PAPALOTE PARADE

   On highway 181 between Beeville, Texas and Corpus Christi there is a little village called Papalote.  FYI, that word in Texas Spanish means "windmill". Anyway, calling this place a "village" isn't really correct. I don't know what it's like now but in the 1930s and '40s it was just a place on the side of the road which had a gas station, a tiny grocery store and a cafe/beer hall. Actually, it really wasn't on the side of the road because you turned off of the highway about 50 yards as you were going South onto a short road that passed in front of those establishments. The beer hall customers were mostly ranchers and farmers from the area and it wasn't a wild, raucous place as they show in the movies. It was just a place to gather and "shoot the bull" so my parents didn't worry about taking me with them when they went down there. Actually, being an only child, I went just about everywhere with them.
   On one occasion we were there visiting and someone came up with a bright idea....."Let's have a parade like they do in Beeville this time of the year!" They quickly sprang into action. Most of the people had driven there in pickups but some went home and got their tractors and a horse or two. Bandanas were tied to radio antennas and saddle blankets were thrown over the hoods of cars. A couple of other kids were there so we climbed into the bed of a pickup and away we went! Since this place was sparsely populated, they had to make sure there were people standing on the side of the road to wave as the parade went by so they got their employees to be the viewers. It was great fun in fact, so much fun that we paraded down that short stretch of road in front of the businesses and then out onto the highway and back again. We stopped traffic on the highway with people in their cars laughing and clapping for us. I think we went around twice before someone decided that was enough. 
   Of course, compared to the aforementioned Battle of Flowers Parade, this was nothing, but you "do  the best you can with what you've got".

Ta!

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