And while a positive experience overall, traveling with tots will most assuredly involve heated disagreements, constant compromise, complaints of crippling hunger and periodic physical assaults among our young. At that point, the spousal eye contact is established and the nonverbal question is asked: was this worth it?
Oh, of course it was. But when you realize that that period of your life (bless its heart) has rapidly faded in the rear view, it takes a second to remember how care-free a two-person vacation can be. It's just two of you and by golly, you're both adults! You can have rational conversations and adjust on the fly, thereby exponentially increasing your average-enjoyment-per-minute ratio.
With that in mind, I have to tell you about our trip to Austin, Texas. I want to say it's the mecca of adult entertainment, but that's actually a strip of hotels in the San Fernando Valley. You know what I mean—if you're over twenty-one and love food, history, art and music, Austin has it all.
Here are some highlights:
Austin is home to the University of Texas as well as a rapidly-expanding tech sector, which helps explain its young demographic (Median age is 31.5). At the west edge of campus is the UT Tower, built in 1937 and still an imposing symbol of both the college and city.
The Texas Longhorn gridiron squad, as luck would have it, was playing at home that sunny Saturday afternoon of our visit, so after securing a couple of game tickets online (my awesome wife's idea!), we headed for campus.
While my bride thought a tour of the Tower and its panoramic view was a great idea on its surface, my thoughts naturally veered onto a more sinister path. Viewing the world through my invisible true-crime lenses at all times, I knew that the Tower was the scene of a horrific massacre over 50 years ago.
On August 1, 1966, after stabbing his mother and his wife to death the night before, former Marine Charles Whitman took rifles and other weapons to the observation deck atop the Main Building. He opened fire indiscriminately on the surrounding campus and streets, and over the ensuing 96 minutes, he shot and killed 14 people and injured 31 others. The incident ended when a policeman and a civilian reached Whitman and shot him dead.
Brutal. Gave me a chill to be up there even on a 75-degree day, and made me realize that mass shootings are nothing new in the U.S. Still a fascinating experience though, given the Tower's historical significance outside both prior to and since the tragedy.
From there, it was on to the football game! The photo above shows the stadium in the near distance. The majority of the crowd was primed for a day of fun and football; for some, though, it was business time:
I could feel the intensity of the day as these UT band members crossed our paths. Made me remember putting my game face on back in high school for a big parade or performance. Seriously, nothing is hotter than a marching band uniform on a sunny fall day. We may not have looked like athletes, but by God, our inner thigh meats chafed like them.
The band was wonderful, forming an eagle, the phrase "Thanks Vets," and "Go Horns" during halftime. And if that wasn't hard enough, everything they drew was upside down! Always going big, that Texas.
Inside the stadium, a blanket of pukey Texas burnt orange made my eye sockets sizzle, but holy shit, what an atmosphere. As you can see, that lonely guy sitting in front of me had tragically given up on reconnecting with his oblivious cohorts:
Not to be outdone, I had wisely chosen to wear my most relevant clothing article, a University of Washington basketball sweatshirt. People looked at me like I was some daft Yank who'd taken a wrong turn at the Red River Cutoff (not a thing).
Aren't selfies just the best ever?
Without boring you too much longer, here are a couple of other super fun things about Austin:
It's the capital of Texas! The majestic rotunda and its surrounding buildings are home to such historically illiterate governors as Rick Perry and George W. Bush!
Terry Black's Barbecue. Seriously, everything was so delicious I had to call an Uber because my hand couldn't stop rubbing my belly. Truly ambrosia for the PNW barbecue-challenged.
The UT Mexic-Arte Museum. Phenomenal sculpture, paintings and exhibits, including the video account of a child separated from her parents at the border. Powerful stuff.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. If you're like me and don't know a heck of a lot about LBJ, I think you'll be amazed when you learn how much he accomplished during his five years as Commander-in-Chief. In the end, Vietnam ultimately broke him, but only because the term "presidential conscience" wasn't an oxymoron in his world.
I had to dig this picture out of a musty basement box. On the back, it says it was taken during my family's trip to DC in the summer of '67. While I don't remember it, I know the president was a master of the knock-knock joke, and little 5-year-old Timmy couldn't have been more tickled.
The Congress Avenue bridge bats. Every night, starting in late March and continuing through early fall, North America's largest urban bat population rules the dusk. The bats begin to wake up around sunset, and soon hundreds to thousands of them are streaming out and flip-flapping east over Lady Bird Lake. The people in the above image had a great view— perhaps too good. They may have been unaware that the world is your comfort station when you're a Mexican Free-Tailed Bat.
Have I convinced you to experience Austin yet? Okay, then, how about this: in one 24-hour period during our stay, the temperature plummeted from 77 degrees to 31! That's a bigger drop than George W's horseshoe skills after he quit drinking.
Please, visit Austin soon. You never know when it could be swallowed up by the rest of the state.
Thanks for the tour, Tim! I remember the famous tower shootings. Back in those days, we East Coasters thought that it was the kind of thing that could only happen in Texas. Little did we know.
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