Yesterday I found myself with a few hours with nothing to do before my parents arrived from Houston. I texted a few people, looking for something to do, and Amelia answered. She was going to Barton Springs with another author visiting from out of town. It was the absolutely best day to be out there. Because 95% of the Austin population was tailgating, it was delightfully empty and quiet. Plus, it was must cooler than it has been. We had a lovely time, but by far the most exciting moment was this:
It's sort of small....but so is that man's bathing suit. I felt honored that he would strut our way and grace us with a close-up view. Really.
After we left Barton Springs, Amelia treated me to a cone dog from Mighty Cone. What is a cone dog, you ask? It's a marvelous spicy sausage with coleslaw and more wrapped in a tortilla and served in a snow-cone cone. Amelia got a chicken cone, a similar treat. Mighty Cone is located in a trailer on South Congress along side Hey Cupcake! (the cupcake trailer) and all those other delightful trailer eateries.
I know that photo of the cone makes you want to go there.....
Moving on to the evening activities. I returned home, bathed, and waited for my parents to arrive. We had a delightful dinner at Julio's over by Quack's. It's cash only, which can be mildly annoying, but it is delish. I had the 1/4 of a chicken plate. It sounds daunting...but it was truly scrumptious. The weather was again on our side and we lounged on their lovely patio. I highly suggest you go; simple menu, nice atmosphere, and you get to feel really cool because you're sitting in Hyde Park at a cool restaurant.
After watching the game at home, for a bit, we headed downtown to find parking for La Zona Rosa where Better Than Ezra was playing. We happened to pass some pirates on the way (apparently yesterday was national "talk like a pirate" day???), but sadly I was too frightened of the taller one to take a photo. The opening band was ok. It was this 6-piece band that played mediocre pop-rockish whatever who call themselves Sherwood. My mom did by a sweatshirt with their name on it, but mainly because the sweatshirt was really cool. Also, the lead singer was chewing gum the entire time. I was mildly concerned for the people in the front of the audience...what if the gum had shot out of his mouth and into someone's beer?? That would be a sad loss. We chatted with the lead singer later and he claimed his "Hollywood vocal coach" told him to chew gum while he sang. I've never seen such a thing before, but I suppose I'll take his word for it.
Eventually, BTE graced
us with their presence. Unfortunately, I couldn't really see much of their 'presence' because a small herd of actual giants stood in front of us. Seriously, 8 of the tallest people I have EVER SEEN were standing there. Even the one giantess must have been 6'4. As a normal sized 5'4 person, that is a serious issue when I'm at concerts. The one photo that I got happened purely by sure luck. One of the giants happened to crouch down (for some weird reason....) just as I tried to snap the photo. Of course, BTE was amazing as usual. They played an amazing mix of their songs. They also have a fairly new drummer who is really amazing. I'd say the only negative moment had to be the rude....ladies....who almost started a scuffle. These....ladies.....had pushed their way up past us, stopped, turned around, and settled perfectly in front of my mother. Earlier, a couple had tried this and I kindly asked them to scoot over a bit. They did. These....ladies......weren't quite so cooperative. My mom actually didn't say anything at all to them, just tapped them on the arm. One of them turned and started lecturing MY MOTHER on how she could have just asked them nicely to move. Hello, but we do not speak down to my mother, not when I'm around. Don't do it. Just don't. Luckily, as I leaned in to begin berating her with words and making her feel as small and as stupid and she certainly looked, my mom pushed me back and her friend pulled her away. It was a marvelous success though because they didn't come back. Besides that, the evening was a rip-roaring success. That's right. Rip. Roaring. Success. Can't wait to see them for the fourth time, whenever they come back to Texas.Here's a tiny video of Kevin singing Porcelain. My flipcam died and then my digicam ran out of memory....so the videos I got are all really crappy or cut short. Apologies.
One other thing of note: The Gingerman has moved to a new spot literally around the corner from the old place. Can you tell me why???
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