Thanksgiving with the carnies

Thanksgiving 2001 will go down in history as one of my favorite holidays ever! It was strange to spend the day hundreds of miles away from my family. But I was eager to see what it would bring.

Our day started fairly normal, with added rumors that our bosses would feed us before work.

I didn’t know what to expect. Would it resemble the traditional meal I grew up with, or do carnies eat carnival food? Maybe they would give everybody a smoked turkey leg? … So many questions raced through my mind as we got on the bus and rode to the K-Mart parking lot where we were working in San Antonio, TX.

What to do?

They were still preparing the food when we arrived. My friends and I walked to the stores for drinks and a little window shopping. I was expecting my first child and was particularly interested in the children’s books and toys.

The food still wasn’t very close to ready when we returned, so my fiancee and I wandered over to the Ferris Wheel for a ride. It was a nice view when we got to the top, looking down at the world and enjoying the fresh air. But the guy who was running it just left us up there!

It was fun until I needed the restroom, and they started serving dinner without us. But someone let us down just in time to enjoy one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I ever had.

The food was good. It was not as good as what my aunts and grandmother made, but it was the only home-cooked meal we had in months. And the company… It doesn’t get much better than enjoying a relaxing afternoon with your best friends.

After dinner, our day continued as normal. I went to the concession stand to spend my day making Cotton Candy as my significant other headed to the bumper cars. Then, we spent the rest of our evening bringing smiles to the faces of some of the wonderful people of San Antonio, Texas.