Austin, TX – Boots, Booze and Bubble Tea (1/21 – 1/22)
Texas.
I have never had the urge to go to Texas mostly because of an aversion to things that are a) oversized; b) overly religious; c) populated with poisonous snakes.
But I went anyways.
Somehow I got past the gargantuan zealot rattlesnakes and took a Greyhound to Austin, TX. Now, Austin isn’t typical Texas from what I’ve heard and I didn’t emerge into a land of ten-gallon hat wearing bible wielding rednecks so I was relieved. Austin is as urban 21st century as it’s hipster cafes and bars.
Going about Austin without a car was more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I had this vision of Austin as a denser city manageable entirely by bicycle or public transit. I forget – this isn’t NYC anymore. Mike and Laura were gracious enough to let us borrow their car when possible to go on longer drives.
Wednesday: Bubble Tea and Booze
Gina flew in and we met up at Tapestry and taught a class for the Lindy Project. This was my first time teaching with Gina (more to come) and our material was well received. Success.
Everyone headed out for bubble tea, it seems to be the in thing for Austin lindy hoppers. I have not been a huge fan of tapioca in my drink before but I’m always up for another chance. Picked out a honey mango milk tea with large pearls, it was delicious and gone so fast that I ordered a mango smoothie to chase it down.
Rather than call it a night Gina and I got dropped off on 6th Street, one of the main bar strips, and looked for a bar with good music. We made it down one side of the strip and started back when we ducked into a little pizza joint for a slice. We backpedaled to an upstairs bar we had passed with R&B music pumped out of its speakers. IDs checked we walked up and found it dead. Crickets chirping dead. The DJ was spinning on a little stage and the bartender chatted with someone who either worked there or knew him. We considered it then ordered a quick round and left.
One place down.
Next stop was a bar playing soul music, not exactly full but at least populated. A quick round of tequila and Gina introduced me to the Texan’s beer: Shiner Bock. We were about to get up and dance to a Marvin Gaye song and it snapped off – no courtesy fade out, nothing. In the back room (probably about four times the size of the front section of the bar and open two stories) a band started up. Resigned to not chug our beer and head out into the night again, we settled into a couch to listen.
The band was decent, playing a mix of rock mostly from the 90s. I even got a shout out with a compliment on my hat and scarf. The guitarist kept the crowd, if you call eight people a crowd, entertained and they put on a good show despite the turnout. Apparently guitarists are hot by nature. [note to self: learn guitar]
Beers gone we decided to make one more go of it and hit up The Chugging Monkey. An Austin institution of inebriation (as could be determined by vote or by proxy for the beer pong tables it had out). We ordered another round or two of beer and managed to dance a bit to the random mix before the bar closed out and we flagged a cab down to take us home.
Now cabs in NYC are an institution. Most of the time you give them an address and they might take a moment to orient themselves to that section of the city or burrough but they sure as hell don’t pull out a binder full of maps and begin leafing through it to see where they need to bring you. Seriously, seriously. It’s a small city, figure it out or at least look like you live in this century and buy a GPS unit.
Thursday: Boots and Booze
When you wake up in Texas and decide to go for Indian food in the middle of the day you should expect to be disappointed. Mike recommended an Indian place on the corner, fancy for us it was closed. A bit of iPhone scoping later and we descended on our second closed Indian restaurant. Want Indian food between 2:30pm and 6pm? Pity, you lose. Consolation prize: a delicious bowl of thai curry and some spring rolls.
Curry down, our next stop was a CVS/Walgreens around the corner. Fifteen minutes of wandering through an industrial park next to a Coca-Cola plant and we determined that Google Maps played a good trick on us and we gave up on that idea.
Cavender’s Boots. Gina was determined to get me into a pair of boots. If I was in Texas I was going to get some cowboy boots. So she said. When I managed to find a pair that were decent and I struggled to extract my foot from them later she pointed to this hunk of wood with a U cut into it. It was a boot jack.
It was explained to me that you jam your heel into the U and with the other foot planted on the board pull the boot off. This was a recipe for disaster. I could just see myself with one foot planted on the board yanking the other foot back and finding myself ass end up with a boot and jack flying towards my head.
Thankfully I have more coordination than my imagination allows for and removing the boots was swift and painless. I tried on a score of boots yet didn’t find one that I liked and could justify spending $150 or more on. What I managed to do was figure out my size, 8.5, and the brand I found most comfortable, Ariat. I may order a pair online since they have a much larger selection on their site or I’ll just have to wait till I go back to Texas.
Gina however scored herself a pair of Ariat’s Lady Daisy Boots that were really slick. Blue uppers with white stitching, studding and crackled brown leather. The crackled leather and style of toe are two things I’ll look for when I get some. My opinion: hot damn. Lady in boots. I am jealous of her boots.
Now that at least someone had boots, our trip to Cavender’s was fulfilled.
We gathered back at the house and then hit up Kerbey Lane Cafe for dinner. We split enchiladas and queso. I was quite content with the mix of rice, beans and cheese before me.
Post-queso we went to the Fed, The Texas Federation of Women’s Clubs, for the regular Thursday night dance. The Fed is a gorgeous old mansion with more rooms and wings than we were allowed access to. A band called the Kats Meow played. They were an eccentric mash-up of characters. The lead singer was a younger woman, petite with a solid vocal range and variety. There was a woman on violin, the bassist was an older woman with pink hair, the drummer an Asian woman, the piano player wore cowboy boots and hat and the guitarist was an elderly man with a long white beard and bright red fedora. They played a nice chunky swing.
Once the Fed wrapped up a group of teachers, out-of-towners and locals carpooled it on up to 6th St. to continue the party. We started at a downstairs club with sternum shaking bass. Ordered a round of drinks and took over the roped off V.I.P. section. After conversation kept getting drowned out by techno we called for a move.
The Chugging Monkey was our next stop and we had to move fast. Last call in Texas is at 2am and it was 1:45. We piled into the bar and started dancing and grooving. Andrew proceeded up to the bar, did a rough head count, and then ordered 20 shots of whiskey. The bartender did a double take and then while Andrew dug out a card to pay, looked at me and confirmed with hand signs “2″ “0″. I nodded and in a flurry of activity 20 shot glasses lined up in front of us and the bartender went to work.
The most entertaining fact: there were probably only 14 of us at most. Shots went around and we danced the last ten minutes till the bar closed shop.
Unconcerned that the night had not actually ended we hopped into our DDs car and waited while two cops blocking us in administered a DUI test to a man in an SUV. The man walked a straight line, held his foot out off the ground, and probably did things that would have been difficult for a sober person. They let him go.
We rode to Scott’s place up in North Austin where we hung out and listened to hilarious and occasionally horrifying stories of sexual mishaps and misdeeds.
Post drinks and rabble rousing, as we nearly slipped into sleep on the couches, we called a cab and rode back to Abbey Road on Penny Lane.
Next time on Austin, TX – Werewolves, Vampires and Whole Foods.
