You’re coming to the rodeo anyway, and you’re probably in the mood: Why not pick up some new Western threads while you’re there? Within the vastness of NRG Center, an entire row of merchants like Cavender’s and Pinto Ranch set up tent-like structures whose inventory can’t quite compare to their brick-and-mortar sites but is still more than enough to get you looking like you just came in off a trail ride. (Considering the area is also full of mattress stalls, jewelers, farm equipment, bleachers and lots of livestock, you may not have even noticed them before; that’s okay.) You could always go out and get this stuff on your own during some other time of year, but that would require a separate trip and the timing just wouldn’t be right anyway.
READERS’ CHOICE: Cavender’s
This article appears in Work Hard, Play Hard.