Austin Recap
Talk about a great city – Austin is really amazing. It’s a place where, as my friends Josiah and Sharon might say, I find “my people.” There’s great vegetarian food (we ate at two delicious vegetarian places – Mr. Natural and Mother’s), an excellent farmers’ market, fun movie theaters where you can eat and watch movies (or as my brother said, drink beer and watch a movie), lots of alternative medicine, and, of course, great music.
On Friday night, my brother took me and his wife to see Alejandro Escovedo. What a great series of events to be in town when he was playing (although I expect he plays there often since he’s a Texan). We saw him play at Antone’s, a great little club in downtown. The crowd was great and lively, and we stood about four people back from the stage. The show was tight and rich, with David Pulkingham on guitar adding a special level of flair. Aside from a near fight that was provoked by drinking and close quarters and that had to be broken up by Escovedo himself – “I’m not going to play until you guys cut it out,” he said – the night was great. A great live show. And he played my favorite song off his new album – “Always a Friend.”
So the trip was great fun – good parts of relaxing and activity – good talks with my brother and with my sister-in-law – good food – good music – all good. Go to Austin if you can. Really.
And on another really up note, this really kind and wonderful gentleman made a special trip to see me when I got back last night. What a great homecoming from a great trip.