“Be a New Orleanian, wherever you are”
The week started out quietly and calmly, and ended the same way, with a lot of activity in between, thanks to a visit from our New Orleanian friends Denny, Thom, and Alex. Those boys take the saying “Be a New Orleanian wherever you are” seriously – it’s hard to keep up.
My anticipation was building for Wednesday evening, and a “date” night that Diana arranged for us. A visit to Warby Parker to try and get our glasses adjusted was first on the agenda. Neither one of us was totally happy with our vision after the visit, and I suspected my lenses were going to have to be remade – it’s a lot of hassle getting old.
The somewhat frustrating optical visit was followed by a delicious dinner at June’s All Day. I opted for the taste bud delight that they call “Bone Marrow Bolognese”. It was an easy downhill stroll back to our apartment from this South Congress dining institution, and a rare McD planned evening drew to a close. Thanks for the date D!
The New Orleans crew showed up early on Friday afternoon. Denny really wanted to reprise the lunch at Loro when he visited with Anne, and so we all headed over to South Lamar. The guys loved Loro and the bavette steak, corn fritters, and a number of other smoked meat delights that I can’t remember. Just around the corner from Loro is a place that I had been waiting to try – The Austin Beer Garden Brewery (AGBG). We enjoyed the sun in the beer garden and caught up on life.
A short walk down South Lamar, and we were rendezvousing with Diana at the Saxon Pub for the Denny Freeman happy hour show. The guys were amazed at how many people were in attendance so early on a Friday night. Things don’t get started until much later in New Orleans.
Thom was a wee bit “sleepy” after the Saxon Pub, so we took him to Jo’s coffee on South Congress, and got this adorable shot with their “I Love You So Much” mural:
The guys were surprisingly hungry (I thought Loro would sate them longer) and so we stopped in next door to Guero’s for a Mexican dinner. That was followed by a leisurely stroll down to C-Boy’s Heart and Soul for the Jimmy Vaughan 10pm show. It’s always a huge treat to see him in such a small venue and we were lucky to get a booth right in front of the stage. What a great show, besides the Dutch sounding guy that didn’t understand the rules about getting in other folks personal space, even after a demonstration of where he should be standing. Even the cocktail waitress was getting frustrated with him.
After the busy Friday, I suggested some light activity to start out Saturday, only to be told what a silly idea that was – a hike up Barton Springs? Absolutely not! A round of pitch and putt? Even worse! A compromise was struck, and we walked a half mile down Barton Springs to El Alma for brunch on the rooftop deck. It was a tad chilly but the sun felt good and they did provide heaters and blankies.
Everyone enjoyed brunch and then I was able to sneak in some more 
walking, with a quick stop into Carpenter Hall, followed by a walk along the river trail and past the Stevie Ray Vaughan memorial. It’s sad to imagine what great music the Vaughan brothers would be making today, had Stevie not died in that tragic helicopter crash so many years ago.
After a short regroup at the apartment, we walked on the other side of the river to Rainey street, and stopped into the patio at the Half Step. We followed that with a quick stop into Geraldine’s at the Van Zandt hotel, unfortunately with no music going. Then the group splintered, with Diana and I heading back to the apartment to rest, and the boys heading off to meet various sets of friends. The two of us were so tired that we slept through several phone calls from poor Mr. Denny, attempting to get up to the apartment. We had neglected to tell him that he was on the list to be let into our apartment whenever he wanted, and so he ended up crashing with the other two at the Hyatt across the parking lot.
I walked over with the boys for breakfast tacos on Sunday morning, and then Denny relaxed in a less crowded bed, while the rest of us headed off for some shopping. Best for everyone, as Denny’s only good for about 2 minutes of shopping activity. We started at Whole Earth Provisions on North Lamar (similar to REI with outdoor and camping gear, but with a bit more eclectic selection), then wandered down to the classic Austin institution, Waterloo records, where Alex picked up a couple of albums.
Denny and Diana met up with us on the fancy El Comedor patio for brunch. I loved the TX mushroom quesadilla, the corn tortilla had an amazing flavour – right up there with Suerte. Poor Diana did have to try three times before getting a poached egg that didn’t have a yoke that was too hard – part of the problem is that with her dish they serve the poached egg cold, and it’s hard to get a runny yoke with that approach.
A short Uber ride took us to the totally different neighborhood feel of East Austin and the patio at Whislers. From there, some excellent research from Denny took us to Central Machine Works, a new massive brewery and outdoor patio space in an old industrial machine shop building. This will be a good place to visit on warm Spring evenings. I like that they “rescued” one of the old machines to be mounted above the bar.
We made note of Sawyer & Co. across the street, a 50s style diner with Cajun Creole style food that gets good reviews – it’s on the list for an upcoming brunch visit.
Diana and I opted to head back to the apartment to rest, while the boys ventured off to find a suitable place to watch the Superbowl. I had to laugh as their black Suburban Uber pulled up and Diana and I jumped into an old lime green Toyota Corolla – we weren’t going far. The crew arrived back at the apartment in time for the second half, and then were off home to New Orleans. Whew! That was a busy weekend.
With all that activity, I was still able to get some quiet reading time in, finishing up “Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid. This book is on all the “Best of the Year So Far” lists, and so I thought I’d try it out. Here’s a typically effusive review:
“A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.”
I sort of enjoyed this book, a quick page turning read, but found it trying too hard to make the racial and class divide commentaries. Sometimes reading like a typical summer “beach read” and others quite preachy, I did enjoy the chapters told from the different character points of view.
I made a note to myself that if I see one of those “Reese’s Book Club” (Reese Witherspoon) stickers on a dust jacket, I’m likely not going to love the book – this is my second miss of two that carry her recommendation.
The South Austin Moonlighters was a CD on one of the listening stations at Waterloo records. After 30 seconds I knew I really liked the sound – great production and excellent harmonies. I think this sounds like something in between the harmony of the Eagles and Crosby, Stills and Nash, and I like it a lot.
The production sound of the album is excellent, with all instruments clear and natural sounding. I just did some research on the band, not knowing anything about them prior to the Waterloo visit, only to find that this album was produced by Anders Osborne, my favourite New Orleans singer-songwriter.
The band is comprised of veteran musicians who got together to “moonlight”, and just enjoy playing music together – now it’s become their main gig. And you can see them at a small Austin venue like Threadgills for $10 in a couple of weeks.