FORT WORTH, Texas — A Facebook event titled 'The Fort Worth Stockyards Honkytonk Crawl for Freedom' was canceled Friday after the bar that inspired the event announced it would not reopen.
However, it didn't stop a few dozen people from gather to drink and hang out on a sidewalk across the street from the establishment Friday night.
Some even tailgated from their cars.
Before Gov. Greg Abbott announced that Texas would reopen in phases, 'The Basement Bar' located in the Fort Worth Stockyards took to social media saying it would reopen May 1st.
The post caught fire as many assumed the bar would reopen regardless if there was a statewide shelter-in-place order on the books or not.
The bar clarified on its Facebook page Thursday that what it advertised before the governor's announcement was 'perfectly legal.'
But after Abbott's announcement, the bar said in the post, "Now with made-up laws, it's not legal or so they say."
The post went on to read that the bar had consulted with its attorneys and that it would follow the rules set forth and not reopen even though it disagreed.
March 18 was the last time the bar was open, and the post underscored that employees are suffering financially.
When the original May 1 announcement post caught fire, Chris Putnam scheduled a bar crawl event for the same day to kick off at The Basement.
Putnam is the loser of this year's 12th U.S. Congressional GOP Primary which was won by Congresswoman Kay Granger.
Granger has held the seat since 1996.
On the event's Facebook page, an announcement Friday said the bar crawl was canceled after The Basement said it wouldn't reopen.
The event was scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
Around that time, a number of people started gathering at the Thirsty Armadillo across the street -- getting to-go drinks and standing along the sidewalk outside the front doors.
At one point, WFAA counted as many as 40 people standing outside the business fairly close to one another.
The Armadillo had signs saying it was selling food, but all WFAA saw at the door was chips.
Still, police assigned to the area didn't see a problem with it and didn't approach the business while WFAA was there.
Closer to 10 p.m., more people showed up to the bar where live music was now being played.
Some people were on the roof of the building while others danced and drank in the street.
A number of cars drove by and honked and the revelry continued.
Not the fireworks many expected, but certainly more life than what the Stockyards has seen in recent weeks.
More on reopening in Texas:
- 'We've been living in a hole': Businesses begin reopening across Dallas
- As economy slowly reopens, doctors urge public to remember pandemic is ongoing
- Some bars in Dallas open despite orders not to; business slower than expected at a number of restaurants
- Texas told store owners they could reopen Friday. So, did they?
- Most Dallas-Fort Worth museums, zoos and libraries remain closed