Neon at Night

If you like neon lights you'll love Austin. The city glows with beautiful lights advertising one of a kind stores, bars, restaurants, etc. Do a Google image search on "Austin Neon" and you'll see what I mean.

I'm particularly fond of this one on South Lamar because it reminds me of a CD that Pat and Cindy liked -- the "L-Ranko Hotel" by Bell & Shore (1989). Yes I know the El Rancho restaurant has nothing to do with the L-Ranko hotel. I'm not even sure if there is hotel by that name. I'm just saying it reminds me.

Kate tells me there is a connection -- the joke is it's the El-Rancho hotel but the the letter's "E" and "H" are burned out to leave "L-Ranco". We need Pat to clarify.

I'm not sure if the El Rancho really is the "Best Mexican Food in the World" but they advertise that they are. I've written a bit about Guero's and the Magnolia already (both have great neon signs). The "Sorry, we're open" of the Magnolia is a classic. There's lots of Mexican and Tex/Mex restaurants around Austin and quite a few in our neighbourhood. Most are modest and reasonably priced. So much so that we seldom prepare food at home!

We had lunch yesterday at the Habanero Cafe around the corner on Oltorf. It's a short walk and pretty authentic specialising in serving the morning and lunch crowd -- it closes most days at 3:00pm (later on Thurs-Sat). There's a small dining area with a sun room on Oltorf where we ate. While our intentions were to just have a "wee bite" we ended up with a lunch that filled us up for the rest of the day. Kate tried a shrimp gordito while I tucked into a a pair of pulled pork burritos. There were lots of crispy corn chips and a very spicy salsa (perhaps a bit of habanero for heat?) while we checked the menu and placed our order. Our lunches arrived shortly thereafter on huge plates loaded with lots of refried beans, rice, guacamole, salad and smothered in cheese. It was good food, very filling and very reasonably priced.

In the evening we returned yet again to the Strange Brew Cafe and saw the opening act Jodi Adair perform with some friends. Will Knaak on electric guitar (who we've now seen several times -- he must live there!) and Dony Wynn on drums/percussion. These friends raise Jodi's music above the bar; just the right gentle subtle touches and blazing bridges when required. Dony was an interesting treat to see and hear. He doesn't play a conventional drum kit. Even describing the kit as unconventional would  not do it justice. He sits on top of a bass box instead of behind a bass drum and noodles with instruments of his own making.

Jodi teased Dony into telling a funny story about playing in a sarong.  Yes you heard me right -- a sarong. Definitely the type to keep Austin weird. He doesn't do that any more -- you just end up exposing to much gear even if you are wearing underwear. I shudder to imagine the view. He's no Tom Cruise. Apparently at one event in San Marcos a lady in the audience became quite offended and belligerent when he played in a sarong ... because he was wearing underwear!

Weird eh?