“YOU A REAL COWBOY?” Debra Winger asked that question of John Travolta more than twenty years ago in the film Urban Cowboy. Today, with a couple more decades of urban sprawl under our big, shiny belt buckles, it’s even harder to find one. But this month, if you look for some in all the right places, you’ll find the real deal. For instance, on January 11 ride over to Fort Worth and the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame to check out new displays honoring the 2003 inductees, among them none other than country music star George Strait, who grew up in Pearsall and joins the ranks of such past honorees as Ty Murray and Tuff Hedeman. Afterward, at the Southwestern Exposition Livestock Show and Rodeo, take a seat at the Will Rogers Memorial Center to watch a bonanza of bona fide cowboy sports—bronc and bull riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, and barrel racing. All that action should whet your appetite for the twenty-fifth annual Cowboy Breakfast in San Antonio on January 24, when as many as 50,000 hungry cowfolk and breakfast enthusiasts will convene on the historic grounds of Sunset Station to rustle up some vittles. You can nibble on sausage and biscuits while trying to sort the ‘pokes from the posers. One thing’s for sure: Saddling up for free grub is always a sign of a genuine cowboy. (See Fort Worth: Museums/Galleries, and Other Events; and San Antonio: Other Events.)
