21 Hrs. Camping at Chick-fil-a = Free Chick-fil-A for a YEAR

Wednesday morning was a day I had been looking forward to literally for WEEKS...I patiently drove down Texas Ave. several times a week waiting for the announcement of the opening. And Wednesday morning was THE DAY that I had been wating for!

From the moment my friend, Hannah, told me about camping out for the Grand Opening, I was in it 100%. Sad news though....the date of the Grand Opening (today) was right smack dab in the middle of her trip to Norway. Oh but don't you worry...it didn't stop me. Hannah's roommate (and also a great friend of mine), Audra, joined me for this little adventure.

I took the day off work on Wednesday just so I could get to Chick-fil-A early enough to guarantee that I was one of the first 100 customers. At 9am Wednesday morning, I drove by and noticed that there were already tents set up and what appeared to be a crowd already forming. I got on my phone IMMEDIATELY and called Audra to tell her we were going to need to be there earlier than expected. I ran home, grabbed a sleeping bag, some blankets, food, and random other items that I though I might need and hurried back to get in line. But seriously....how do you know what you REALLY need for camping out in the middle of a parking lot?!?! I arrived at Chick-fil-A, unloaded my car, and registered at 9:37 am. SUCCESS...I was #39 (I even have the wrist band to prove it!). Now I just had to stick it out until morning....

Audra came around 10:30, and in the mean time, I met some pretty cool people that we set up camp around. They were lots of fun. The day involved lining up at meal times for role call, and then walking through the drive thru to get our food....random role calls throughout the afternoon (we weren't allowed to leave or even go back to our cars)....games (you know...fun games like hot potato with a stuffed Chick-fil-A cow and a musical chairs/scavenger hunt combination kind of game)....a DJ that evening....4 huge plasma TV's with Guitar Hero, RockBand, and Wii...Icecream Sundaes at midnight...and lots of fun and fellowship.....oh ya, I can't forget my FAVORITE PART---FREE SWEET TEA ALL DAY LONG! There were also random visits throughout the day from the Chick-fil-a Cow which was awesome! Finally around midnight, they shut things down and quit doing role calls so that we could get some sleep (although by all the noise I heard outside the tent, I am pretty sure I was one of the only ones sleeping)! 5 am came early for us...that was our wake up call to start packing up our stuff. 6 am they lined us up for a final role call and gave us a tshirt and hat to wear as we received the "Grand Prize"! They marched us through the store around 6:15 with balloons everywhere and cowbells ringing in our ears....it felt like a graduation ceremony walking through because the owner "presented" our free coupons to us in a nugget box with a big bow tied on top "diploma style"....which made me laugh!

Super fun day/night....except for the sunburn and the fact that I had to go in to work this morning....other than that, it was MAGNIFICENT! You should check it out...they do this at all the openings for Chick-fil-a, and I am not lying...its LEGIT. Who knows, I might see you there because I plan on making this a frequent thing!

Audra and I before we set up the tent!

My favorite pic of the ENTIRE event!!

They threw these parachuting cows off the roof. I caught 4, but I gave one away to Audra! I'm such a good friend. jk!

Random guy, me, and Kimberly