It was my dad’s birthday last week, so he suggested that I come down to the Taste of New Orleans event in San Antonio at the Sunken Gardens theatre where his company was providing security. The event itself is put on by the San Antonio Zulu Association, and this is their 20th year as a part of Fiesta. It was my dad’s second year working the event, and he beat out sizable competition in the bidding process. I learned a lot about how he runs his business by asking a lot of questions, and I had a great time riding around with him in his golf cart and meeting all kinds of people. I forgot how good he was at jawboning with people and making jokes. I also forgot how cool San Antonio could really be. It’s not a youthful and pretentious hipster enclave like Austin and it has a real feel of community to it for such a large city. When I first moved to Austin, I was stunned at how white it was. This is in part due to its de facto segregation into East and West Austin. You could say the same thing about San Antonio, but it is certainly more obviously diverse.
Since I was with my dad I spent a lot of time backstage watching the machinery of the event at work, the off-duty cops from the county or SAPD working security, the musicians setting up, the Adecco hands carrying bundles of drink tickets, and the Zulus chatting with each other. It was neat to behind the same stage where I had seen several bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, and The Cranberries play over ten years before and I enjoyed watching the crowd from the other side.
I didn’t get to sample too much of the food, but I did have some delicious boudin and a brisket sandwich. When my dad quickly unzipped his boudin from the casing and bathed it in tabasco, one of the cooks said, “That’s what I’m talking about!” When I fumbled with mine he told my dad that I needed some more practice. Ha ha.
Later on, I was hanging out by myself backstage just watching a large group of people in the crowd dance to “Ring my Bell” and I met an interesting older gentleman from Charlotte, North Carolina named Calvin Burney. He flew in to attend the event and visit with his wife’s family. He had been all over the world while in the Air Force and recommended Montreal and Quebec as one of the world’s best kept secrets. It was great to talk with someone with such a wide life experience. When I told him about my plans to go into business for myself we ended up making a tentative deal for me to do a website for his restaurant consulting business. That’s how easy it is to start working with people.