With our great meal in stomach, we enjoyed an after dinner, booze flavored coffee. We watched the day crowd turn into the night crowd from Halcyon's fantastic viewing platform. With darkness approaching, we morphed from men about town (daytime version) to men about town (night time version.) Our night time selves started the night at:
Peché refers to itself as a preprohibition/absinthe bar. There is a a long story that the owner, who is usually present at the bar, will tell you. For the case of this story read "preprohibition" as "fancy cocktail". The drinks are grand, but the real appeal is the bartenders. Correction, the real appeal is usually bartenders.
I would love to say that I found this joint on one of my daytime excursions through Austin, but alas the credit goes to my sister. She had come down to visit me during Easter weekend. I had the misfortune of being employed at the time, so after retrieving her from the airport I jet set to work and dumped her in downtown Austin with a key to my apartment. When I returned to Austin I found my slightly more intoxicated sister at this gem of a place. Luckily she was in good spirits . . . and was being aggressively hit on by the owner of said establishment, which worked out well for our bar tab.
When I lived in Austin a bartender at this joint won bartender of the year from some publication. I'm not exactly sure how prestigious bartender awards are on a scale from buzzfeed list to the Pulitzer for Exemplary Achievment in Mixological arts, but it briefed well. The bartenders are incredibly knowledgeable and can craft a dynamite cocktail from a couple of adjectives and possibly some nouns. For example tell them: I'm feeling sleepy and I've been watching the Walking Dead for 36 straight hours and bam, Corpse Reviver in your face.
I always try to stop at whenever I'm back in town. I had been by the previous week and had met a bartender who was dealing with some financial issues. By financial issues I mean that her roommate robbed her and charged hundreds of dollars to her credit cards. It would just so happen that when Dave, Andrew, and myself entered the bar on this night this unfortunate soul was tending the bar. For the sake of this story I will refer to her as Penny.
The story begins as we mosey up to the bar to order a cocktail, err three cocktails. I recognized Penny and asked about her unfortunate situation. She was surprised that I knew about her situation and I was a little offended she didn't remember me (Me!), but it fueled the conversation. She revealed a delightful anecdote about running across the street to a new bar inside a parking garage, aptly named Garage.
A quick clarification for future understanding. Penny was snotty and curt, however she had two redeeming characteristics. 1.) She smiled and laughed on occasion and 2.) She was pretty. A coworker of hers later described her as such: "She's a bitch, but she's cute enough to get away with it." An apt description. As our merry band was squaring our bill, Andrew observed Penny swipe his card twice. This (greatly abridged) conversation ensued:
Andrew: "Did you just swipe my card twice?"
Penny: "Yep, I rang it up wrong the first time."
Andrew: "Well, can I get the receipt saying the first one was cancelled?"
Penny: "No."
Andrew: "What, why?
Penny: "That's not how we do it here. I can get my manager to explain it."
Andrew: "Sure, I don't understand why you can't give me a receipt."
The manager came and the conversation lasted for another 10 minutes. Dave and I stewed in our ever increasing awkwardness, made forced conversation, and periodically looked around the room to ensure the decor hadn't changed. Andrew gave up (thank the Maker) and we went to a happier place. This place:
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| I don't know if I should be posting this, but . . . this is the sign for the incredibly well hidden Garage Bar. It's super secret. |
Place Number 8: Garage Cocktail Bar - A lounge style cocktail bar in the middle of a parking garage and possibly in an alternate dimension.
Garage was located in one of the ubiquitous concrete behemoths that sprinkle the landscape of downtown Austin, however we could not find it. Clearly, this bar was doing a great job hiding itself from all the riff raff.
Luckily we found a kindly parking attendant who pointed us towards our destination, and thus prevented us from being deemed riff raff. The only identifier for Garage, is a neon sign that clearly states "Garage". Boy were our faces red, having missed such an obvious indicator. We hesitantly walked past the sign and into an outdoor foyer. The bar opened up to a long lounge style bar. I remember jazz playing in the background, or maybe it was in my head. It was a very swank place indeed.
Andrew was still feeling a bit off kilter about the credit card fiasco, so our stay in the hidden lounge was short. We decided to move to a scene with happier vibes:
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| Austin Music Scene: People identify Austin with live country music. Although the country is great, it is just the tip of the iceberg. It has an incredibly eclectic music scene. Live music can be found at almost every bar on almost every night. Here is a brief, but all too short breakdown of some of the places that have Cale Bakken's seal of approval in the Live Music Capital of the World. The White Horse: Super eclectic crowd, always a great country band. Firehouse Hostel Lounge: Wednesday night open mic night, this where all the local performers in Austin come together to cut loose with other artists, the signup is filled 3 hours in advance. Saxon Pub: Incredibly intimate setting where local Austin legends perform experiences, these are full scale entertainment extravaganzas. Black Heart: A new favorite of mine, outdoor small venue with killer shows and a vintage/pinup/rockabilly vibe. There are so many other places, such as Donn's Depot, Austin City Music Hall, Maggie Mae's, Threadgill's, The Broken Spoke, Elephant Room, Stubb's BBQ, and dozens of other great top notch joints. I'm not even going to touch all the music festivals, which are great and as varied as the venues. The great thing about Austin isn't the huge amount (and it is a huge amount)of music venues, it's how unique all the great ones feel. There is a place and vibe in Austin for everyone to groove to. |
Place Number 3: The White Horse (at night)
A quick cab ride later and we found ourselves back at the White Horse. It was packed with its standard nonstandard crowd. Dave was hell bent on finding bluegrass in Austin, country music was playing for an indefinable demographic of Austinites honky tonking the night away. Not exactly bluegrass, but I didn't have the heart to tell Dave. Needless to say the crowd was as lively as ever and people were happy.
Andrew and I slipped off to a few other staples (Yellow Jacket Social Club and Whisler's, see Austin Part 1 for a brief description of said rockin' joints) and returned a few drinks later. Bar time was called and we cabbed it back to the hostel to the familiar scene of travelers hanging around outside chatting. Always a lively bunch, the hostel crowd, and the conversation was as varied as the people. As Andrew and Dave slipped off to bed I remained engaged into conversation with, Veronica, a young traveler from Los Angeles and an old hippie, Jordan, who was on his first Austin adventure.
Traveling surprises a person with the incredible and unexpected continuously. The narrative of my night seemed pointed towards a story of drinking and dancing into the wee hours, but that's not how it ended. The night for ended watching the sun come up across 6th street. I spent 4 hours chatting with this girl about topics more personal than strangers usually do.
It is deceptively easy to open up to someone who you expect to never see again. If, however the unexpected does happen and you do cross paths with the fellow traveler, there is already a deep connection. We ended our chat at 7 in the morning so she could grab her things to catch a train back to L.A. On further reflection she may have been traveling as a hobo, in fact the more I reflect I'm pretty sure she jumping the rails back to Cali.
I retired back to my bunk profoundly content. Little did I know that around the time that I was retiring to bed a series of events was beginning that would shape the next day's events. However, that is for the next time.
Takeaway: A great meal had led to a great coffee and cigar, which had led to a great drink, which had led to hidden parking garage lounge, which had led to some honky tonking, which had led to an incredible 4 hour conversation with a person whom I may never see again. Did you follow the causal connections? Me either, but sometimes your just have to hop on the train and ride the rails.
