“Less like a dorm room”
I stopped in Waco for lunch on my drive back to Austin on Monday, and continued my exploration of off the highway restaurants. Alpha Omega is a delicious Mediterranean place with a very nice atmosphere in the heart of downtown Waco. I enjoyed a salad, gyro and perfect macchiato – why is it so hard for so many places to get it right?
On arrival at the apartment, I took care of one of McD’s biggest gripes. It goes something like, “the master bedroom looks like a dorm room, with no headboard and no end tables”. A neighbor had advertised teal end tables for sale and I snapped them right up for a very reasonable price. Still waiting on a good headboard to pop up.
Progress is now visible at the work site across the street – a big hole has 
been dug for the foundation of the new building. Street closures to allow the running of power are now behind us as well.
Diana and I had a conference call (she was en route to Boston) on Wednesday morning to wish my Dad Happy Birthday. We sang to the voicemail box, and it was quite the performance – we couldn’t get in sync on the beat at all. Hopefully that recording has been erased. My Dad enjoyed High Tea at the Glasshouse restaurant by Rowallan Castle to celebrate.
I had a night out with Damon and Issac from work on Wednesday night. We started with Indian at G’raj Mahal – I love their lamb Rogan Josh. Then we enjoyed a performance by the Canned Beets band at the Half Step. I had seen their guitar player at the Charlie Hunter show recently and had a nice chat with him about the show. He said, “Charlie Hunter’s not only the best at what he does, he’s the only person that does what he does”, meaning the only guitar player that we’re aware of who plays the bass and lead on the same instrument simultaneously.
Here they are performing Simple Man at Damon’s request:
We finished up with a quick visit to Whisler’s in East Austin, close to Issac’s condo.
Meanwhile in New York, Denny and Anne were enjoying a performance by Alejandro Escovedo, during their trip to catch some US Open tennis matches. Escovedo used to live in Austin but moved to stay in the Belmont Hotel in Oak Cliff when Austin got too expensive for working musicians.
Diana’s trip back from Boston on Friday started well with an upgrade to first class. It didn’t end as well with flights canceled due to thunderstorms in Dallas. She eventually made it to Austin a bit after midnight on the Vonlane bus- a creative solution. It’s been a couple of months since her last visit and she’s been fixing all the things that I haven’t been taking care of properly – the list is too expansive to cover here.
We enjoyed brunch at Mattie’s on Saturday. This is a restaurant in an old mansion in the Bouldin Creek area – a mile or so from our apartment. The setting is amazing with lots of land, shaded by live oak trees. The food lived up to the setting – really delicious. Diana had an excellent burger and I loved my duck confit hash. After brunch, we explored the grounds and found a few peacocks and peahens roaming around.
I surprised Diana with a concert at the local One to One bar on Saturday night. This was her first visit to this music bar that I’ve enjoyed several times. The “Bee Gees Songbook” was the band performing and they did a very good job covering songs from the entirety of the Bee Gees extensive career. Here are a couple of the big hits:
Sunday was a lovely lazy day, followed by dinner at Barley Swine. We sat in the corner on the right of this picture. This is the sister restaurant to the Odd Duck, one of our local favourites. This is the furthest we’ve ventured out for a meal – a solid 10 mins or $10 Uber – that shows you how many great places there are within walking distance. We started with steak tartare and bone marrow, then amazing soup shitake dumplings, crab fundido with yummy tater tots, pork steaks, and tres leches desert cake. Wow! Another amazing Austin meal.
I finished “Man of the Year” by Caroline Louise Walker this week.
Dr. Robert Hart, Sag Harbor’s just-named Man of the Year, is the envy of his friends and neighbors. His medical practice is thriving. He has a beautiful old house and a beautiful new wife and a beautiful boat docked in the village marina. Even his wayward son, Jonah, is back on track, doing well at school, finally worthy of his father’s attentions. So when Jonah’s troubled college roommate, Nick, needs a place to stay for the summer, Hart and his wife generously offer him their guest house. A win-win: Jonah will have someone to hang with, and his father can bask in the warm glow of his own generosity.
And then things quickly start to unravel. I enjoyed the twists and turns as the pace quickened and differing view points of characters were revealed. I did not see the twists of the last 50 pages coming at all – very clever and creative.
In honor of Anne’s visit with Alejandro Escovedo – “Always a friend to you”:
Whenever I hear Bon Iver I remember how much I love his music and wonder why I don’t listen more often. Alicia always complained that she couldn’t understand the words:
I absolutely love this song by New Orleans little known artist John Fohl:
I can’t remember where I heard this song, but I really enjoy it: