"Texas In My Rear View Mirror"

Austin was a lot of fun. And I saw things I'd never seen before!

I just got back from a trip with my two brothers to Austin, Texas. First time for me.

Here are some random thoughts about Texas’ Capital City.

But first. This little head-scratcher. I sat on the airport runway for 45 minutes trying to get out of my home city. Finally, the pilot came on the loudspeaker and said this: “OK, folks. We are moving. Sorry for the delay. There is some serious weather in the Austin area but I have been approved to take an alternate route. This will take us lower in the US, we will then come up to Austin from the Gulf of America.”

Huh?

I had heard the ruckus about our president declaring the new name for the large body of water along the Gulf Coast of our country, but I had never heard it actually said by a responsible person in authority, like this captain of an American Airlines airplane.

There were more than a few boos when he spoke of our new route. Sheesh, really?

#1: I had no idea how big Austin really was. A million people. It reminded me very much of Charlotte, North Carolina. Austin is ultra-modern and sophisticated with beautiful architecture. It all blends together nicely without letting go of the “Old Texas” of bourbon, longnecks, cowboy boots and hats, barbecue, twangy music, and very pretty women (some with that clichéd Texas “big hair”). It is a gorgeous city.

#2: Apparently bats are a big things here. Every hotel has a sign on the front desk advising visitors what time to be positioned on the Congress Avenue Bridge to watch a million bats emerge and spread out on their nocturnal dinner break. The three of us wandered down to the bridge at the designated time, about 8:15 pm. There were more than 1,000 people lined up on the bridge, and another thousand on the ground, under the bridge, and in boats in Lady Bird Lake on the Colorado River below us. We waited. No bats. Must be they were on a diet that night. But, if they did go out for a late night nature buffet it would look something like this:

#3: Austin is the state capital of Texas. The capitol building is open for tours. The structure is amazing. We spent an hour wandering around all three floors open to the public. There is much art, lots of fancy flourishes, and statues everywhere. Very impressive! I couldn’t help but notice even the door handles inside the capitol are fancy. Yes, the door hinges!

#4: The PBS TV show called “Austin City Limits” is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. We took a tour. So great. Its part museum and part live TV studio. We got to walk on stage, see the dressing rooms, watch the crew set up for the night’s band, and see several nice archival videos. The first musical guest 50 years ago was Willie Nelson. It was nice to hear that when they tape the 50th anniversary show this summer, Willie is coming back to host it!

#5: We had heard all about 6th Street, a place with bars, honky-tonks, barbecue joints, and head shops. Like Bourbon Street they said. We went. It was mobbed. Lots of panhandlers and odd people on the sidewalks. They seemed very aggressive. Everything about 6th Street was chaotic. Not a fan. We got out of there in a hurry.

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#6: In a large city filled with great restaurants, we had many choices for Tex-Mex, Texas rib joints, burger places, and steakhouses. The three of us are Italian and that’s what we were on the hunt for. We found one, Sammie’s, that was outstanding. Fine foods and drink, elegant atmosphere, and top-notch staff. Ironically, it was on 6th Street! Yes, the street is a long one, and we ultimately found the “good part.” Sammie’s gets a five-star rating from these three hungry Italian guys!

#7: We found our favorite Texas bar! Cold beer, retro-signage, friendly young bartender who gave us all the Austin-gossip, cool Classic Country jukebox (“There Stands the Glass;” by Webb Pierce got a lot of our quarters), and couples doing the country 2-step on an old wooden dance floor. The White Horse for the win!

We had a great time in Austin, Texas. But here’s a story we could hardly believe. We saw 2 things we’d never seen before that blew us away. In downtown Austin, no less. Made us think of the old TV cartoon “The Jetsons.” Weird and very cool! See below: