First, it was Stubb's BBQ for an amazing concert Thursday night. We saw Glenn Hansard (of The Frames) and Marketa Irglova, who perform together as Swell Season, together with several other Frames band members. Glenn and Marketa are the pair who star in Once, the movie I raved over several times a few months ago. It's coming on DVD December 18. Get it! We're buying three copies so there will no bloodshed in the house.
They played several songs from the movie,
as well as songs from their Swell Season CD, and then some standard Frames' stuff, including my favorite, Star Star. (Blogged about it a few months ago.) Also, a cover of Justin Timberlake's Cry me a River. (No, really.)
We went to Katz's Deli after the concert, a favorite UT hangout, which is open 24 hours a day. We cleaned the kitchen out of egg salad on challah with four at the table ordering it. Jay, Gail, and Andy were along for most of the weekend, and Jay was adventurous with the cheese stuffed potato, but there was ewwwwy cole slaw left at every spot at the table, I believe.
Kristen was a little dismayed when we had to traipse through the attached bar to the shared ladies' room and kept her eyes averted from the waitresses dressed as cats. While I was holding Kristen's stall door shut to protect her from any accidental cat invasions, a dazed male customer ventured in. He just kind of looked at me puzzled for a moment.
"Wrong room," I said.
He responded, "Wowwwwwww," turned, and left to go across the hall, I presume.
Friday, we did a tour of Toy Joy, where I spent much too much on things simply for the nostalgia they conjured, but truly, they are CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. ;-) ;-) (To Julie, Love, Santa). Then, it was Buffalo Exchange, an UPscale thrift store with prices higher than I pay at Kohl's and a few other thrift and record stores. For lunch, we stopped for some amazing burgers and other fried delicacies at Dirty Martin's Place. The girls were fascinated by the turbo hand dryer in the restroom.
Then, it was on to Sixth Street and the tourist shops, including an oh-so-fun, yet incredibly expensive hatshop, Vertigo, a Hat for all Seasons:
(Is that a small animal on Kristen's head?)
Yeah, baby
(This girl really does belong in the country.)
... and Waterloo Records, before we finally collapsed at Shady Grove for tasty (without an "E") meat and potatoes and AMAZING peanut butter ice cream pie. I sulked and stared at Ryan and Kristen and Gail and Andy eating theirs while Emilie and I suffered through a plate with three pancake-sized chocolate chip cookies covered with five scoops of ice cream.
We kissed our friends goodbye in the parking lot, and sent them on their way with Emilie so she could make it to regional band competition playing her very large bassoon Saturday. (And she made the band this year. Woo hoo!)
Saturday, we wandered all the way down to Gruene (about 30 miles), and while I leisurely sampled my way through the Texas salsas and dips in all the gift and antique shops, Todd and the kids did whirlwind tours then sat in front on chairs like this:
And this:
And this:
Gruene is a tiny hamlet that has been "gently resisting change since 1872," and it shows. This little oasis makes you feel you've been magically transported to another world. It's peaceful and relaxing, and the weather was a little misty and 75 degrees. What more could you ask for?
Dinner at the Gristmill was beef tenderloin sandwiches and strawberry shortcake a mile or so tall. I drove everyone crazy with my usual photo stops every three inches. Have you ever seen a cluster of
And the effect of Christmas lights on a misty day is enough to drag even the most reluctant person into the holiday spirit.
We didn't stay for a concert in Gruene this time. Last time we were there, we saw Nickel Creek at Gruene Hall, Texas' oldest dance hall. Nope, this time, we were back in Austin--back at Stubb's--for Nickel Creek's "farewell (for now) tour." Nobody covers Toxic or the Jackson Five (Oh, Baby, give me one more chance) like Nickel Creek. Ryan was oh, so pumped because he got an over-21 wristband on his looks alone. It was a waste of a wristband, but still, good for his ego.
After the concert, we drove all the way home. We did a 2 a.m. potty break at Czech Stop in West, Texas (the town, not the region), which is open 24 hours a day (hey, just like Katz's!) and gave ourselves middle-of-the-night heartburn attacks with kolaches, sausage and cheese rolls, and the most amazing chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and a Hershey's kiss on top. Enough sugar to fuel the last 80 miles without sleeping and cause us to laugh hysterically at nothing in particular as we wound up on an FM road we'd never taken before.
Ryan came up with an idea for confusing his future children. He says whenever they ask, "Daddy, how much farther?" he'll answer, "I don't know. We're lost." For some reason, we found that funnier than anything we've ever heard.
That was a fun weekend.
New CDs: $60, and that's like SIX CDs!!! (including the live recording of the Old 97s concert we saw there in 2005)
Togetherness: Priceless. Except when we were deciding what to do and where to go every five minutes. ;-) I love my family.
1 comment:
Whaaaa, you didn't mention my jalapeno-juice snorting-constant-drug-taking-so-I-could-keep-shopping-and-eating? Great blog about our trip. I, of course, have not written a word. I planned to take pics, had camera in purse, but my head was so muddy from the cold and the meds that I just didn't even think about it. My inner artist has gone on sabbatical or something . . . Oh, and you are welcome for the recommendation of the tenderloin sandwich at Gristmill. Oh, and . . . are firethorns and pyracanthas the same thing? Cuz I live on Pyracantha Drive, which intersects with Firethorn Drive. I always have to tell people, "It's a large shrub." Hmmm.
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