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Last night, I fully intended to shower
the road-dust off my body, shave and then head
out to 6th Street in some clean duds. I got as
far as the shave, but then I made the mistake of
sitting down on the bed to see what was on the
TV. I awoke this morning to the sound of "The
Mighty Ducks" cartoon and breakfast being
delivered to my door.
I started flipping through my maps and
guide books, over eggs and coffee. Then I picked
up the "Welcome to Austin" book. I thumbed
through its glossy pages of stylish boutiques
and restaurants. All of which really did not
appeal to me. But there was enough in there
about the history of Austin to make decide to
take this seventh day as a rest day and explore
the city.
Down in the lobby, I attempted to book in
for another night and was informed that, at that
time, no rooms were available. So, I left my
bags in their vault while I headed out into the
city.
My first port of call was the Capitol
Building. They run free tours every hour and I
took one of these. I could wax on about all the
nuggets of information I received from the
guide, but you can get all that from any history
book.
From the Capitol Building I walked to the
University campus area. This is a few short
blocks to the North. And I have to hand it to
Texas. It is a beautiful site, rich with
historical structures on tree lined avenues. As
I walked, prospective students were being shown
around. A little further out the private homes
start. I paused for a caffeine fix at the
"Select Cigar Shop", on Guadalupe, and watched
the hubbub of college life surge by. This
particular street appears to be the social
center for the university and is full of coffee
shops, restaurants, trendy clothing outlets and
bars. A couple of street markets were doing a
busy trade and homeless scavenged for small
change.
Now here is something that has become
universal. In every area, of every city, where
trendy businesses have evolved to service a
young crowed of poor students, the stylishly
homeless appear. Now, I know that this is
definitely not PC (Politically Correct), but to
my mind it would make more sense to panhandle in
areas where people have money!
However, even the panhandling here is
done in a very mild and friendly way. And this
open friendliness was rapidly becoming one of
the signatures of this city.
From the college I walked back through
the downtown area and along the Town Lake before
returning to The Driskill, hoping that a room
had become available. On reaching East 6th
Street, I found that ESPN's Games Xperience Tour
was nearing completion (It was now approaching
6pm). These were mock climbing walls, stunt
trampolines, a stage, booths and two competition
stage-ramps. The street was full of the hip,
young and beautiful as the cheered on some
extreme cycling, blading and skate-boarding. I
have a hard time staying upright on a pair of
inline skates. These guys were throwing
somersaults and twists ... It was ...
unbelievable!
Unfortunately, when I returned to the
hotel, there were still no rooms available. Two
of the hotel front desk staff labored with me in
calling around every hotel in town. No luck. I
eventually left with a list of Bed and Breakfast
establishments. No luck there either. So, three
hours later, I headed South down the I35 until I
found a Motel 8 with a room. I guess that
anything would have been a compromise after The
Driskill.
As you may have noticed, I was quite
taken by Austin. It has an amazing cosmopolitan
feel to it, that I have not seen in any other US
capitol city. The down town area is made up of
an attractive mix of old and new buildings and
businesses. It has the affluent feel of a
capitol city and the buzz of a college town. And
this shows in the mix of people on its streets
(business suits mix with DMs and Denim). It also
benefits from a lack of the structured districts
present in many cities. And all this in dramatic
contrast to most of the Western Texas I
experienced on route here. In fact, I will go so
far as to say that Austin has reinstated a
desire in me to go back to school.
It has been sooooo good to use my legs
for more than the clutch, breaks and
accelerator.
I hope to return one day.
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