Homeward bound
Monday March 22nd Houston ‘George Bush’ airport.
Dan and Andy left to get the bus but it was just leaving as they got there so they jumped into Chad’s car and chased after it until it stopped then they jumped out and caught it. Rival Schools made Andy reminiscence of his school days. The singer, called Walter, was really energetic on stage and has a great voice – he really got the crowd going. Although it was cold outside we enjoyed it very much. Emma watched ‘The Squid and the Whale’ a great depiction of a NYC-based family on the verge of meltdown – apparently Noah and the Whale based their band name on this film because they liked it so much. After managing to get a good night’s sleep, we woke up on Sunday feeling more energetic. We watched King of Kong which was a hilarious documentary about competitive King Kong video gaming. We then went downtown to the river and did a fairly long walk around Town Lake, a beautiful park area in South Austin. There were large terrapins/turtles sunning themselves on trees really near to the path and lots of people jogging, as well as a little train to transport people (that didn’t like jogging) and some beautiful tropical plants and trees.
After our walk we then went to a vintage shopping area in South Congress and went on a mission to find a pair of affordable fitting cowboy boots for Jasmine. Dan found a perfectly fitting marine jacket (to make its debut at a gig soon…) and Andy found some more nice shirts with ‘pearl snaps’. In between shopping we stopped for Elgin sausage burgers and amazing cupcakes from a tin caravan– injected with a cream filling (the whipper snapper option). South Congress was also host to several craft stalls where we purchased some smaller souvenirs.
We then went to the Capitol - the central governmental building for Texas built in 1888. There was no entry charge or tour we just explored the building. At the centre of the building below the cupola (dome) there was a tiled star with a crack through it where someone had jumped from the higher balcony and died. The lone star of Texas was everywhere – in the hinges, lightshades, walls, floors, office furniture etc. We then got a bus home and had a final meal out plus more margueritas with Chad at Hoovers. We went to bed after being handed some handpicked music from Chad to suit each of us individually.
Austin has been a really cool city – the buses are regular, on time, cheap ($1 per ride or $2 for 24hrs) and went from Chad’s door to all the places we needed to go. Apparently there is free dental and heavily discounted healthcare for musicians and their partners in Austin. There was also free biodegradable poop bags in the parks. The weather has been lovely and the people really friendly. It is a really colourful city with a little of murals on the buildings. The taxi drivers have been pretty interesting too.
We got up at 4am this morning to fly to NYC La Guardia via Houston and now the boys are heading back to the UK this evening.
