July 21-24, 2005 Austin/San Antonio

The drive from Dallas to Austin was hassle free and scenic. Along the way, I stopped at in Waco for lunch and sadly could not coerce any locals into giving me directions to the Branch Davidian compound.
For a while, I was alone on the road. There were no cars passing me in the opposite direction.
This was the first shot of the city of Austin. The capital building rises above the trees on the highway.
There's more of the skyline with the back of a building facing the road.
Austin
I bided my time at the Hampton Inn (by far the nicest paid place I stayed on the entire trip) before heading out for the night. I walked back and forth along 6th Street for hours before the sun came down. Once night fell, the whole area lit up and droves of people flocked to the bars and venues.
I had tried to get in touch with the person who books gigs at Emo's, but I don't remember getting any phone calls back from the person.
Remember, I was drinking the whole time, so these pictures are probably going to get a little confusing.
I don't remember what exactly this is. There are a lot of open-air bars that have live bands playing right up near the entrance, so this was either a band performing or setting up...but without a flash to illuminate what was occuring.
Out of a bar, back onto 6th Street.
An insane number of bars have free live music, so I popped into one and sat down for a few minutes to capture some of the local flavor.
Back among the throng of people.
I should mention that along the way I stopped in a small liquor store to buy a 750 of Maker's Mark, so I was getting drunk quickly...
Drunker...
AAAAAAAnd I'm drunk.
I was transfixed by the neon lights.
More neon lights and facades.
Blind Pig.
The walk back to my room.
The next morning I woke up and retrieved my car from the valet (high society) so I could drive to San Antonio for the day. My goal was to see the Alamo and Riverwalk.
Alamo
One of these days I'll figure out how to rotate the image on my camera.
Cannon.
Fish
Greenery
Still inside the Alamo complex
Riverwalk was stunning. I think I took about fifty pictures. All of which I will show to you now.
I paid to take a tour, it was only a few bucks and it granted an interesting perspective.
I don't remember what that is.
Cool, right?
It's like I'm walking on water.
Soaking in the scene.
The walkway.
Trees.
Clock tower.
Tons of places to eat. Lots of people.
Under a walking bridge.
That guy yelled something.
Tell me this isn't interesting and pretty.
I think I got swept away by the perfect weather and the unique structures and accoutrements.
The water wasn't exactly crystal clear, though.
A small waterfall.
Did you like that? It was just like a montage! Oh, here's the capital building. I took a very long walk this day, and I wouldn't recommend anyone spend as much time on their feet as I did on my final day in Austin. I don't remember all the street names, but it was a long, long distance.
Look at the juxtaposition here.
Downtown buildings on a perfect day.
Waterloo was probably the second best record store I visited on my entire trip. Only the Amoeba Records locations in California had a better selection.
That morning I fell asleep in the sun while I was sitting at my hotel's (posh) rooftop pool. I became so incredibly sunburned that my body turned a deep shade of pink and I could barely put a t-shirt on without grimacing. By the time I got to Arizona, I was like a snake shedding its skin. In this picture, I'm the pink blob in the foggy bathroom mirror.
On the morning of the 24th, I left for Abilene. I will miss Austin, very much. Especially the girl who worked in the liquor store way down on 6th Street near Guadalupe.