I have completed 2 Austin trips in my travels. The first trip I spent wandering around a city that was formerly my home. I rambled and I roamed through a city that was once mine. Austin had gone and changed on me.
I will delve into Austin in later posts. Suffice it to say on my first trip, I merely wandered around the old stomping grounds. I walked West 6th, and I people-watched with a pint on the new Rainey street (in the rain funnily enough).
I felt like a ghost shambling through my former city. I saw it through a spectral haze. Everything was vaguely familiar . . . yet different. I had become a stranger in my former home.
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| This is one of the most famous Austin landmarks. It is scrawled on the side of Jo's Coffee on Congress Ave. and it accurately represents my first trip to Austin. It was painted over, but then painstakingly recreated because it had become such a landmark. In summation, Austin I love you so much, you are the same yet so God damn different, but I still love you so much. |
Perhaps that's a little melodramatic. I still managed to have fun, meet some great people, caught up with some old friends (Note: 'caught up' can be read as 'got irresponsibly shmamered') and enjoyed the new city for what it had become.
'Twas a quick meet and greet with my old friend Austin. From Austin I headed to College Station for a quick meet and greet with an old human friend.
College Station (Home of the Texas A&M Aggies) is perhaps the most extreme version of a college town I have ever experienced. The college dominates College Station. The college is the heart of the city, with every aspect of the town permeating from the college in concentric circles. Here is an accurate, nearly to scale map of College Station.
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| Using this map I was able to deftly maneuver my way around College Station. |
At this point I should note: I had planned to meet my friend in college station at 6 and it was 3. Needless to say, I had some time to fill.
After I saw the drunks/college students at bars at 3, I moved to the bookstore. The bookstore was small, but it had an admirable array of pencils, so I bought one for 77 cents (For a Draftline?! What a deal!. . . I think). Having bought an instrument of writing, I needed an instrument of writing . . . on. I went to a gas station around the corner and purchased a small 50 cent memo pad which I still carry (although much more battered and tattered) to this day in my back left pocket.
I found a nice little spot for me and Jason to meet at. Time warp a few hours later, (after a bit of student ghetto wandering and bench sitting) I met Jason at the Blackwater Draw Brewing Company.
This place was righteous. However, the service was not professional. Not bad, but thee barkeeps were prone to get caught up in conversations for extended periods of time while leaving other patrons parched.
When I first arrived it took me 25 minutes (while sitting at the bar) to get service. It wasn't because the guy was intentionally being a dick; he was so into the conversation he was having he forgot he was working.
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| My first trip to the Blackwater Draw Brewing Company. Notice the incredible purse to my left! Also notice that I don't have a drink yet . . . (Note: The glass in front of me was empty and was there when I arrived, busing is indeed a lost art.) |
It's one of those service models which leads to the patrons having either an incredible or a horrible time. If you ever head to the BWDBC give it time, it will be worth it. The brews were good and they had goll dang bowie knives as taps! Dangerous place to get in a bar fight, but a great place to drink.
Jason and I grabbed some food and reminisced about the good ol' days and the tough times. We talked about our times securing the northern cultural border in Iraq at Patrol Base 1. We talked about what we really thought about our former soldiers and where they are now. We talked about the difficulties and freedom of leaving the army.
We fell back into rhythm.
Jason and I had instant rapport with when I arrived at Patrol Base 1 in Gware, Iraq, and we fell back into step at Blackwater. Conversation has always been easy between us, not because of shared experience or life views, but rather because we have the same sense of humor. I believe to this day that sense of humor is the greatest indicator of friendship.
As the night wore on he told me about his new job and family, and I regaled him with tales of my travels; we moved outside to say farewell. It was a farewell that meant until I see you again. There are certain people in all of our lives whom we will drive 100 miles out of the way to go see, and Jason is and forever will be one of those guys for me.
It was a farewell to Jason and to College Station A place that will forever signify good friends, good times. and God damn Bowie Knives.
