Our Trip To Austin, TX

My family just had a wonderful trip to Austin, TX.  In fact I'm on the airplane right now heading to Detroit (??) and then on to Harrisburg.  I don't make the flight plan, I just ride.  Anyway, we had a great time.  And yes, I did play while we were there.  They say if you want to play in Texas you gotta have a fiddle and a band.  I was allowed to perform with only my iPod and the piano at the church.  I guess they waived the requirement for a Pennsylvania boy.

The crew

Here are some of the highlights.

The city of Austin is very cool.  There are many places to eat, and many places to hear live music.  If you want to hear the music, weekends are best, but not a requirement. We went downtown on a Tuesday night to hear my sister-in-law's band Acoustalyn play.  They are mellow, Acoustic musicians who were booked at a heavy metal bar.  It was a little weird, but they did well and sounded great.  And they weren't the only ones out playing on a Tuesday night.  For shopping with attitude, head down to South Congress.  Lots of quirky, fun places to see.  We were also "privileged" to see Leslie, the Queen of Austin, who is a famous, cross dressing man with a beard and long hair.  For us he was sporting a cheerleader outfit with portions cut out so that we could see his choice of undergarments.  There's a slogan in town that goes, "Keep Austin weird," and Leslie is certainly doing his part.

Austin is also a very beautiful, natural area.  There a park called Zilcker Park, which had a botanical gardens, nature center, and a large natural pool which is fed by springs.  Beautiful stuff.  You should definitely check it out.  We learned that all of Texas only has one naturally occurring lake, but there are lakes that have been created by damming of rivers.  We saw one called Lake Austin, which we enjoyed by climbing the cliffs overlooking the lake.  Gorgeous.  We also went out to Lake Travis, which likewise is lined by tall cliffs overlooking the beautiful lake.  There are many luxurious homes positioned around the cliffs.  The owner of Dell Computers has a home there, and it is a palace.

Natural pool at Zilcker Park

Mr. Dell's house.

We also took a couple field trips while we stayed in Austin.  One was to Fredericksburg, an old, German Texas town.  Now it's mostly shopping, but the old, German influence remains.  On the way there we saw Wild Seeds wildflower farm and gift shop.  It was amazing.  Definitely a highlight.  The other field trip we enjoyed was out to San Marcos, a town which featured a glass bottom boat tour of their "lake."  Very cool.  You can also tour their wetlands which were manufactured by damming of a river in town.  It's very trendy, apparently, all this damming.

Wildseeds.

I was able to play at two churches, while in Austin.  One in South Austin and one in Cedar Park.  It is always great when I can get out and sing God's praises anywhere.  That includes Texas.  Hmm.  I wonder how many states I have performed in.  Here's the list off the top of my head.  PA, NJ, NY, MD, VA, NC, GA, FL, OH, WI, MN, TX, and Ontario.  Not too bad.  I'll keep working on building that list.