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This is our second trip to Texas where we explore the sights, enjoy the food and drink, and catch some great music. The picture at left is James White and Gary P. Nunn singing at the Broken Spoke in Austin. Click on the image for a photo album of our visit.
Notes that follow are edited and expanded from a diary written at the time by all three of us.
Wednesday, January 16
War in the East – or so we fear. Iraq has invaded the Kuwaiti oilfields and the shit is about to hit the fan! Our travel plans predate this "news of fresh disaster" and off we go.
We are driven to the London airport, early in the morning, by Jack and Doreta, Kate's parents, who are house and cat sitting for us. Kate and Cindy created a scene at the ticket counter being flakes and Reg has to strip to get through security. The silver toe tips on his cowboy boots and his belt have made the alarm to go off!
We fly in a small commuter turbo prop with Air Ontario from London to Toronto; there we continue on American Airlines to Dallas. At the Toronto airport we have some time to kill; we walked miles underground from "Terminal 2" (where we arrived and where we are to leave for Dallas) to "Terminal 1" where we had a breakfast and bought some "Double Vodka" at the duty free bracket ($10.85 Canadian — heck of a deal!). The weather is very overcast with fog. This didn't prevent our takeoff but I was reminded of the recent tragedy at the Wayne County Airport in Detroit.
On board our flight to Dallas, Cindy noticed that she had forgotten her watch. The pilot refused to go back so first on our agenda in Dallas will be watch shopping. First would normally have been searching out the "Double Vodka" but that's been taking care. We have forgotten to order special dinners for the plane. The guy across from Cindy has a veggie dinner that looks great! We're envious.
Looking for "markets" in Dallas is very confusing. There's the "Farmer's Market", the "Weston Market", the "Market Market", and the "Markets" while our Quality Inn hotel is on Market Center Boulevard but it's not clear exactly where that is! The DFW (Dallas Fort Worth Airport) is about smack dab between these twin cities, just a little north. It's some distance to the city center and an airport shuttle takes us to the hotel. We are a short cab drive from the historic city center.
We arrived at the Quality Inn Market Center around 4 p.m. It's beautiful sunny day, blue skies and about 60° Fahrenheit. The hotel is adequate but it turns out that the nearby "Markets" are only for buyers — Oops! We were going to look for a hotel downtown for when we return to Dallas but we couldn't find a suitable hotel at except for the "West End" area where there are restaurants and stores. There were no people on the downtown streets and the hotels were fairly isolated.
That evening we went downtown to the city center. The hotel shuttle bus was free and took us to the nearby Hyatt Regency. We went to the Hyatt rotating cocktail lounge where we had a sky high view of the city, cocktails with souvenir glasses (cowboy boots), and free happy hour food — nachos, burger fillings, cheese, etc. It was quite a good deal. We walked by the Dealey Plaza (the Kennedy assassination area with School Book Repository and nearby "grassy knoll"), the train station and lots of really tall office buildings. One of the buildings had green neon stripes.
The trees in down town Dallas looked like they were covered in leaves but in fact they were covered in birds (starlings I think). It was frightening, they were very noisy birds flying about and left bird droppings everywhere. The next day Cindy discovered that she had bird shit on her raincoat!
We went for a late dinner that night at Mr. C's Cajun Seafood and Jazz Bar in the "West End" where Reg had a good catfish and chips dinner while Cindy and Kate had adequate, but not great, large peel and eat shrimp. As we walked around a couple of people informed us that the US had started bombing Iraq and the TVs were on in all the bars and restaurants — people were paying close attention to the news. While at the restaurant, president George H. W. Bush came on TV to give his speech about the bombing and the entire restaurant was still through the whole speech. Afterwards the saxophone player of the band played the Star-Spangled Banner in the mournful jazzy way. To my mind, that was the highlight of that day (not counting the free happy hour food of course).
The war we feared has begun. But here we are on our vacation. The girls claim that Reg was grumpy all day — travel will do that and this war doesn't help. He promises to be better behaved in future.
Thursday, January 17
Cindy thought she had solved the cockroach problem — she has plans to never turn the bathroom light off. She had seen them scurrying away in the bathroom once when you turned on the light. However, she has been fooled again — there were none in the bathroom, but one on her bedside table! After she turned the light out last night she tossed and turned for a while and then decided to read some more. She turned on the light at her bedside and there was the dastardly beast scurrying out from under a piece of Kleenex next to her water glass! This calls for more drastic offensive action. And need we remind the reader, everything is bigger in Texas ... especially the cockroaches!
We have the free continental breakfast at our hotel, the Quality Inn Market Center, and there's lots of news this morning regarding Iraq and the bombing but nothing too exciting. Gosh, they even interviewed Mr. Rogers (in his neighborhood) to see what he thought! Kate doesn't like the hotel or location and is now talking about staying in nearby Fort Worth. Cindy has changed her clothes while Kate is in her jumper again. Cindy's favourite thing so far, except for the "news of fresh disaster", is her new easy to read Timex watch bought last night at an Eckerd's drug store in the West End from a really nice woman whose brother is in the Gulf.
We're heading to Austin today and have rented a car. We've arranged for the car rental to pick us up at 9:30 but it's now 10:00 and there's no car in sight. He arrives in due course. When we're on the road we start with a quick tour of Fort Worth (immediately to the west of Dallas) and looked into staying there when we get back from Austin. The Days Inn was only $39 but it was full. There's a Baptist convention coming to town — 20,000 Baptists converging on Fort Worth. It is "Bible Belt" country after all.
We asked the guy at the car rental in Dallas what Fort Worth was like and he said they were real slow there — not like the hustle and bustle of Dallas. Huh? He was over half an hour late picking us up! Anyway, the two desk clerks at the Days Inn in Fort Worth more than demonstrated his point. While Cindy and Kate were feeling the psychedelic effects of their pre-lunch "Double Vodka" these two desk clerks seemed to be seemed painfully slow.
Across the street from the Days Inn, at a Mexican restaurant, we had a fabulous lunch: iced tea, corn chips & salsa, Taco & Enchiladas (#4 plate), Enchilada & Tamale (#1 plate) and dessert. The waitresses here were incredibly fast and efficient. We also stopped at a Pier 1 store but it carried mostly the same stuff as the one in London.
From Fort Worth we drove west a bit further and then followed highway 281 south, a secondary road, to Austin — the scenic route. The direct route is to take the IH35 (the Interstate Highway). The scenes we saw on this scenic route included several dead deer on the side of the road and wolves (or coyote) carcasses strung up on fence posts as a warning to other wolves. The "hill-country" was hilly but that's about it. There's lots of ranches, scrub brush, and cactus. The homes seem to be mostly in the cabin/mobile home mold. Some mobile homes are sheltered inside roof structures. I guess the idea is to shade the home from the sun. The drive was fairly uneventful and the girls were reasonably well behaved.
In Austin we stayed at the Crest Hotel on Congress at Cezar Chevaz immediately on the north side of the bridge over Town Lake. Here we find that Israel has been attacked as well with missiles from Iraq. On hearing this news of fresh disaster, we still have adventures to do and disasters to ignore. We headed up north to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse (good-but-not-great and pretty expensive), then Antone's record store on Guadalupe north of UT where we shop until we drop, and finally, across the street, to Antone's Blues Bar where we heard a pretty good band — the Alan Haynes band.
Reg was incredibly well-balanced compared to yesterday. He did all the driving and wasn't the slightest bit grouchy — even when Kate spilled ice all over the car and start tossing it back Cindy. Kate says it wasn't her fault. Cindy made her get the ice because it was free and Reg braked the car too fast so it fell. Kate was merely a maligned bystander.
The temperature has been around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, a beautiful day with some rain at night. We met a cabbie from London England and store clerk born in Windsor, Ontario. Small world!
Quote of the day found on the bathroom stall: "For a good BJ and a bad attitude phone Bonnie." I wonder how Bonnie feels about that?
Friday, January 18
It's raining outside and there's no hot water inside our rooms at the Crest! But it's a good day to do the laundry so we did. We drive up north on Guadalupe to the area of the University of Texas (UT), which is our part of town, for a quick wash/laundry. While waiting on the dry cycle we checked out a really neat head shop next door. Kate bought a ton of buttons there and our favorite button was: "The worst part of censorship is *^&^%".
During the wash cycle we went down to Tower Records at the north end of "The Drag" (that's Guadalupe around UT). This is a big chain in many cities around the world but it wasn't here last year. It's an incredible store with lots of Country, Blues, Cajun, Zydeco, Folk, etc. We didn't check the popular music section but assumed they had lots of that too. So we dropped a big bundle buying CD's. Cindy bought Nanci Griffith, her first album, which we've never seen before (Reg had bought it at Antone's the night before but this way Cindy could get it for Pat too). We found it again the next day at Waterloo Records on Lamar. There are some excellent records stores in this town.
We've been investigating entertainment alternatives and have some tough decisions to make. Cindy tells us that Gary P. Nunn ("Home with Armadillo" fame) is playing at the Broken Spoke — an infamous dance hall in South Austin. Should we go there or to the Civil Rights benefit with James McMurtry, Tish Hinojosa, and others? We decide to check out the dancehall although the decision is pretty much a fait accompli.
We head to south Austin on Lamar to visit the Broken Spoke. Wow! What a spot! This place is a little bit of Luckenbach Texas right here in town. And they get some really good players, e.g. Jerry Jeff Walker played here last Saturday and Gary P. Nunn tonight. It's a wide low dancehall with a big live oak out front, a gravel parking lot, and even a hitching rail for your horse. Inside it looks rather dingy, worn, dirty and ready to fall down. In the dancehall the rain leaks through in various places. There's no heat and it feels a bit cool. But we all agree, let's do it!
Our first job after the laundry was to check out the Broken Spoke; our second was lunch. Again we had Mexican food at a very good and reasonable out-of-the-way spot on Lamar north of the Broken Spoke near Oltorf. Kate and Cindy got a little giddy on the Margaritas and Reg stuck to the beer. This was a fine meal and fun too. By comparison, the steaks the other night at Ruth's Chris were far too expensive. You can find a great Mexican lunch for around $5 and, as you're close to Mexico, why not enjoy the local foods? And the drinks too!
We have promised ourselves not to go to any more record stores. But, on the way back we went by Waterloo Records at 6th and Lamar (north of Town Lake) which is rated as number one in town and so we had to stop in. Reg bought a Gary P. Nunn CD, "Border States", on an obscure European label. It has the song "What I Like About Texas" which had been rolling around in his head for days but neither Kate or Cindy could help. More on this later. Cindy found another copy of Nanci Griffith's first album and also "Lone Star State of Mind" — Pat should be happy. Again, we promise to not go to anymore record stores. But Reg is still thinking about Billy Joe Shaver, there's another tune rolling around in his head ("We are the cowboys, the true sons of freedom...")
Okay, the deal now is to find a HEB or some other grocery store (what does HEB mean?) and then go home and have a nap. After considerable driving around, West 11th Street is a burned-out hell you'd rather not see, we gave up. Returned to the hotel, Kate and Reg had their nap while Cindy went shopping on Congress probably looking for a cheap tie for Pat.
After our naps the deal is this — HEB, then dinner and the evening at the Broken Spoke with Gary P. Nunn. We found a HEB on South Congress at Oltorf and stocked up on Texas spices and Cajun dishes to take home as souvenirs. We'll do some shrimp in the hot style when we return home. Reg finally found some Pecan beer, also got some Shiner Bock — both are Texas originals. Kate and Cindy got Margarita mix and preparations for Saturday in Luckenbach. Kate bought a dog leash for a belt; surprisingly quite stylish!
When we arrived at the Broken Spoke there were a lot more cars in the lot and around back in the field but there was still lots of room. We got ourselves a good seat in the dancehall. It was only $5 to enter, quite a good deal. The front of the building is the restaurant/bar but we're more concerned about getting a good seat in the dance hall out back. And who's on the stage tuning and setting things up? Why it is none other than Gary P. Nunn! Reg talked with him and got an autograph on the CD that he had bought at Waterloo records. He also told Gary how much he liked that song about Texas, that we're from Canada, and talked about touring. Gary hasn't toured in Canada but would like to.
After some struggles we had a "chicken fried steak" for dinner. They're supposed to be the "best" in town, if not the best in Texas. We're all agreed that white gravy is an awful lot like glue. But this is Texas and you're supposed to like this food. Guy Clark says so in his song "Texas Cooking", so we did. For those who don't know a "chicken fried steak" is a cheap thin cut of beef that's been run through a tenderizing machine or pounded with a hammer then lightly battered and tan or deep fried. It's sometimes called a "Country fried steak" and looks an awful lot like a veal cutlet.
At about 9 p.m. the dance starts — it is a dancehall. People are immediately on the floor and the music has them touring the concrete dance floor into 4/4 or 2/4 time. When is time for a waltz Gary sings 123, 123, ... There's quite a mix on the dance floor with Grandad and Grandma, good old boys, good old girls, the UT university crowd and lots of cowboy hats. People were great dancers and glided around with the Texas two step. They even did a couple of line dances that we had never seen before.
The National Geographic describes the experience in an article we've read:
"[The] dancing at the Broken Spoke, a broad, low building with a façade straight out of a western movie set, resembles some arcane ritual. Gliding counterclockwise, dancers doing the Texas two-step or Waltz look like ice skaters circling a crowded rink."
Gary has a full band and starts the set with the "London Homesick Blues" (as found on Jerry Jeff's live album "Viva Terlingua" recorded at Luckenbach) and ends it with "What I like About Texas" dedicated to Reg. Other highlights included "Home of the Armadillo" (i.e. London homesick Blues) done reggae style — he started out chanting "Deo, Deo" and everyone joined in. He also sang "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mothers" (the Ray Wylie Hubbard song also on "Viva Terlingua") and everyone joined in with enthusiasm. We were looking for some hippies to kick! The whole experience is truly unbelievable.
During the first break Reg bumped into Gary at the urinal trough in the small men's room. They had a chat again and Reg got to shake the hand held the "weapon". Gary is stationed in Oklahoma where he has a ranch and he handles his own bookings.
A few more details about the great show at the Broken Spoke. The waitress was nice and friendly, told us how to order our food and carried an ashtray on her service tray keep her cigarette in, but she charged us $0.50 for a glass of water. The woman at the bar seemed a bit grumpy at first when Kate ordered the food but she end up being pretty nice and very friendly. She warmed up and started talking when Kate came back for about the tenth time to see if the chicken-fried steaks we're ready yet. She said there was only one cook and sometimes it got really busy like last week when Jerry Jeff Walker played — everybody seemed to be eating.
Kate said that we were from Canada and have come down for the music. Kate asked, "How was the Jerry Jeff Walker show?" The woman at the bar said she didn't know as she was working and it was very busy. She perked up about us being from Canada though. She'd always wanted to travel there, she was from Kansas and asked, "Was it beautiful up in Canada?" "Well, it's like Texas, depends on where you are." She asked where we'd been to see music — "Have you been to Antone's?" "Yep, last night."
James White, the owner, was hanging around showing people photos that decorated the bar and generally being the congenial host glad handing guests. He got up to introduce the band when Gary P. Nunn played the second set. He mentioned how wonderful the Broken Spoke was, that you wouldn't find no "ferny baskets" hanging from the ceiling (Kate says, no they'd get in the way of the eaves trough that's there to catch the leaks), and no "Pierre Water " either; just cold beer, good whiskey and pretty women.
He and Gary had written a song to help out their old friend Willie Willie Nelson who was having IRS troubles. He had done so much for the music scene in Austin and it was time for some pay back. The song was called "Where There's a Willie, There's a Way". They performed it for an enthusiastic crowd and encouraged folks to leave some cash in a collection jar for Willie.
There was this chubby woman with her hair pulled back through her gimme hat who worked at the bar. Every once in a while she'd walk around the dance floor spreading dance wax. While James was doing his talk about "ferny bars" and "Pierre Water" she rolled a big old wagon wheel around the dance floor with a broken spoke — get it!
The women's washroom was interesting too. There were no doors on the cubicles, there's not enough room, so each crapper was made private by hanging a shower curtain across the front. When sitting on the crapper, previous patrons had put cigarette holes in the curtain at eye level; quite the decorating touch!
All in all, it was a tremendous evening. We bought a souvenir poster for the trailer that captured the spirit of the dance floor at the Broken Spoke. The poster was an advertisement made for Shiner Beer.
Saturday, January 19
The day dawned perfect for our trip to Luckenbach —- sunny and mild, about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. But before that we had to attend to a few things. Kate can't couldn't go to Luckenbach looking like a Yankee tourist! So off we went to the western clothing emporiums on South Congress.
Kate ended up buying some cowboy boots, the so-called "manly footwear" of Gary P. Nunn's "Home with the Armadillo" fame. At "Allen's Boots", the first boot store we visited, Kate tried on several. We then went to the "Lariat Ranch Wear" to try out even more boots. She kept on trying on boots and they kept bringing them out made with shark skin, elephant hide, some ostrich, alligator hide, snake skin and just plain old "buck hide". When one of the guys brought Kate some more boots she asked, "Is this anything weird or endangered?"; "No, just buck hide." I wonder what buck hide is?
Kate bought a nice pair of brown boots — lots of stitching and handmade in Mexico. Reg picked up the tab and snuck in a pair of silver heels for his boots. So Kate was dressed to the nines for her day in Luckenbach and Reg wore his boots which he had brought with him. Cindy wore her white tennies — how gauche!
After that successful boot shopping foray, we wandered into a wonderful nearby toy store and spent quite a while in there inspecting really neat stuff and petting the house cat named Ruth! He is very tame and lets kids and adults alike maul him. But why is he called "Ruth"? Kate bought a boot themed post card to send Alison Preston to tell her about her new boots and some other stuff. Cindy bought cat stickers and Kate a holographic button that's pretty neat. Reg got a bit bored here and went outside to wait.
By that time we're getting quite hungry. We knew we had to get going to Luckenbach but Kate kind of felt we should participate or at least make an appearance at the rally against the war in the Gulf at the Capitol. Hunger won out and political commitments lost out.
So we looked for a restaurant nearby on South Congress and found one that was open 24 hours a day, eight days a week. It's called The Magnolia Café and it couldn't be better. It turned out to be a retro hippie, semi-vegetarian kind of place that appealed to all three of us. Reg could have eggs and beer (the extent of my Spanish: "huevos rancheros y una cerveza, por favor!") while Kate and Cindy could have bean sprouts and alfalfa, purely for health reasons. While we were there we did a poll of shoe styles and decided that while in Texas cowboy boots are certainly number one in appropriateness, tennies are always in good taste. Kate wanted to get a souvenir T-shirt from the restaurant but they were all out until later that day. The plan therefore is to stop here Sunday, on our way out of town going back to Dallas, to get the T-shirt and have another breakfast. Kate says coffee here is quite good — so far none in the state have been any good!
We're off to Luckenbach in the hill country west of Austin near Fredricksburg. On the way we stop for an "Austin City Limits" (the PBS show) photo on the edge of town. If you follow Lamar south out of the city (past the Broken Spoke) it takes you into the "Hill Country" towards Johnson City — yep, LBJ's city. Cindy and Reg refuse to go to see LBJ's birthplace which is on the way. Kate had wanted to go there on our way down to Austin from Fort Worth the other day but we ran out of time.
Kate and Cindy busy themselves today with "Double Vodka" margaritas while Reg took on the responsible driver role. We stopped in Blanco, a pleasant hill town, near Johnson City to freshen our drinks (Kate and Cindy have found their margaritas too cloying) and to have a "pee break". This town has lots of limestone buildings and a real old west looking streetscape.
The "Hill Country" around here is cattle country (actually it's mostly sheep and "goat ropers" but we did see a Texas longhorn). It's very dry scrubby land with cactus and stunted trees. The hilly land means there's flash floods when it rains. At several river/stream crossings, where there's no water apparent, they have water gauges so you could judge the flooding and not enter when the water is 4 foot deep!
We made it to Luckenbach safely by about 3:00 in the afternoon after an uneventful drive. The drive is about 2 hours for we tourists — 90 minutes for everyone else.
We are concerned that Luckenbach might not be there but our fears are unfounded. It's still there and there's even a road sign ... which won't last long. It's bit cooler today than at the Valentine's Day "Hug In" we attended last year but it's still warm enough to sit in the sun and have a long neck "Pearl" or maybe two. A couple of wood stoves are burning in the store and most of the doors to the store are closed to keep in the heat. There were lots of people around but not as many as the last time — there's no dance this weekend. No bikers, no campers, no tattoo artists but a few dogs and lots of kids. There seem to be more tourists this time ... if by a tourist you count those who carry a camera. And lots of good old boys with hats, dirty jeans and a long neck beer.
Inflation has hit, beer is now a $1.25! Big Daddy has been sidelined with a stroke, and the pretty bartender has been replaced by what looks like her mother. But some things remain the same — you can have a beer or a beer, people are playing fling the washer, a regional variation of horseshoes, while "Big Daddy's Feed Lot" serves beans, sausages, beans and sausages, sausages and beans, beans sandwich, etc. The souvenirs have expanded a bit in the store, or at least they're more serious about selling them. Real hats have been purchased, one a souvenir for Pat.
Some pickers arrive late in the day — we recognize some of them from last year. Linda, the lady playing stand up bass, tells us she broke her bass and got a black eye at the Valentine's Day "Hug In" last year. It must have got exciting after we had left. She tells us she has moved to nearby Fredericksburg from Houston (over 4 hours to the east) recently so she could be close to Luckenbach and drop in with the pickers every weekend. She's a devoted Luckenbach irregular.
Cindy and Kate did some pretty heavy socializing with the locals and found out that Valentine's Day "Hug In" type events only happen about three times a year. There's the "Hug In" event on the closest weekend to Valentine's Day, another on the closest weekend to the first of October for the "Chili Cook-Off" and another the week following the spring Kerrville folk festival. Other than theses few special events, it's just Saturday here where people gather, drink a few beers, tell lies and sing some songs under the live oaks.
Kate and Cindy were watching the pickers from the grass when Kate said, "Let's move to the table and join in." They struck up a conversation with Linda, the bass player, her husband was the red headed picker. She said her husband was retired, but he didn't look more than 55. At first glance she looked perhaps 30 but no more than 40. She tells us she cleans homes and they have three sons and one, named "Elvis", is at college (Texas A&M) so she must be closer to 40. Her red headed retired husband used to work in the petrol business and has a degree of some sort. In a conversation about Texas cities Linda said that "Houston is ten times worse than Dallas — you don't want to go there! No, not never!"
The grey-haired picker sang a really funny one about San Antonio girls. When asked if he had written the song, he said, with a bit of sarcasm, "No, it was a friend of mine named Del Reeves". Del Reeves is the famous country singer best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s — we didn't recognize the song and have blown our country music aficionado credentials. A motorcycle guy did the John Prine song "Hello In There". Linda, the bass player lady (formerly of Houston, 10 times worse than Dallas), sang the Robert Earl Keen song about "Swerving in Life's Highway", it was a request. She was also the most jingoistic about the Iraq War but no one was too keen about dying for Texaco. Someone sang the Kris Kristofferson song about the "Christian Soldier"' which was pretty apt given the current war in Iraq — that song, made famous by Kris, was actually written by Billy Joe Shaver.
The grey haired guy said that we should have a TV rating system, say PG 17 for CNN. He was bored with the war from the first day. We told him we'd seen Gary P. Nunn at the Broken Spoke and he said, "I love Gary P. Nunn! I'm not gay mind you, I just like music!" He was a pretty funny fellow.
Kate and Cindy made several requests for Guy Clark songs (not only is Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, and Robert Earl Keen playing in February in Dallas, they're also playing February 16th at the Cactus Club in Austin, the same weekend as the "Hug In"). Anyways the pickers faithfully ignored requests for songs/artist that they didn't know, or didn't want to play, and this seems to have included all the requests Kate and Cindy made.
The same little white dog was at the wood carvers. They told us about the cute Canadian couple who come down every March 20th and how they faithfully send Xmas cards and photos every year.
At the "Boo-Teek", also known as the "Hondo Hilton" (for Hondo Crouch who had bought Luckenbach and made it into a picker and good old boy destination) Kate and Cindy got into purchase mode — a Whirly-Gig for Jack and Doreta, a cat tray for the trailer, and a jalapeno fridge magnet for Pat. The proprietor told us about the Luckenbach Chili Cook-off and how that culminates in Terlingua (in west Texas near Big Bend). Luckenbach has its own cook-off for women only and the top three from here will go on to the "International Chili Cook-Off" at Terlingua which is by invitation only. Luckenbach is a "sanctioned" preliminary to the International at Terlingua. This is very competitive — we are told of one guy who was disqualified because he spilled some chili down the side of his pot! But the prize for winning is just a trophy and the notoriety.
It was a beautiful day and the silhouettes of the cowboys/good old boys watching the pickers as the sun set was picture perfect. But it cooled as the sun set and we retired into the bar of the general store. It's a bit crowded since everyone else has the same idea — there's a pot belly stove, two small tables, a few benches, and about 20 people crowded in.
Kate and Cindy got some beans at Big Daddy's where they had made friends on earlier in the day. The two fellows, who were filling in for big Daddy, were very friendly and familiar with Ontario. One was from Michigan and the other had been to Toronto on his honeymoon. As always, we were asked about the SkyDome and had to admit our ignorance: "No, I've not been there but my mom, brother, uncle, or etc. has and yes, it's quite the deal." The beans are hot mixture of pintos, onions, jalapenos, more onions, peppers, and sliced sausages/wieners of some sort. You could also have jalapenos, or pickles on the side. And white bread to sop it all up. It's a poor man's chili.
Reg and Cindy munched up the chili (they were hungry I guess). But Kate started choking on a pickle and almost died. We would have cremated her in the stove like Gram Parsons but she survived and swore off the beans. Cindy thought a few bags of chips would make a better dinner for Kate — her favourite junk food. Cindy was awful concerned that Kate might die of pickle juice, hot beans, or alcohol — mostly the latter. The scenario is variously described as "all hell broke loose" or "Cindy was fluttering around" but I believe they had simply reached their "alcohol quota" for the day and it was time to go.
So with chips and liquor supplies we hit the road back to Austin. Kate fiddled with the radio non stop. You should travel with a CD player but we didn't have one and we refuse to buy one. It's amazing how little good radio there is the land of country music. But Reg drove us safely on those winding roads back to Austin.
We're back to 6th Street (aka Pecan or the "bar district") in Austin at about 8:30. The night is just starting but we're ready for bed after our full day. We stopped into a liquor store for more "Double Vodka" and some malt liquor for Reg. We've decided that Reg would be allowed to drink tomorrow while Kate and Cindy would do the driving. We stopped at a restaurant for water, pecan pie, more water, coffee, more water and more water to sober up the girls. But Cindy was too drunk to drink and Kate, who thought she'd have a drink of coffee was unable to finish her fancy Parisian coffee.
On the way back to our car, still on 6th Street, we stopped at the Women's Bookstore. Unfortunately, it was just as it was closing. Nevertheless, Kate and Cindy felt they didn't have enough to carry back so they bought some more mystery books.
We are back to the Crest Hotel and into our beds by 10:00 and soon to sleep. Kate complains the next day that her sleep was interrupted by sirens and the stench of someone's farts through the night. Reg really ought to avoid the beer!
Sunday, January 20
Needless to say Cindy and Kate woke up feeling a bit hung over; but at least they woke up. Kate says Reg insisted on lying in bed and farting until 8 am. We are out of the hotel by about 9:00, loaded down with additional purchases and off we went to the Magnolia Café on South Congress where we had a delicious breakfast. Kate and Reg bought the souvenir T-shirt that had a picture of the Austin Skyline with the silhouette of a picker and above it the adage: "In heaven as it is in Austin".
After getting us well out of Austin, Reg climbed into the back seat to drink his malt liquor and bring this diary up-to-date. Cindy and Kate had generously offered the night before to do the driving back to Dallas knowing full well that they'd be too hungover to drink anymore. We take the quick route back north on the Interstate Highway IH35.
We stopped at a gas station near Waco to use the can. Cindy used the woman's first and warned Kate there was no toilet paper. When Kate went to use it, she open the outside door, and there was a man standing in the cubicle with the door open — he was pissing. He looked over his shoulder at Kate and said, "Excuse me". Only in Texas?
At Waco, Cindy took over the wheel and drove uneventfully as far as the outskirts of Fort Worth where we planned to do some more exploring. Kate was giving directions for getting on and off the freeways but screwed up. Cindy panicked and we left the freeway earlier than planned but safely found our way to the Stockyards area.
It was freezing cold in Fort Worth when we parked by the Stockyards and went over to a giant bronze sculpture of cows and the cowboy. Pretty impressive, but pretty darn cold posing around them for everyone (ie. Kate & Reg) to get his or her snap. The whole area looks pretty deserted. Reg went to Billy Bob's for a pee while Kate and Cindy liberated their winter woolies from the trunk. Kate changed into her cowboy boots, always in fashion (more about that later). Since it was so darn cool we decided to find somewhere to eat and have a drink before one took in the sights.
We ended up a bar called the White Elephant when Cindy realized she'd left her glasses in the car. It was too dark inside to see with the sunglasses so off she went to retrieve them. On route back from the car to the bar, she got lost and Kate and Reg didn't even notice her delay. Finally Cindy returned, we had some drinks, and Cindy called Pat. But we left because this bar didn't serve food!
The next restaurant we found served food but no liquor — just beer and wine coolers. We asked the waitress about the rodeo and she said lots of people got hurt there and described someone's cast. She said, "But it's fun, though!" Some fun!
By this time the girls, especially Kate, we're getting a bit grumpy -— hungover and no food or drinks to speak of (not counting the chips, pretzels, candies, pop, etc. consumed in the car or the huge breakfast at the Magnolia Café in Austin). We found another restaurant with a full bar and full menu ... as long as it was "chicken fried". But we did manage to get something to eat and drink including a rather unappetizing salad bar.
Then we shopped a bit. Kate and Reg managed to pick up quite a few souvenirs including a metal advertising reproduction for "Black Cat" cigarettes. This reminds us of our cat Painter who is being cared for by Jack and Doreta back at home. We went on our way through the Stockyard Boutiques but they were closing and Kate's fashionable boots were giving her pains in most places of her body. Our last farewell to Fort Worth is the bar at "Billy Bob's" — an enormous bar where they were giving dancing lessons for those going to dance halls like here, the Broken Spoke and elsewhere. There was also a large mechanical bull in the bar that you could try to ride. However, everyone who tries gets pitched off. The waitress earlier had told us, "But, it's fun though!". We didn't try it.
It was decided that Cindy would drive back to Dallas since Reg was drinking and Kate was too grumpy. It sounded like a good idea until Cindy bumped into a car backing up in the parking lot. Despite this mishap, it was still felt that Cindy was the most capable. That's a sad comment on the shape we were in! Kate did an admirable job navigating city streets and interconnecting roads by map in an attempt to keep Cindy off the freeways and did fine until about 20 miles outside of Dallas at which point we hit a "13 laner" and were on the freeway again. It was decided that we should hit the Grand Kempinski (hotel and conference site) for Reg to register for his Usenix conference starting the next day since we were in the north end of the city anyway.
This was easier said than done, but we found it, with Kate's excellent map reading. Reg registered and we decided he could drive home so Cindy could be in the back and recover. On route we stopped at Mr. C's Cajun Seafood and Jazz Bar in the "West End" to pick up the Dallas Observer (the weekly entertainment rag) and then we're back to the Quality Inn. At the Grand Kempinski they never even heard about this magazine.
I'm parked in front of the hotel to unload — a few suitcases and three bags of garbage: mainly bottle empties, juice empties and chips empties. The girls are getting us registered. The lobby of the hotel was wild — all these dark haired kids running around screaming, women in high heels screaming, and men with three piece suits and white hats muttering about their screaming family. Kate and Cindy asked the hotel clerk what was going on and she said "they" were there having a party as they did once a month. When asked who "they" were, she replied "Gypsies". This sounded very funny to them, Kate and Cindy were laughing hard, the clerk joined in laughing too, and then she stapled our check-in form to her sleeve!
A quick glance at The Observer reveals lots of things to do while in town. Tonight, Ray Wylie Hubbard was playing at a restaurant: the "Fill Up Station" on Greenville at Park. There seems to be a lots of things on Greenville so we decided to check it out and see the Ray Wylie, the "Redneck Mother". Reg had the driving duties — it's quite a way from our hotel to this entertainment area in the North End. Actually was pretty much where we had started earlier. Greenville looks sort of like Queen Street in Toronto but spotted with residential sections. There are lots of your "Ferny Bars" and "Pierre Water".
The "Fill Up Station", where Ray Wylie Hubbard was playing, was easy to find and the band was already playing to a packed main section. It's a good deal; there is no cover charge to enter this converted gas station (hence the name). We were put in a side room with no sight line to the stage, nevertheless we could hear very well. Ray Wylie Hubbard and his band crowded a tiny stage to an enthusiastic audience. He did covers, his own songs, and even some sing-alongs but there was no dance floor. We had some snacks and we have promised ourselves that we'd leave after the set as we are tired little bunnies. The last song was, you guessed it, "Up Against the Wall Redneck Mothers". What a treat!
We navigated our way back home via downtown, Dealey Square and the "grassy knoll". We managed to avoid any gunfire from the School Book Repository.
P.s. the downtown is very empty and a bit scary. You see security escorts who are taking people from restaurants to their cars!
Monday, January 21
It's an uneventful morning with a free continental breakfast at out hotel (we're back at the Quality Inn) where we add instant espresso to the weak coffee and do our laundry in the hotel laundry room. Kate's night shirt gets lost in the process. We decide to go immediately to the Galleria Mall at the north end of the city (very near the Grand Kempinski where Reg's Usenix conference is held) and forget about checking out the original, and famous, Neiman Marcus store downtown. Kate's usual excellent navigation and driving by Reg get us there safely.
The Galleria was not too interesting despite having an indoor skating rink (as do most malls in Dallas) and a fax machine in the restroom hallway by the phone booths (we'd never seen that before). The mall is very upscale, out of our Kmart league, but Kate did manage to find a pair of running shoes at Champs Sports to replace her worn out tennies. The cowboy boots from Austin aren't that comfortable and, unfortunately, the shoes (men's size 7½) turned out to be rather painful on Kate's poor cowboy boot-torn bunions. Cindy offers to wear them all afternoon to break them in and does. But they never are comfortable for Kate so the plan evolves over that day to return them tomorrow. After some more shopping, lunch, souvenirs and spending $5 on two cappuccinos we left the mall to try our luck on Greenville.
We decided to check out the Improv, a comedy cabaret/bar. We've read in the paper that Roseanne Barr and her husband were performing there. It turns out that she had cancelled the Friday night show because she has a relation in the US military service in Saudi Arabia and/or the club couldn't guarantee her safety. Two rather cheap excuses we thought and we lost all respect for her. In any case we decided to go tonight to see improv by "Four of Five Doctors" and a gaggle of assorted stand-up comics.
Kate bought a game for Paula at the Dallas Art gallery. The women there is going to Quebec this fall on a cruise from New York city. Small world.
The plan was to find a mailing tube, a box, and some stamps. As luck would have it, we happened upon a Bizmart — a sort of office supplies/stationary supermarket. Kate and Cindy saw it as a little bit of "Heaven on Earth" (but not like the Austin T-shirt). Anyway we were able to buy a shipping tube for the Broken Spoke poster and a box for the Whirly-Gig from Luckenbach.
Next we found a postal center in the strip mall; Kate went in to buy stamps while Cindy and Reg checked out a nearby record store. The record store wasn't very good — it didn't hold a candle to Tower Records in Austin. Anyways, Kate went up to the counter and the conversation with the clerk went something like this:
K: "How much is a postcard to Canada?"
C: "36 cents"
K: "How about to Europe?"
C: "Same"
K: "Okay. I'll have twenty 36 cent stamps"
C: "We don't sell any stamps that add up to 36 cents"
K: "Aren't you a post office?"
C: "Why, yes!"
K: "Okay what do you have ....."
After much mumbling, bumbling, grumbling and confusion they agreed on buying 40 cent stamps (actually a combination of 25 and 15 cent stamps). And then Kate asks:
K: "How much is a letter to Canada?"
C: "30 cents"
K: "How can a letter be 30 cents and a postcard 36 cents?"
C: "Well, actually we're not sure how much a postcard is."
K: "Are you sure this is a post office? "
Well, actually it was a privately-run postal outlet and they have to phone somebody to find out how much a postcard to Canada was finally determining that both, a letter or a card, are just 30 cents.
K: "Okay, give me twenty 30 cent stamps"
C: "We can't, we don't have any 30 cent stamps"
K: "Okay sorry, give me forty 15 cent stamps!"
It's hard work buying stamps in Dallas. This reminds me of the Monty Python "Cheese Shop" skit.
On our journey back to the Quality Inn we checked out a couple of boozers. The first was okay, but rather expensive — we were looking for something more in the warehouse/liquor barn mode. Nevertheless Kate bought some mix and Triple Sec for making Margaritas. The second boozer was much more impressive and Reg was persuaded to buy some "Double Vodka", a bottle of "Wild Turkey" and, to wash it down some "Rattlesnake" beer (which was actually from New Orleans and god awful!). On the way out the door Kate and Cindy picked up some free glasses and the clerk, a handsome cowboy type, pointed out the free ice. Oh boy, they encourage you to drink and drive in Texas!
Back at the hotel we settle in for some libations and quiet time to transcribe our adventures. Kate got a special delivery message from the manager: "No, we don't know where your nightshirt is but we've looked all over." It's a bit of a mix up from doing our own laundry this morning.
After our respite and quiet time at the hotel we poured back into the car and headed out to the Improv for more drinks, food and the evening's entertainment. There we had a really funny waiter who thought that Kate was pretty weird — she had ordered a "Margarita" made without the salt and with vodka instead of tequila. He asked Cindy, "Would you like yours with bourbon?" We ordered "chicken fried" veggies and tortilla chips for dinner; this has become our standard fare these days. When in Rome ....
The improvisational group that first took the stage were called "Four to Five Doctors" and were really slick. They asked people to shout out various ideas. Kate was shouting, "Travels with Reggie!" They misheard and entitled their first skit "Troubles with Reggie." It was a skit where three people each did a bit of a monologue on an assigned theme and were interrupted by the leader/director who would point to another person to pick up where the other had left off only to continue on their new theme.
Another funny skit was "Jeopardy" (like the game show). The topics included "Dude Fantasies", "Hairstyle Quotations", and "Shakespearean Geography." These were topics suggested by the audience (Reg had suggested geography since Americans seem to be challenged). The contestants in the improv Jeopardy sketch were "The Coach", "Wynonna Jugg", the Judd daughter "Naomi", and a "Heavy Metal Singer." Another skit involved a bank robbery at a dating service. The trick there was the emotions were shouted out from the audience and they had to work each emotion into the skit.
The final improv skit took place at a "Country Club" where every once in a while they drew audience lines out of a hat (these were clever lines collected before the skit, but we didn't know what they'd be used for). Both Kate's line, "Is this really a post office?" and Cindy's line, "What's Saddam funny?" (a clever reference to the ongoing war in Iraq) were drawn. In fact Cindy's ended the improv portion of the show.
The improv for "Four to Five Doctors" seemed to be all fresh, unrehearsed and genuine. It was very well done, and really funny. Well worth the price of admission. But there was more to come.
After the improv section there came a string of stand-up comics. There were about eight to ten different comics from all over the country. The headliner was a local weirdo who looked like a street kid. He needed a shave, wore a ragged blue jean jacket and denim overalls. He leapt about the stage shouting at the wind like an escaped Bedlam lunatic. He did a really funny bit about the 70s, wearing a puka shell choker and being a real cool dude for all the chicks whilst riding his Schwinn bicycle. In the midst of being just so cool (first gear, fifth gear, 12th gear), his bells got caught in the chain and he's sprawled out onto the pavement with the bicycle wrapped around his leg. Real cool — even his mother drives by pretending not to know him. He was very animated, very weird, and very funny.
The other stand up comedians included a black fellow from Washington DC via LA ("DC is the murder capital, I had to shoot four people so I wouldn't be mistaken for a tourist"). He had some jokes about the KKK, equal rights, and country music:
"Country music is for people who can't dance".
"How come you white folks can look at one another and say: Oh, he's Irish. How do you do that?"
There were lots of other funny guys as well. We had a good evening at the "Improv" and found our way there and back on the freeway without any troubles. It was a good day all around.
Tuesday, January 22
Reg spent the whole day at his Usenix conference at the Grand Kempinski in the north end of the city while Kate and Cindy went out on the town. Unfortunately, Kate came all over queer that day with either "cedar fever" or the "raging hypochondria". The symptoms included headache, running nose, sore throat and dizziness. So that cut out some of the adventures.
Kate and Cindy walked over to the Hilton Anatole (a nearby very posh hotel with some shops) after breakfast to check it out and from there took a taxi to the Historic Downtown (with the infamous Dealey Square and School Book Repository at the one end). There they went to see the historic, and famous, Neiman Marcus store.
The Nieman Marcus is an interesting old store. It's very expensive with some objet d'art. One artful object in particular was a pair of chairs painted to look like the Mona Lisa and Andy Warhol. They were pretty neat, so cute that Kate and Cindy snapped pictures of each other sitting on them. The sales woman rushed over and they thought, "Oh gosh, we're going to get hell for sitting on these object d'art". But no, they are scolded for taking pictures in the Nieman Marcus store! The clerk said that if they wanted to take any more pictures, they would have to go to the public relations office to seek permission. So instead, they left without buying anything!
Another interesting thing about downtown Dallas is that there seem to be no restaurants in downtown Dallas proper. So at lunch hour what happens is all the people who work in the banks and tall towers run out of their offices and jump in one of two buses to dash over and eat lunch in the West End where all the restaurants are. It's very strange.
Kate and Cindy sauntered around the West End looking for Texas dolls for Brenda (a workmate who collects dolls). They were waiting until after 1:00pm when the bankers and office tower workers cleared out to return to their work so they could get into a restaurant. In the spaghetti restaurant they got seated in a trolley car in the middle of this huge restaurant. The special of the day, or perhaps the month, was a lasagna meal with garlic bread and meatballs. Cindy ordered that while Kate ordered just plain old 15 layer lasagna. The food was pretty good, filling, with huge portions. Cindy managed to eat everything on her plate ("as is her want") and their waiter, when clearing away their dishes, said to her: "You're the second person who has ever eaten that whole dinner. Wow!" Apparently the first person was a woman from Alaska and she's used to eating big meals (like seals, walruses and whales). Cindy replied that she was from Canada and we "Northerners" eat more. Talk about embarrassment!
After that the girls were so full and Kate was so sick (cedar fever?) and so embarrassed at being seen in public with Cindy (the only girl who has ever ate a who plate!) so they jumped a cab back to the hotel. Kate went to bed to shake off the sickness while Cindy went out and shopped at the Anatole.
Reg had a good day at the Usenix conference. He managed to drive to the conference and back along the Dallas tollways all by himself without getting lost or causing any major accidents. The course at the Grand Kempinski (there are about a dozen of these hotels across the country) was a nice refresher and Reg won a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" prize for asking one of the best questions of the day. He met several other Canadians who recognized him by the CA*net sweatshirt he was wearing.
Reg arrived back to find Kate bagged out but ready, willing and able to get up for dinner at the Hyatt Regency. That's the hotel with a view of the city and the revolving restaurant (we are there yet again). We had a good feed, gosh that prime rib is thick, and the girls have acquired two more souvenir glasses — Kate is now talking about packing up two boxes of souvenirs for the plane!
We were well stuffed by the end of our dinner at the Hyatt and decide to pass on the entertainment alternatives for the evening — we see that Tanya Tucker is in town and there's also the Fatso's Blues revue. Both look interesting; but we're not able. Instead we toddle off home and make an early evening of it writing in this diary and watching junk TV.
Wednesday, January 23
Today, the Three Musketeers become the Two Slugs — Cindy heads home alone.
We managed to get up and out of the hotel by about 8 a.m. but Cindy has to use Reg and Kate's shower because hers has finally fallen off! This hotel needs some work.
First we went to the nearby Infomart — it's the big interesting art deco glass building that we can see from our hotel. The Uniforum event is there and Reg thought that he would take the opportunity to see some of the new technology on display. Unfortunately, the trade show doesn't start until 10 a.m. so the trio dashed over to the Bizmart (Kate and Cindy: "In heaven as it is in Bizmart") to buy luggage carriers for getting around the airport (and some neat pens too). Then we're back to the hotel where Cindy puts her luggage on her new carrier and we wait together in the lobby until her shuttle leaves at 10:30 am for the DFW airport.
A note on vocabulary: We've taken to calling the Grand Kempinski, where the Usenix conference is, the "Grand Chumpinski" and the Hilton Anatole next door to our hotel as the "Ayatollah". It rolls off the tongue better.
After our goodbyes to Cindy, Reg and Kate went back to the Infomart, but no parking spaces were available anywhere. So, after circling the market for a bit, Reg was dropped off and Kate drove back to the hotel. It's only about eight blocks away but the first driving experience in Dallas for her.
Kate had a bath, did some laundry, and hustled over to the Ayatollah, the big hotel down the street, to meet Reg for lunch. He had a brief, but fun time, at the Uniforum event and took the shuttle over to meet her. It's a humongous hotel complex with several restaurants, shops and entrances. Kate said she'd meet him in the restaurant (there are about 6) found when you come in the door (there are about three or four main entrances). Needless to say Reg was late and lost for a bit as he tried to find her.
After lunch Reg went back to the Grand Chumpinski (at the north end of the city) for his Usenix conference and Kate uses his id to get into the Uniforum and try to pick up some good freebies. Actually the pickings were pretty slim and they probably knew she was an imposter, after all, how many gals are named Reginald? Kate went back to the Ayatollah, browsed a bit, and then went back to the hotel to have a nap, watch Jeopardy and then the news of fresh disaster/war on TV.
After Reg came back from his conference we drove to the mall beside the Galleria where we had dinner at a Mexican chain restaurant which wasn't too bad. At this restaurant we had to buy a membership in order to get a drink! It was a dry area of town. Odd indeed but not the only occasion where we discover membership is required for that privilege.
Reg went off to his BOF (Birds of a Feather, a Usenix meeting) at 8 p.m. while Kate stalked the mall stores — it was a much better shopping experience here than at the Galleria Mall. However, it closed at 9 p.m. and getting a cab back to the Grand Chumpinski was a bit tricky. A man in one of the stores told Kate that there was no taxi stand so she ought to call a taxi on the pay phone. The pay phone, like all pay phones in Dallas, had no phone book. After getting a number from from information, she called Allied Cab. The man there said, "Hold on, I'll see if we have one in your area. Sorry, no we don't!" and Kate says "Wait! Wait! I'm a visitor here and I'm at a pay phone and there's no phone book can you please give me the number of another company?" He very kindly supplied two numbers. Dallas is weird but the people are nice.
A Yellow/Checker cab driven by a black man from the islands picked Kate up. They discuss briefly how expensive the stores at the Galleria are and the driver launched into a lengthy story about how he had bought these Italian shoes for $65 in Los Angeles and then decided he wanted another pair exactly the same (one black pair and one brown) so he went to the Galleria. The same shoe was $120 there vs. $65 in LA! Eventually he found the same shoes at another mall in Dallas for only $80. So there! Kate wondered about the tennies that she had bought at Galleria and whether she should have bought them for half price elsewhere. This cab driver also informs Kate that the Grand Chumpinski is owned by a German!
Before going out to the mall Kate had phoned to make a reservation at a five-star restaurant, the Routh Street Café, not too far from our hotel for Friday night which would be our last night in Dallas. After the booking was confirmed Kate asked about the dress code. The man at the restaurant said that the code wasn't too strict, they just don't allow jeans and tennies. Kate said that we are travelling and her poor slob of a husband was at a conference and had only had brought jeans. The man thought that would be okay anyways, "Well, we're not going to turn you away!"
Note: one interesting point that should be mentioned about Texas talk is their continued use of the expression "uh huh". The most common usage is when you say "Thank you" and they respond "uh huh" as an alternative to "You're welcome". It's usually spoken quite positively. The Texan doesn't just murmur "uh huh" because they are too lazy to say "You're welcome"; it's said quite intentionally.
Thursday, January 24th
Kate spent the morning puttering — proving again that the human capacity to putter is unsurpassed. Her activities included: sorting through the masses of tourist and conference brochures for 1½ hours, playing with the luggage cart for another 15 minutes, then planning and doing more laundry. She also walked over to the Ayatollah for coffee, not much better than the swill at the Quality Inn, where she read the newspaper and ripped out interesting tidbits. For example, the sequel to the Roseanne Barr cancellation at the Improv, was as follows:
"Roseanne Barr, interviewed the evening the war broke out, said she has a brother-in-law in the National Guard who was being shipped over and she didn't feel like joking about it. She later cancelled her Dallas comedy club appearance for the same reason."
Also, a conversation overheard in the Ayatollah:
"The Galleria is owned by so and so, you know that makes it a particularly likely target for terrorism. I'm not trying to ruin their business or anything, but I've been warning all my friends to stay away from there!"
Kate says to herself that she just hopes the terrorists don't confuse Dallas Galleria with London Galleria or we could be in big trouble!!
Reg and Kate went for lunch in an old park area not too far from downtown. It's a Pioneer Village type of place called the Dallas Heritage Village that has a restaurant in an old house. The restaurant serves wholesome prairie food that would have been made around the turn of the century. There weren't many people around, January does seem to be the off season in Texas, and some of the shops were closed. But the meal was good and the park was pretty interesting.
Reg dropped Kate off at the Bizmart (her home away from home) and he went off to his afternoon sessions at the Grand Chumpinski. Kate browsed for a while ("In heaven as it is at Bizmart"), picked up a few small things, and identified a briefcase that she really likes but does not buy. That's a cheap excuse to go back tomorrow!
From the Bizmart she walk several miles down Greenville Ave. to the Lower Greenville area where she was meeting Reg for the evening's entertainment. On her walk, she was hooted and honked at several times — proving the Texas men are either blind, or not particular, or have never seen a pedestrian before! There were no pedestrians for the first mile or so and then only a couple were ever seen. Also, although there were bus stops, no buses ever went by. At about halfway, Kate stopped at a convenience store for a pop and guess what? They carry Clamato Juice! It's the first she had seen in Texas on this trip. Small world, eh?
Other characteristics of the area include sidewalks that slope down to the streets. No wonder there were no pedestrians — at times that made walking with quite difficult. Some houses were in rough shape but most of the neighborhoods were quite nice. As we noticed in other DFW suburbs there were no street lights. We had first noticed this when we drove in from fort Worth — all the side streets were pitch dark because there were no streetlights. That's a strange economy and doesn't seem very safe to us. A few houses had a lamp post or spotlights in their trees but mostly the streets were dark. There were, of course, lots of yellow ribbons tied around trees, posts, and fire hydrants for the soldiers off fighting in Iraq.
Kate had arrived in the Lower Greenville area only to find that most of the restaurants didn't open until 5:30 or 6:00 — including the one where she was to meet Reg. She browsed a bit in the handful of nearby stores and finally Reg met her at the "Arcadia Bar and Grill" at about 6:00. Reg had nachos and Kate had their famous gumbo before the two of them mosey down to "Poor David's" to get good seats for Tish Hinojosa who is playing tonight. She is the reason for this visit to the neighborhood. Poor David's was closed until 7:30 so we went to another Italian restaurant where Reg had antipasto and Kate had linguine with marinara sauce and lots of clams.
We got in to see Tish Hinojosa at about 8 p.m. and managed to get a ringside table. By the time she and her sideman (I think it was Marvin Dykhius) came on at about 9:15 the place was still only about two-thirds full. She put on a very good show. She has a lovely voice and has written some very good songs — but she doesn't have the magnetism of showmen we've seen like Sara Hickman (there was a painting of a Buster Bulldog on the side of a building in the area that was signed by Sara Hickman). Anyways, it was a very good show. Her sideman, who played the more complex guitar parts, was a funny kind of Bruce Gillespie character.
We bought two tapes of her "Taos to Tennessee" album which isn't available otherwise and we got her to sign them. There were several pictures snappers in the audience besides Reg. There was also a chubby family clan who seemed to know all her tunes. There's lots of Spanish in her songs, but also lots of English too. She sang a war song called "Yesterday's Paper" that we really enjoyed.
We enjoyed the show. It's also really great to be able to see some good entertainment and be home in bed before 11 p.m.!
Friday, January 25
Our last day in Dallas has dawned hazy and as the morning progresses it clears to become sunny again. Kate had decided that the only way to get the Bizmart briefcase and remain under our $300 customs limit (Ha! Only if you ignore all the small purchases!) was to return the tennis shoes to at Champs Sports in the Galleria Mall. They didn't really fit her anyways. Never having returned shoes that she'd already worn, she was a bit uncomfortable at the prospect. But the sales clerk had told her, "If you don't like them, bring them back." So, off we went to the Galleria Mall to accomplish that task.
We got there at about 9:45 and the store didn't open until 10:00 so we went to a snack bar for some dishwater (it was called coffee but had absolutely no resemblance to real coffee). It was awful and made the breakfast coffee at the Quality Inn look like gourmet coffee. And that takes some doing!
At opening time we went to the shoe store to take back the ill-fitting tennies. The young woman behind the counter looked at the shoebox and said "Oh, what colour did you get? My sister got a red pair. I want to get some but I'm too broke from Christmas. Maybe next payday, etc. ..." Kate felt somewhat guilty and thought about giving the shoes to her. But she was a petite wee thing so a men's size 7½ wouldn't likely fit her. Especially given that they didn't fit Cindy and didn't comfortably fit Kate either! Anyways, returning the shoes posed no problems at all. The server was very nice and didn't even make Kate look at alternatives.
With Kate's mood much improved, Reg drove her over to the Olla Podrida Mall (an upscale arts and crafts place — a lot like Richmond Row in London) and went off to his conference while she browsed there. There were lots of pretty things, but most things were pretty expensive, and anyway we're going back with two extra boxes, and we've already spent our limit and...
So Kate only bought two more souvenirs! A candle holder for Cindy, who didn't go to the mall, and a very small and inexpensive Mexican objet d'art.
She then found a restaurant in the mall to sit and write some more in this diary. She ordered a Bloody Mary to have while waiting (yes, we know they have Clamato Juice in Dallas but don't ask for a Bloody Caesar) and they informed her that she had to be a member to get a drink. She said her husband had a conference membership from some chain and couldn't remember the name.
K: "Please sir, may I have a drink? I'm a visitor." They said, "Well, since you're a visitor, that's okay then."
Reg arrived about 12:30, the conference session was still going hot and heavy, and produced his membership card which they couldn't have cared less about. For lunch Reg had a really good "chicken fried steak" with white gravy, mashed potatoes and black eyed peas — we guess they were out of turnip greens. Kate had the hippie lentil soup and both had a corn bread. The corn "bread" is more like muffins than bread but it's made right here in the kitchen ... as is usually the case. It was a really nice restaurant: one of the dinners they served was your choice of three vegetables, with salad and cornbread. Good for vegetarians and those who don't drink in this dry part of town.
We are back to the Bizmart for Kate to buy that all leather briefcase. And then on to Greenville in search of "Deep Ellum" — this is a club area where the punks hang out. At mid-afternoon the punks are still in bed and the clubs are closed. Some shops are open but we only stopped long enough to take a photo of some street art/graffiti of which there's a lot. We read in the paper later of a lady who was shot dead that day at the nearby corner of Haskell and Elm. It was 9:30 a.m. at a bus stop. A black kid, 16 years old, robbed a woman of her purse. She argued and he shot her — or so the witnesses say. A quiet day in Dallas, we gladly missed that excitement.
Reg returns the rental car, we are to fly out early tomorrow. It's $300 for the 9 days and that includes the extra insurance. He gets a ride back to the hotel from the rental agency and the guy who drives asks about Canada's involvement in the war. Reg explains that Canada has declared war as well and has people, planes and boats over there. However, we think it will be good to be home and find out what is really going. There is very little news about Canada so the driver's question makes some sense. Again, we all wish this war was over. Today the Iraqis are flooding the gulf with oil from sabotaged Kuwaiti oil fields — it's now a war on the environment.
We take a short cab ride with Nick, our cabbie, from our hotel to the Routh Street Café at Routh and Cedar Springs where we have an reservation and are about the first to arrive. A shuttle bus driver has told that all cabbies in Dallas are Nigerian or some other foreigners who can't speak English whereas his company is mostly Army vets. Nick fits the bill; however, he does speak good English. And Nigeria is part of the British Commonwealth. And Nick, like us, thinks this war isn't right at all. He's convinced it's just Yankee strutting and we're coming to the same conclusion.
Anyways, the Routh Street Café is a five-star restaurant that Kate has found in the AAA Texas guide book and it will cost us a big buck before we leave. We have never been to a five-star restaurant before, this should be fun. The building isn't too exciting from the street, although nicely landscaped. It's located in a bit of an industrial area; but inside the restaurant it's quite nice. It's sort of the industrial Art Deco look: sleek with shiny pink walls and lots of tableware. I've not seen so many glasses (4 sic!), plates and silverware. Reg manages to use the salad fork for dinner — how gauche!
Reg had the red snapper breaded with pecan crumbs, salad greens, and potatoes with a goat cheese on top. Kate had the swordfish, with curried cheese and mint sauce. Also little tarts made of garlic, cheese, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes and god knows what else. Both dinners were really good — delicate but novel tastes. They were presented on large plates where they look quite tiny; but both dinners were more than adequate. The "style" is sort of French but much nicer.
The service was simply incredible. The maître d' saw us to our table and made no mention of our very casual attire. A lady server brought us a complementary, and incredibly tiny, hors d'oeuvre and Kate broke out laughing. The plate was huge, the amuse bouche (first time I've heard that description) was lost on it and in one bite it was gone! She also topped up our wine and replaced our napkins when ever we went to the washroom. Reg tried to trick them one time by taking his napkin with him! They caught on and replaced the napkin anyways — smiling as if to say, "Now, what are you going to do? You have two napkins!"
Another fellow kept our bottled water topped up, brought our bread (blue corn and hot white loaf), made sure we always had two fresh butter pats, and also stole our napkins whenever we left for the washroom. All of this was happening for us alone on the second floor. Yet another fellow stole our napkins and finally of course, there was our waiter. We were well served.
The wine cellar was next door to the washroom and had a glass door so you could look inside. We ordered a bottle of Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc from the Napa Valley in California at the waiter's recommendation ($33). All their wines were American — no imports, it's the policy of the restaurant to only stock and serve American wine and fruits (or so says the waiter). But we did have a Margarita cocktail and they had an extensive collection of single-malt Scotches and Irish Whiskey. The wine was very nice but not our style. We probably would have done as well with the house white at $15. We're not really into American wines.
Throughout the evening we noticed flowers all over the place. Each table had a nice arrangement of flowers that look something like an orchid/fuchsia, on the bread-and-butter plate there was a single tiny flower that looks something like a snapdragon, and even the washroom had a flower arrangement.
Between courses the lady server, who stole napkins and kept our wine topped up, cleared the table and swept off the crumbs with a neat little scraper device that sort of looked like a piece of venetian blind. We kidded her a bit and she explained the funny sauce spoons which we had never seen before. She was too polite/discrete to mention anything about Reg having used the wrong fork.
The desserts were also memorable. Kate had a double chocolate cake with an artistic white chocolate sauce. Reg says "artistic" because it had red and green stuff arranged around the border to look like the pattern on a plate. It looked wonderful and was! Reg had the Crème Brûlée in a puff pastry. There were four different ones, also presented on another large plate, this time with caramel drizzled across. It was very yummy! They also had espresso makers so we could finally have real coffee — cappuccino and espresso with dessert. Kate had hers with some Irish Whiskey while Reg had his with some Scotch.
Of the many characters dining that night all were dressed to the nines with suits and ties ... except us. Some deserves special mention. There was the young girl drinking Pina Coladas who only looked sixteen or so. Don't you have to be 21 to drink in Texas? She was made up to look like a corpse — sort of like how our niece Noelle dresses sometimes. It looked like she was with her mom, dad and grandma or aunt.
Beside them was the highly affected man, mom, dad and young son. The young son didn't pick up on the corpse girl at the next table over but they would have been the right age together. Actually only the mum and son were affected — all the world's a stage and at least these two were players. She got the servers to bring a cushion to put between her back and the back of the bench.
Beside us, and between us and the actors, was a very nice friendly couple from Wichita Falls. It's a little to the northwest of DFW very near the Oklahoma border. They talked to everyone and we told them how much we like Texas, especially Austin. She was telling us a bit about gardening. It must be "touch and go" in Wichita Falls because they had it -9 degrees Fahrenheit this winter! And of course hot as hell in the summer. Quite the environment for growing roses!
Anyways, it was a great dinner at our first 5 star restaurant which we thoroughly enjoyed, all for only $141 plus tip!
We got a ride home with Nick the Nigerian cabbie and had quite a talk about the war. Funny how you can have such a good time, get so pissed, have some laughs, and then immediately turn around to that dreadful topic.
Saturday, January 26
We are up at the crack of dawn at 5:15 a.m. to catch our 8 a.m. flight. The man driving the airport shuttle was a big cheery Texan wearing a string tie. On the way to the airport, he told us the story of his life as well as pointing out noteworthy landmarks, etc. He had lots of time to do this as we took two women, who were attending a dental conference, to Love Field which serves the local area before we went on out to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
He was retired army and had been to Europe in World War II, then Korea and even Vietnam. He retired after 24 years as a sergeant major. He had been in some other business until he retired a second time to do nothing but golf, hunt and fish. After a couple of years of this, he took the job driving the shuttle in order to save his marriage. She had promised to take him in sickness and in health but not home for lunch every day! He had married her, a German girl, when he was overseas in 1946.
He pointed to the number of buildings, telling us who owned them, which parts used to be cattle ranches, where he used to fish, the part called "Venice", and so on. One good story was about the Four Seasons Hotel. He says it's the most expensive hotel in Dallas and is owned by Canadians. He says it cost $250 a night to stay there and the way he figures it, if you slept 8 hours a night, you were paying $30 an hour just to sleep. Another of his interesting stories related to the size of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. He says it's the second largest in the world in acreage. Apparently, it used to be the largest but a bigger one was built someplace else, probably Saudi Arabia. He added, in true Texan style,
"You can stick the whole island of Manhattan down at the airport and there's still be room for people to walk around! You know, the island in New York city where everyone lives?"
"Yup, we've heard of it."
Our plane ride home was uneventful and uncrowded. However we must note that our little baggage cart worked just great. Customs, immigration, etc. at Toronto was a snap. Terminal 2 is a complete mess with renovations but we're sitting there, in a bar enjoying Canadian beer, which is available in Texas, and a Bloody Caesar, which is not. Although Kate did find Clamato Juice she was never able to have a Bloody Caesar. It's good wholesome Canadian drink that they've never heard of. The short hop from Toronto to London is likewise uneventful and we arrive safely at the airport where we are greeted by Doreta and Jack who have been house-sitting. When we got home our cats Sissy, Isis and Painter greet us with cat-like enthusiasm.
It's good to be home. We see from the paper that the war reporting by CBC is, according to Peter Worthington, considerably different from what we've been hearing in the US! We are not surprised.
These notes transcribed, edited and expanded during November of 2021 from a diary of the travels written at the time by Kate Graham, Reg Quinton and Cindy Smythe.
