The two things I really wanted to buy when we went to the States last year were cowboy boots and a new belt.
I could see Boot Barn from the hotel balcony – Head to Toe Western and Work Wear! – and it was within walking distance so I decided to “mosey on over”.
The walk was only a couple of blocks and on the way I noticed on every block were rows of yellow boxes lined up on the footpath, the kind you see on American tv that holds the newspaper. Well these ones held a different kind of newspaper depending on your preference; asian, college, lesbian (very B grade, not that I was looking!)… no wonder they call Vegas, Sin City!
Arriving at Boot Barn found me in boot heaven! The shelves were lined with ladies and men’s boots from $50 work boots to $3000 custom made shiny black alligator skin; boots made from ostrich, snake, ring lizard, calf hide, bull hide, crocodile and sting ray; ankle boots, mid boots, tall boots, stitched patterns, fancy leatherwork, coloured cut-outs, pointed toe, round toe and square in a whole range of colours.
The salesman that served me was a hefty moustached cowboy decked out “head to toe” in western gear including the flannel shirt, cowboy hat and big buckled belt. A lot of Aussies have visited Boot Barn for a good pair of boots including one guy who really wanted a pair made from stingray. He was really worried about getting them through customs though so the salesman told him to tell customs that “you killed the ray that got Steve Irwin and turned the mother into boots!”. The Aussie thought about it for a long time but finally decided to play on the safe side and choose something less exotic.
Now my dilemma was how to choose which boots to buy! They were all so pretty! The only thing I was sure of was my budget and that I didn’t want pointy toes. My cowboy salesman asked what colour I preferred; I went for brown. Did I want them for work or walking; walking please. “A lot of the girls go for these ones, they are tall enough to wear under a long skirt and with a mini (yeah right!), the soles are made from recycled car tyres so they’ll last for years and they have gel pads in the bottom for dancin’.” And they were only $170 – I’ll take them thanks!
My pretty Ariat bull hide boots were originally “designed to provide the most technically advanced riding boots for the world’s top equestrian athletes and are highly resistant to manure and acidic waste”, uh-huh, yeah that’s just the boot for me!
Talking country boots leads to talking country music; Garth Brookes and a whole host of other c&w bands are currently playing in Vegas but sadly not Keith Urban or Sugarland. (I actually Googled Sugarland concerts before we left just in case there was one close enough to attend while we were here but there wasn’t *sad face*.) There is also a bar near Treasure Island called Gilly’s where they serve great food and play c&w music and CMA in July each year is the festival to go to.
