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Austin is nifty
Sep. 19th, 2005 08:54 amIf ya gotta be evacuated from New Orleans, Austin is a pretty nifty place to be, especially with such wonderful friends/hosts as Bonner & Robbie.
On the 16th Ms Hollie & I slept late, then had lunch at Las Manitas, did laundry, shopping, and catching up on our interneting, then we went for dinner with Bonner, Robbie, and Brian to a nice neighborhood Mexican place, "Evita's Bonitas", I think, with many salsas and as Robbie said excellent Molé. We only realized halfway through dinner that it was the 16 de Setiembre, so appropriate we had Mexican twice.
Next day was extremely productive. We went to Jo's Coffee on South Congress to meet Janie Z, an old friend from New Orleans who has been living in Austin for a few years doing her doctorate (Janie was one of the co-founders of the kiddie-pool jam & soak party tradition, which so far she's only had limited success in importing to Austin). The vast majority of folks we know got out of the city all right, but there's someone who last we heard was insisting on staying in a part of town that got major flooding. We still hope, but I fear it's only a matter of time before I hear that some friend didn't make it.
We stopped by J.Z.'s house, where she had some clothes set aside for Katrina evacuees and offered Ms. Hollie first dibs; Hollie got some sandles, a zebra-print purse, and cute Victoria's Secret shorts.
After Amy's Icecream (good local gourmet; great Mexican vanilla) to Hippie Hollow to enjoy the sun and swim in Lake Travis. Hollie is even more of a flatlander than I, and climbing over the rocks was a bit of a challenge, but I just had to remind her to take her time and make sure each foot is secure on each step.
More splashing later when Robbie took us over to her friend Kim's place which has a nice pool (a bit cool) and hot tub (yay!). A BBQ back at B&R's place, with some good friends, including Bonner's cousin E.T., and I got out my trombone for the first time since the Saturday before Katrina to jam with Doc Norden on tuba, a banjo, and guitarist.
Next morning I helped B & R set up the above ground pool in their backyard. H & I checked out the trendy shops and venues along South Congress (bumper stickers "Keep Austin Weird"), then up to the east side to Nubian Queen Lola's where there was a benifit for Katrina Evacuees. A couple of Austin musicians along with a bunch of New Orleanians, though noone I knew personally. A bunch of people there had gone through the hell of the Superdome and Convention Center, and about half planned not to return to New Orleans. I sat in with the band for a set; I was the only horn, but it worked. ( A number of Mardi Gras Indian songs, some of which I'd been creating tailgate trombone parts less than 2 months before for the Little Big Horn band. Oh, I heard from Ms. J and from one of the musicians at Lolas that Rev Goat is in Austin.) I was invited to play with a group Tuesday night.
Ms. J also showed up, and said she really liked the music, and never expected to see people second lining like that in Austin.
Ms. Hollie was about burned out for the day, so I dropped her "home" I went to another benifit party, a "Barn Dance", which included Theresa Anderson, Mardi Gras Indians (no costumes), and some street circus people.
On the 16th Ms Hollie & I slept late, then had lunch at Las Manitas, did laundry, shopping, and catching up on our interneting, then we went for dinner with Bonner, Robbie, and Brian to a nice neighborhood Mexican place, "Evita's Bonitas", I think, with many salsas and as Robbie said excellent Molé. We only realized halfway through dinner that it was the 16 de Setiembre, so appropriate we had Mexican twice.
Next day was extremely productive. We went to Jo's Coffee on South Congress to meet Janie Z, an old friend from New Orleans who has been living in Austin for a few years doing her doctorate (Janie was one of the co-founders of the kiddie-pool jam & soak party tradition, which so far she's only had limited success in importing to Austin). The vast majority of folks we know got out of the city all right, but there's someone who last we heard was insisting on staying in a part of town that got major flooding. We still hope, but I fear it's only a matter of time before I hear that some friend didn't make it.
We stopped by J.Z.'s house, where she had some clothes set aside for Katrina evacuees and offered Ms. Hollie first dibs; Hollie got some sandles, a zebra-print purse, and cute Victoria's Secret shorts.
After Amy's Icecream (good local gourmet; great Mexican vanilla) to Hippie Hollow to enjoy the sun and swim in Lake Travis. Hollie is even more of a flatlander than I, and climbing over the rocks was a bit of a challenge, but I just had to remind her to take her time and make sure each foot is secure on each step.
More splashing later when Robbie took us over to her friend Kim's place which has a nice pool (a bit cool) and hot tub (yay!). A BBQ back at B&R's place, with some good friends, including Bonner's cousin E.T., and I got out my trombone for the first time since the Saturday before Katrina to jam with Doc Norden on tuba, a banjo, and guitarist.
Next morning I helped B & R set up the above ground pool in their backyard. H & I checked out the trendy shops and venues along South Congress (bumper stickers "Keep Austin Weird"), then up to the east side to Nubian Queen Lola's where there was a benifit for Katrina Evacuees. A couple of Austin musicians along with a bunch of New Orleanians, though noone I knew personally. A bunch of people there had gone through the hell of the Superdome and Convention Center, and about half planned not to return to New Orleans. I sat in with the band for a set; I was the only horn, but it worked. ( A number of Mardi Gras Indian songs, some of which I'd been creating tailgate trombone parts less than 2 months before for the Little Big Horn band. Oh, I heard from Ms. J and from one of the musicians at Lolas that Rev Goat is in Austin.) I was invited to play with a group Tuesday night.
Ms. J also showed up, and said she really liked the music, and never expected to see people second lining like that in Austin.
Ms. Hollie was about burned out for the day, so I dropped her "home" I went to another benifit party, a "Barn Dance", which included Theresa Anderson, Mardi Gras Indians (no costumes), and some street circus people.
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