What would Willie Do?

That's the message on an ad that runs regularly in Texas Monthly. It makes me laugh every time.

We're taking the train to Fort Worth in a few hours, will get to there about noon, drop our bags off at the hotel and find a comfortable bar to settle into for the afternoon. We'll mosey on over to the Stockyards and Billy Bob's later to hear Willie sing.

The last Willie Nelson concert I attended was a little more than 21 years ago. He's one of kind and his voice always gives me a thrill. The voice is not as strong as it was back then, but I'm sure he'll be great. We're really looking forward to it.

My husband is a Willie fan by marriage. He never much liked country music, and really we still don't listen to it that often. OK, I listen to it on Saturday mornings when I get up early and I turn the television on to CMT and watch country videos until one of them makes me cry, then I turn it off. (How's that for a run-on sentence?)

There's just some musicians that Texas loves - Bob Wills, Willie Nelson, George Strait. I remember there was a station back in Amarillo that had a rule -- it had to play one George Strait song every hour. There's enough of 'em.

Strangely enough, Texans also seem to love ZZ Top. Really. Their concerts sell out fast. I never could figure that one out.

I'll post on Monday and tell ya'll about the trip. This one should be interesting. I'm going to Texas (home) with a whole bunch of non-Texans (foreigners, a couple of Oklahomans, a Kansan, a Michigander, etc.)

The big debate among all who are boarding the train is the appropriate time to start drinking. We board at 8:30 a.m.. Surprisingly, the train starts serving liquor at 10 a.m. I'm of the mind that we should be sober when we check into the hotel. (Keep in mind, we all talk a way better game, and one drink usually does most of us in.) The debate rages, and there's only one thing left to do...ask ourselves, "What would Willie do?"