So…yesterday I packed my things and headed to Austin with a list of directions which of course were WRONG. I was suppose to take TX 21 to 290 and take 290 basically straight to Austin. Did Morgan do that? No…I would hate to do it the easy way. I never even saw the 290 exit, and I really don’t think there was one. Instead, I went through Bastrop, Texas. The drive was surprisingly delightful. Small winding roads surrounded by soaring pine trees for miles. So I guess it wasn’t a total bust!
Once I actually made it there, which took several phone calls to John Robert, we decided to go to lunch with his family. They were nice enough to drive in for the day to take all of us to lunch for his birthday. We ate at a small Mexican food restaurant called El Mercado. I had the chicken quesadillas. John Robert’s nephew, Jay who is 1 and very uninterested in my presence, joined us and was WILD. He was all over that place. Poor mom and dad…and The Kettle owners…I’m not sure how ya’ll did it. John Robert’s poor sister couldn’t even eat at our table because Jay wanted to be near the water fountain. After lunch, we returned to John Roberts for birthday cake……which was amazing of course. Jay was all over the place….grabbing things, throwing things, touching things……he wore me out just watching him. FINALLY, just before they left he let me hold him!
We headed to the art gallery opening around 7:30. It was held in an old Victoria house very close to John Robert’s condo. It is small, but quaint home. The artist, Sean Perry I believe, was holding an exhibit opening of his photos. We found out that he is from the Austin area and now works in New York. But he still holds all of his openings in Austin, which I thought was neat. The exhibit was called “Fairground.” The pictures were very unique. All black and white. What was so interesting about his photographs was his approach to the picture. He didn’t simply stand back and take a photo of a ride, but rather took pictures of pieces of rides. My favorite must have been a children’s ride, because you could make out small airplanes that went up and down in the air.
Oh, and my outfit was a smash of course. I got lots of compliments…especially the shoes. They sure did kill my feet though. I wore them for way to long and by the end of the night had black HEB feet...I just had to take them off even if it did mean walking on the dirty sidewalk barefoot. Too bad I left my camera card in my lap top in College Station and didn’t get any photos …So sad!
After the opening we ate at ZTejas across the street from the gallery and then headed to 6th street. That was definitely an interesting experience. I learned that 6th street has two parts. East and West. The west, the known “6th street” party place, is mainly a hangout for the college kids and is not as clean as the East side. The East is for the somewhat older crowd and is much more relaxed and clean. John Robert stressed the cleanliness. We stayed on the clean calm side, something I was very happy about. On 6th street you really get a feel for the Austin culture, or it least some of the odd people that make up Austin. We spent a great deal of our time at a place called Woodrows. It was very relaxed, outside, picnic table seating, and tv’s since the longhorns were on. While we were sitting at the picnic table a man, homeless possibly, was walking by on the sidewalk and stopped. He then began to sing, very loudly with footwork and everything, Pour Some Sugar On Me. Within a few minutes he had several tables joining in. And then, he just disappeared……..????
While I’m talking about the unique Austin makeup I must mention some Co-ops near John Robert. These look like apartments but are basically a living station where members sleep on cots and get meals daily – yet still pay over $500 a month (stupid if you ask me). John Robert calls them Hippy Housing. haha. Anyways, one of them resembles a two story house. Lets just say, not a very up to date or clean two story house. On the roof of this two story house was a line, of it least -IT LEAST – twenty televisions. Maybe more. All different sizes. Mostly old. None of them turned on…just sitting there. It was very odd………..When I was leaving this morning I stopped in front to take a picture for the blog, BUT of course I had no camera card!
With John Roberts help, he is very good with directions, I made it back to College Station this afternoon- the RIGHT way and with no phone calls needing to be made.
Overall I loved Austin. Besides the crazies, which can be expected anywhere (just really in Austin), I thought it was beautiful. Downtown is fun, very clean, and has gorgeous architecture. I can definitely see myself living there…I cant wait to go back for more visits. And cake!
Miss Molly sure was happy to see me come through the door though…..thus the picture of the day….She’s exhausted. Its hard work being beautiful all day and having to maintain that beauty until momma comes home.
Once I actually made it there, which took several phone calls to John Robert, we decided to go to lunch with his family. They were nice enough to drive in for the day to take all of us to lunch for his birthday. We ate at a small Mexican food restaurant called El Mercado. I had the chicken quesadillas. John Robert’s nephew, Jay who is 1 and very uninterested in my presence, joined us and was WILD. He was all over that place. Poor mom and dad…and The Kettle owners…I’m not sure how ya’ll did it. John Robert’s poor sister couldn’t even eat at our table because Jay wanted to be near the water fountain. After lunch, we returned to John Roberts for birthday cake……which was amazing of course. Jay was all over the place….grabbing things, throwing things, touching things……he wore me out just watching him. FINALLY, just before they left he let me hold him!
We headed to the art gallery opening around 7:30. It was held in an old Victoria house very close to John Robert’s condo. It is small, but quaint home. The artist, Sean Perry I believe, was holding an exhibit opening of his photos. We found out that he is from the Austin area and now works in New York. But he still holds all of his openings in Austin, which I thought was neat. The exhibit was called “Fairground.” The pictures were very unique. All black and white. What was so interesting about his photographs was his approach to the picture. He didn’t simply stand back and take a photo of a ride, but rather took pictures of pieces of rides. My favorite must have been a children’s ride, because you could make out small airplanes that went up and down in the air.
Oh, and my outfit was a smash of course. I got lots of compliments…especially the shoes. They sure did kill my feet though. I wore them for way to long and by the end of the night had black HEB feet...I just had to take them off even if it did mean walking on the dirty sidewalk barefoot. Too bad I left my camera card in my lap top in College Station and didn’t get any photos …So sad!
After the opening we ate at ZTejas across the street from the gallery and then headed to 6th street. That was definitely an interesting experience. I learned that 6th street has two parts. East and West. The west, the known “6th street” party place, is mainly a hangout for the college kids and is not as clean as the East side. The East is for the somewhat older crowd and is much more relaxed and clean. John Robert stressed the cleanliness. We stayed on the clean calm side, something I was very happy about. On 6th street you really get a feel for the Austin culture, or it least some of the odd people that make up Austin. We spent a great deal of our time at a place called Woodrows. It was very relaxed, outside, picnic table seating, and tv’s since the longhorns were on. While we were sitting at the picnic table a man, homeless possibly, was walking by on the sidewalk and stopped. He then began to sing, very loudly with footwork and everything, Pour Some Sugar On Me. Within a few minutes he had several tables joining in. And then, he just disappeared……..????
While I’m talking about the unique Austin makeup I must mention some Co-ops near John Robert. These look like apartments but are basically a living station where members sleep on cots and get meals daily – yet still pay over $500 a month (stupid if you ask me). John Robert calls them Hippy Housing. haha. Anyways, one of them resembles a two story house. Lets just say, not a very up to date or clean two story house. On the roof of this two story house was a line, of it least -IT LEAST – twenty televisions. Maybe more. All different sizes. Mostly old. None of them turned on…just sitting there. It was very odd………..When I was leaving this morning I stopped in front to take a picture for the blog, BUT of course I had no camera card!
With John Roberts help, he is very good with directions, I made it back to College Station this afternoon- the RIGHT way and with no phone calls needing to be made.
Overall I loved Austin. Besides the crazies, which can be expected anywhere (just really in Austin), I thought it was beautiful. Downtown is fun, very clean, and has gorgeous architecture. I can definitely see myself living there…I cant wait to go back for more visits. And cake!
Miss Molly sure was happy to see me come through the door though…..thus the picture of the day….She’s exhausted. Its hard work being beautiful all day and having to maintain that beauty until momma comes home.
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