It’s cold enough to freeze the nuts off a penguin . When Emma said “you’re only taking one pair of pants ?” . I replied “ We’re in Louisiana and Texas Darling “ . Six days in and the temperature hasn’t broken 17 degrees celsius , fortunately I’m rapidly developing a layer of blubber .Today in Austin it’s hovering around 6 and not once , not even for a tiny fucking minute has the sun broken through ., and that’s in this entire trip . Never mind , I’m not driving Black Betty , we are in a nifty little Toyota that purrs along in the wet . Driving in the rain is something I haven’t done in a while , hmmm with the decent roads out here you’d swear you were driving in the Melbourne winter months , except on the wrong side of the road .
We leave San Antonio for Austin . What’s noticeable is the building and construction . It’s booming , Everything is built big . Big warehouses , big supermarkets , big freeways ,big trucks tops , big vehicles and shitloads of big rigs on the roads . Also the sprawl between San Antonio and Austin is near complete . The 80 (130 km ) mile stretch between each city is almost one giant suburb . Think Melbourne and Geelong touching each other .There’s shitloads of work in the trades .
Finally we hit Austin . It’s a real city , quite a few high rises and plenty of cranes in the CBD . We are staying right in the guts . Whilst we wait for our room we head off for a quick explore . Now me ,I know what I like and I like hipster and this joint is giving me that hipster feel straight off the bat . With bars named after bats , roosters , churches and all sorts of off the wall shops I know I’m in my territory . There’s nothing that depresses me more than a shopping centre full of franchise restaurants , cafes and food courts and LA is absolutely full of them , actually so is Texas . I’m in desperate need for some grime , and some gentrified renaissance and we know this is the hipster game.
I get a little sooky on our trips because all I really want to do is eat funky inexpensive food , drink craft beer and people watch. I also have little patience ,I need to be out moving within 10 minutes of arriving or I start to go stir crazy . In reality I lose my right to chose what I want to do when Emma does all the planning and booking of our holidays . Then throw the kids on top and shit I’ve totally got to compromise . It hurts .
Immediately it’s noticeable that there is plenty of homeless in Austin . Beggars are on nearly every corner ,some laying on the freezing concrete ,even one overdosing in the gutter and remember it’s bleakly cold . We look back at the guy fitting in the gutter ,hesitate but keep walking . It felt like a setup ,but that’s what I tell myself as an excuse to avoid having to help , yeah I know , it’s a heartless response . When I walk back 10 minutes later the ambulance is picking the poor soul up . Not even a new city like Austin is immune to this very American problem .
It’s been only 5 hours since we’ve got here and we’ve already been to the Museum of the weird ,where we watched a small comedy / info / magic act and saw a heap of old horror props . We’ve noticed they love that shit down here in the mid south west . Yeah it’s still pretty lame , reckon . Eventually I get my way and drain a couple of beers , knockdown the best burger I’ve ever had ( the bison burger ) in a place called Eureka . Of course Emma found the joint , she’s a master of finding places ., but there it is …the best burger eaten so far …Eureka restaurant in Austin Texas .
It continues on today . Emma and I deliberately skip breakfast ,we got some serious eaten to do . It’s time to do real Texas . Lambert’s ,an Austin institution in BBQ . Brisket , short rib , pork sausage ,throw in Mac ‘n ‘cheese ,potato salad and collard greens and ya rolling outta this joint like a penguin . It takes a couple of hours before the waddling stops and the lungs finally start to work . A long walk through Austin reveals that this city is absolutely booming , with construction and high rises going up everywhere , it’s not surprising to see that this is the fastest growing city in the US. It’s Friday afternoon here , our hotel just sits off 6 th street and it is pumping with live bands .Austin is revered for its music scene . Emma and I sneak off for an hour or so and hit a bar that is in a hostel .Its in this quiet old building a bookshelf acts as a hidden door , behind it lays an underground den , with a cool bar , black decor and cosy seating .Emma’s a genius at finding venues like these , I’m too embarrassed to take a photo but you get the picture , it’s inner city cool and I love that shit . The world can feel small at times .On the way back from the bar we pass a long queue of patrons lining up to get into a club . Low and behold it’s the girl from the Mornington Peninsula Tones and I headlining . The joint is sold out and good on her , she’s number 1 in the US at the moment with Dance Monkey …..anyway that’s enough cheerleading ….What I wanna say is Austin is a very happening ,progressive city and is nothing like the image I’d have thought you’d find in Texas .
Anyway folks ,the sun has finally appeared at the end of this trip ,it’s off to bed and back to California tomorrow, I will need a corset for a couple of weeks but hopefully not too many people will be shocked when they see me at work next week .
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