Jeff and Reema aren’t entirely unpacked, but they have officially moved in to a house in Austin, TX. Will I forgive them for moving away? Jury’s still out. Will I visit? Certainly. Will my amazing husband scheme with them and figure out an awesome Labor Day weekend event to celebrate my birthday? Turns out, yes. To that end, we arrived in Austin on Saturday via a “luxury coach” (big, red bus) that deposited us a block and a half from our hotel.
Saturday night, he got the old band back together, so to speak. It was me, Cas, Jeff, Reema and our old pals from the Italy trip, Jon and Nicci. He also got my dad and my other brother, Dan to join the party. Cas and I met up with Jon and Nicci first, stopping at a tiki bar on Sixth Street. A pair of zombies later (rum+juice+fire, for some reason), we were off to another spot. Dad and Dan showed up and trekked with us, eventually heading to Jon and Nicci’s favorite Italian place in downtown Austin.
More adventuring and a little walkabout landed us at a hotel bar, mostly because the really happening spots were loud and filled with recently released football fans from the UT/Rice game. We stuck around there until it was time to head to one of my Austin favorites, Esther’s Follies. It’s often risqué, sometimes raunchy and always hilarious. Part vaudeville, part magic show and part musical theater, Esther’s is something I came to appreciate decades ago when I would attend a teaching conference with my mom in the springtime.
The show was a blast, and afterwards, we were all tired. It may have something to do with the fact that we picked the late show, and it started at nine. For us, it was back to the hotel, down for the count and up for a morning workout on Sunday. We’d developed a last minute plan to head to the LBJ presidential library, but the timing didn’t work. No worries; we’ll be back. Instead, we headed to Jeff’s house. We hadn’t seen it yet, so a trip there was in the offing. Besides, I’m certain their dog missed us. Upon further investigation, I can safely say he did. Fritz is a big, dopey German shepherd who would trip over his own tail if it was long enough. What he lacks in intellect, he makes up for with his uncanny ability to be in the exact wrong place at the exact wrong time. Regardless, he had to give me and Cas a good sniff, so it was clearly a command performance.
From Jeff and Reema’s house, we went to the Oasis on Lake Travis. I love the Oasis. They call themselves the sunset capital of Texas. The place has terraced balconies, and they all aim toward the setting sun. The blockade of large umbrellas is gradually removed as the sun sinks lower in the sky, so by the time of actual sunset, everyone can see. And everyone claps when the sun dips all the way down. They used to ring a bell to mark the event- not sure when they stopped doing that.
Here’s the whole dang crew:
