15. Texas

Month: December 2015

Location: Austin

When one thinks about Texas, images of oil rigs and cattle and cowboys pop into one’s head.  So it’s ironic that the city which is the State’s capital is as close to a “hipster town” as one can find in the Deep South.  I had been to Austin twice before; but those had either been work related visits or I was just passing through.  I had missed out on all the things the city is knows for – its vibrant lifestyle, incredible cuisine and of course, the music scene.  So, picking Austin as my Texas destination was a no-brainer idea.  Plus December seemed like an ideal time of the year to go there.

"Gingerbread Houses" in the hotel lobby

I arrived in Austin without much in terms of planning, besides a couple of activities for Saturday.  It was early evening and as I checked into my hotel, I was told that I was being upgraded to the “Executive Floor”, and one of the perks of that was an entry to their lounge where some sort of “Happy Hour” was already in progress.  I dropped off my stuff in the room and arrived at this lounge, which was an extremely respectable place, with a nice view of the city.  Plus it had a good spread of cheese and a delicious dip.  After sampling a few goodies, I hit the town.  My destination was…a Garage.

Yes, this is a Garage...and a bar

Being the city it is, Austin has some very interesting spots, one of them being a cocktail lounge called the ‘Garage Cocktail Bar’.  The reason it is called so is because it is inside a Parking Garage…a fully functional Parking Garage.  Even with a ‘GPS’ in my hand, I missed the entrance couple of times and no wonder why.  It looks like any other Parking Garage and only close examination of a sign points you to the bar inside.  Even as you walk towards the bar, it seems like a normal garage.  Only when I entered inside, was I greeted by the buzz of a typical “Happy Hour” crowd and the revelry was truly underway.  I had to wait for a bit till I could secure a seat at the bar and I proceeded to order a drink called “The Indian Paintbrush”, voted as the “Best Cocktail in Austin”; and it truly was.  I spent some time in there and truly enjoyed the ambiance that can only be found in a craft cocktail lounge.  It was a great start to my trip.

Austin music scene

Next, I walked over to another busy part of town and a place called ‘Péché’, where I just had to order a drink called “Absinthe God”.  As I sat at the bar – which looked like something out of a movie – I was able to observe the bartenders make their drinks.  None looked better than a liqueur based whipped cream which was hand shaken and was meant to go on top of an alcoholic coffee. I almost ordered that one for myself, but I was headed for dinner.  My destination was a place called ‘Barley Swine’, which for the lack of a better word is fine dining done in a “hipster” – there’s that word again – way.  After dinner my night wasn’t yet done, for if there is one thing that is an absolutely must in Austin, it is to go and see ‘Live Music’.  I went to a place called ‘Brass House’ and for the next few hours enjoyed some really good jazz music.  As I had a cocktail called “The Great Fire of 1776”, I saw a group of people who looked like they had stepped off the set of “The Great Gatsby”.  Every now and then, a few of them would disappear in the back and I could only imagine what was going on over there.  But I was more concerned with what was on the stage and it was really good.  It was well past midnight before I returned back to my room, happy with the way the evening had gone.

Morning view from the "Executive Lounge"

I started the next day with a complimentary breakfast at the “Executive Lounge” and boy was that upgrade paying off.  This morning I had signed up for a guided tour called “Austin Detours”.  The departure was from “Austin Visitor’s Center”, which was right next door to my hotel.  I arrived to see that people had started assembling, though many were on a different tour.  Soon our guide, Sonny, arrived and there were just 4 others on the tour besides me.  As we did introductions, I learned that a young couple on the tour was not only from Chicago, they lived a block away from me!  Sonny was a…you know, the “H-word” and a very cool guy. He guided us to a van, which would be our vehicle for this tour.

'Graffiti Park'

As I took my seat up front, Sonny passed us a laminated sheet which had some interesting facts about Austin and we learnt that it is one of the fastest growing cities, and a popular destination for young professionals.  We started with a drive around the main street and then our first stop was the ‘Capitol Building’.  We parked and walked over to the building which looked majestic.  All though this, Sonny was regaling us with tales regarding history of Austin, especially the “Independence War” and Austin’s struggle to stay as the capital of Texas.  We walked about a bit inside the building and then continued on towards the ‘University of Texas’ campus.  We did not get off there, but we did so at the fantastic ‘Graffiti Park at Castle Hill’.

Postcard from Austin

Back in the day someone bought a lot of property for real estate development and that never quite made it.  As it was lying abandoned, someone started doing graffiti work on the walls and the city rather than pay for security or cleanup, opened this place up for public art.  Now, it’s an arena for artist’s to express themselves and a popular tourist destination.  We got off the van and posed for a few pictures, before proceeding for a drive through of some of the more expensive residential properties, and a photograph at the famous  “Austin Postcard”.  Sonny also showed us the location of the very first ‘Whole Foods’ and told us how the small property had been destroyed in a flood.  The owners thought that it was it for the business, till hundreds of their neighbors stopped by to help clean-up and save “their store”.  Well, the rest as they say is history.

Some of the sights

One of the other things that Austin is renowned for is “Food Trucks” and it is a part of the city’s culture.  Sonny drove us around some areas with these trucks and we even stopped at one location where he treated us to a “Cake Pop” at a place called ‘Holy Cacao’.  We drove on one of the more “trendier” streets of Austin, where people come for food, shopping and music, and in another of his great stories, he pointed out the famous “I love you so much” wall, which was a heartfelt message on the side of a Café and has now become an Austin landmark. Our tour was almost at an end, but not before we drove over the famous “Bat Bridge” of Austin, where millions of bats come to nest and then we were done.  I asked Sonny for some barbeque recommendations and he referred me to a place called ‘Ironworks’.  It wasn’t too far from my hotel and after I had demolished a sampler platter, there was only one thing left to do that afternoon – take a nap.

Being locked up with 8 teenage girls felt like this!

It was a lovely evening as I headed to what is becoming a regular activity during my travels – “Escape The Room” game.  As I waited in the reception area, I saw a group of teenagers come in and the noise level immediately went up a few decibels.  Soon, my worst fears were realized - this would be my team for the evening.  It was one of the girl's 16^th birthday and she had invited 20 of her friends for this activity – something that I commend since they could easily have gone to some arcade.  They split the groups in 2 teams and I was assigned 8 teenagers, including the birthday girl.  Before I was locked in with them, I got a sympathetic “Good luck” from the girl’s mother and I knew it was not for the game itself.  For the next hour I endured non-stop screaming for every clue that we uncovered, every object that we found and for all other reasons.  At one stage, we were watching a surveillance footage on a computer and as a person appeared on camera, all of them screamed in unison and I thought this is how it must have been at a ‘Beatles’ concert back in the day.  There was, however, one of them who would seek out my counsel and I had a good working rapport with her.  With some help from me and a whole lot of dumb luck, we managed to escape in 57 odd minutes.  After a team picture, I saw a group of 3 moms who had been waiting and they seemed to be enjoying my harrowed appearance.  I said that next time I expected them to be in there, though to be fair, the girls had done a good job.

'Texas History Museum'

Since it was a pleasant evening, I decided to walk back to downtown and passed through a crowd who had assembled for some sort of street music festival.  My destination was one of the historic hotels in Austin, called ‘The Driskill’ and especially their bar.  I had to wait for a bit, before having “Batini”, named the “official drink of Austin”.  Now, as far as Austin drinks go, I still preferred the “Indian Paintbrush”.  I walked over to my dinner destination at a dimly lit and overpriced place called ‘Congress’, which certainly wasn’t one of the better meals that I have had during my travels.  Just as last night, I was going to stop by for some music, this time at a place called ‘Elephant Room’.  I had to wait for a bit before I could get into something like a “Dive Bar”, with $1 bills stapled to the walls as its main décor.  While the music was decent, it wasn’t as good as before and even the people weren’t as friendly.  I didn’t stay as long as I would typically have and headed back to my hotel. 

The next morning I did not need an early start since my first stop was at a brunch place called ‘Lambert’s Downtown Barbeque’ where fortunately, the meal was much better than last night’s.  There was some time before my departure, and so I took advantage of the good weather to walk to the ‘Texas History Museum’.  It is one of the better museums that I have seen and they had some terrific exhibits as relates to the ‘Independence War’, ‘Civil War’, the Texas Oil Industry as well as the Space Program in Houston.  It was a great way to end my trip, which had been memorable to say the least.  I collected my stuff and headed back to the airport in the late afternoon, thinking that there is so much more to Austin than I had experienced in this short visit.  It is a fascinating place and truly a cultural oasis in the otherwise stoic Texas. I for one, will certainly be back.