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Bookmark & shareA Top Day in Austin
I wake up late in the spare simplicity of a 1940s Hotel San José rear garden bungalow. If karma exists, I must be doing something right. First things first, Jo's coffee. I queue up for a cappuccino next door and grab the last of the S Congress streetside tables. People-watching in south Austin is a movable art gallery. That buttoned-down blue business suit only looks boring - until you notice her 7inch-long tribal ankle tattoo. And there's no telling how much ink that retro chic with a fifties skirt and I-Love-Lucy 'do has.
What to do next? Spend a lazy afternoon poking about the eclectic houseware boutiques and thrift shops in SoCo or head over to Zilker Park for some kayaking? Shopping, a short walk away, eventually wins. I'm sure Billy needs a new snap-front Allen's western wear shirt for our night on the town. We have early dinner reservations at Lambert's - the best damn barbecue in town, I don't care if it is fancied up. Afterwards anywhere local alternative country singer Kelly Willis is playing, that's where we're going. If she's not on, we'll meet our friends at the Broken Spoke - a true Texas honky tonk. Don't 'spect any line dancing here, that's for dang sure. The spiffy octogenarian couple over yonder's been two-steppin' for fifty years. This is still Austin though, so over in a corner a twenty-something duo dressed in black performs a slow-mo interpretive dance of sorts. Who knows what sent them on that trip. It's smoke free in here.
I'd meant to get back in time for a quiet glass of wine in the hotel's courtyard bar, but it's too late and we've had too much fun... No matter, a yoga class or miles-long hike tomorrow will restore the balance.
Author: Lisa Dunford
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