‘Cowboy’ time in St. Joe

As a onetime “Cowboy,” a stop at the Stetson outlet store in St. Joseph was eventually going to happen.

As a kid, I wanted to be a cowboy. My nickname in Kennard was “Cowboy.” When I learned how to ride a bicycle, shoe strings were attached to the handle bar as reins. Halloween costume? Easy. Where’s my hat, boots and six shooter?

I’ve since outgrown wanting to be a cowboy. Cowboy boots hurt my feet as I grew older. Not sure there is much of a market for a cowboy wearing tennis shoes on the range.

However, I’ve maintained an interest in the hats.

We had some time to burn on our recent trip to St. Joe. We’ve seen the flyers advertising the outlet store, so we thought we’d give it a visit.

St. Joe actually used to make the western hats. The plant has since moved to Texas.

The store had a few visitors. A dad and his two daughters were checking out hats. They left without getting anything, but I saw them each put on the hats before they left in their truck afterward.

We checked out the rows and rows of hats.

The store has a variety of hats – stylish (I call them Downton Abbey hats), sombreros, hipster, as well as men’s and women’s western.

There are jeans, shirts, tops and belts among the items available.

Before we left, I pulled the trigger and picked up a cowboy hat on clearance. I figure it can hang in the house as a decoration.

Now, if only they had a horse on clearance…