Hanging with the Herd at Chick-fil-A Grand Opening Camp Out

So I hung out with The Herd this afternoon.  Hailing from Knoxville, Tennessee, members of The Herd travel to various Chick-fil-A grand openings.  Herd co-founder Chris, in bovine apparel, led me through a parking lot tour of today's festivities at the new Chick-fil-A in Warrenton, Virginia, which opens for breakfast Thursday morning.

Chris and his buddies travelled seven hours to this grand opening, setting up tents and a small kids pool, which added some comic relief.  Actually, the whole affair is one big, laid back, hilarious jamboree.  How often do you see thirty camping tents in a fast food parking lot?  With college students tossing football and playing 'corn hole', where you toss bean bags into holes cut in slanted wooden boxes.  Kind of a cross between  horse shoes and Skee Ball.  A little rain and overcast skies did nothing to dampen the mood.  Probably helped that everyone was ramped up on fresh and free hot chocolate and sweet tea. 

I met some retired folks who travel to different cities for the grand openings.  They said they come for the atmosphere, the people, the food, the fact that Chick-fil-A employees do rare things like say "yes mam", "yes sir" and "my pleasure" ... and of course they come for the giveaways, including the pot at the end of the chicken flavored rainbow - 52 free combo meals for the first 100 in line - which many planned on giving away to relatives, friends and even strangers. A retired gentleman and former Marine on hand for the festivities told me "this is a different planet ... wish the rest of the planet was this way".  So do I.  Here's another Qik.com video clip, featuring my time with The Herd.