, had birthday parties on Saturday. Obviously, I couldn’t be in Louisville and Harrisonburg at the same time.  Since I’m not sure this old fat body could take another 24 hours of driving to get to Kentucky and back, I celebrated with Kagen.

Grant, hopefully I’ll get to your birthday next year.

For the Big Red crew, we’re off to Martinsville for out first race of the year.  We’ll be located on the front straight right near the start/finish line under the grandstands.  That is probably the best location we’ve ever had for a Nascar event and the week should be huge.  Tank and I are setting up on Wednesday and we’ll open on Friday for qualifying.  I’ll keep everyone posted via my phone and will report next weekend after the race.