Sunday September 22
I am on the way home via Austin. Anne McCue kindly drove me to Nashville airport at 5.45am and it only took me 20 minutes to clear check in and security. The flight to Austin left at 7.20am and was a mere two hours and ten minutes.
I had enjoyed my stay in Music City and despite my injury I had managed to do a lot and see plenty of music. My main impression of Nashville is that it is growing at a ridiculous pace. Someone said there were 300 people a day moving in, someone else claimed 100 a day. At the very least that is 50,000 extra people a year, rivalling Melbourne for growth.
In the inner city area of Nashville most things old are being knocked down. The skyline is unrecognisable from that pictured on the back of Dylan’s Nashville Skyline. Most of the former carpark at the City Winery is now a massive crater that will no doubt house a new skyscraper.
Amazingly enough, East Nashville has managed to preserve its character with houses dating back to the early 1900s, with plenty of what we call California bungalows and others with their own unique character. It is almost as if artists and musicians were the ones who settled here in the first place. It is also an area that values its trees and the streets are lined with them, the front gardens and lawns are all open, no fences here, no footpaths either. However, you would be lucky to find a house under A$1 million anywhere in this area.
When I arrived in Austin I got a wheelchair to take me from the gate lounge to the baggage claim (yes, my hip is that sore). I ended up tipping the young attendant US$10 because he kept waiting and asking me if I needed anything else and also looked like he wasn’t going to leave. Plus, I didn’t have any spare change. To be fair it was a very long way.
Tipping is something that you have to accept in the USA and once you realise that the basic wage is fairly low and some people working in hospitality only get US$5.50 an hour then it makes sense. Always have plenty of dollar notes in your wallet for the casual occasion, like tipping a waiter or when getting a drink or coffee. Now that we mostly use cards the card readers display a suggested tip of 15, 18, 20 or 25%. I usually choose the first or second selection. But I also try to pay the tip in cash which is often a bit cheaper. In New Orleans it was an automatic 18% tip in some places for groups of 4 or more.
I emerged from the Austin baggage claim and looked at getting an Uber but the cheapest was US$26. So, I caught the bus (now the #20) which crosses Congress as the stop is not far from the airport exit doors. This is my favourite airport bus anywhere: a US$1.25 single trip ticket all the way into town. Except that the bus driver was nowhere to be seen. I boarded with a young student who was in town for a conference. Suddenly, driver appeared out of nowhere – must have been taking a pit stop – and she took off at breakneck speed. There was no way we were going to get up and try to buy a ticket. (I purchased one online later to make up for it). The student and I appeared to be the only non-locals to use the bus. Some people who were obviously going to a festival (they had backpacks and some had chairs) got on and then off before the I-35 crossover.
When we arrived at the bus stop just before South Congress my plan was to walk up the hill to the Austin Motel. It’s only a kilometre and up hill most of the way. Good plan? At 10.30am it was already hot and I had a carry on bag plus backpack and a High Sierra pack that I had to drag. I took off, broke out into a sweat and remembered when Karen and I did the same thing in April last year. We made it up the hill but were exhausted in the heat. Karen was suffering from air sickness and we had to stop every so often as that manifested itself. I believe we had said, ‘Never again!’ I immediately retreated to the bus stop and ordered an Uber for $10! I managed to save at least US$15 over getting an Uber all the way from the airport but I wonder if that was false economy. Still, for you younger and fitter readers the bus and a walk is still a great option. (More on buses later).
I have three nights at the Austin Motel and thanks to dynamic pricing I managed to get a really great deal. I notice the rooms are now A$300 a night plus tax! This might be the last time I can ever afford to stay here. We used to be able to get a single room for US$75 a night before the motel was bought by the Bunkhouse Group who own a chain of boutique hotels here and elsewhere (including another of my favourites, the Phoenix Hotel in San Francisco).
We usually stay at the Extended Stay on South First Street where, if you book for a week you get a heavily discounted room (as low as A$135 a night plus tax depending on when you are here). Two years ago when I was here with Colin Ritchie we arrived at the Extended Stay and were told, along with everyone else who wanted to check in, that our room was cancelled because they had a staff shortage. (Our cry of ‘We’ll make our own beds’ didn’t appeal to them). First, they sent us to one of their places in North Austin which was horrible. After complaining on the phone we then ended up at one of their new buildings near the airport which was actually excellent for about A$100 a night each. If you don’t mind taking a 15-minute bus ride into down this works out much cheaper. Planning a trip to Austin you have to think of these sorts of things because – like Nashville, San Francisco and New York – accommodation near downtown is so expensive. Best to look for somewhere on a bus line or, if you have a car, on a direct route to town.
The Austin Motel was opened in 1938 by the Stewart family, who also erected the glowing red, 25-foot-tall sign, which has towered over South Congress Avenue for nearly 80 years with the notice, ‘So far out it’s in’. The motel’s 41 rooms and suites are decorated in various designs and retro kidney-shaped swimming pool and popular Joann’s Fine Foods, serving up modern Tex-Mex fare all day long. Arriving at the Austin Motel was somewhat like getting home. I have stayed here so often and I love the huge pool they have.
The reception staff have always been outstanding. I left. my bags with them as my room wouldn’t be ready until early afternoon and I headed across the street to Jo’s where I had a lunch taco (pork) and an iced latte. A band was setting up and at 12.30pm they started playing a swag of Western swing songs. I suddenly remembered what I loved about this city. People started dancing and most of them were really good at the old Texas two step. This seems a great way for people to meet each other as they don’t necessarily only dance with their partners. During spring and summer Jo’s (or the car park of the San Jose to be precise) has a band every Sunday.
Being Texas, people chatted to me. You are never alone here. John from out of town works in IT and had just turned 50. He recently bought his first house about 25 minutes away and drives to Jo’s each Sunday. Within 15 minutes I pretty much knew his life story and felt like a member of his family. I am probably now on his Christmas card list.
At 2.00pm I got a call from the motel to tell me my room was ready so I checked in, paid and unpacked. I have to say Helenah at the motel was incredibly helpful and made sure I had a ground floor room with a walk in shower (as I said I had mobility problems).
Freshly showered and ready to go, I got an Uber to one of my favourite intersections anywhere. The corner of North Lamar and West 6th Street: Waterloo Records, Book People (plus REI Camping) and Wholefoods Market on three of the corners. Book People is a gem, spread over two large floors with plenty of recent books on sale and a cafe. Before Covid they had a large selection of magazines but the has shrunk to just a couple of racks.
I once attended a book signing at Book People by former President Jimmy Carter which was a thrill, lining up for 2 hours and meeting many curious Americans. When I finally got to President Carter seated at the table signing books I wanted to take a photo but when I asked one of the secret Service agents if I could get my phone out of my pocket he simply said, ‘If you reach into your pocket we’ll have to shoot you.’ I think he was joking but I didn’t risk it.
I bought the new Michael Lewis book for my son and sat and enjoyed a coffee and Top Chico (mineral water). Then it was across to Wholefoods to get some groceries: muesli (on the very last shelf of an entire aisle), milk, juice and Topo Chico. I will visit Waterloo tomorrow as it needs some serious time.
An Uber back to the motel and then some serious time in the pool. Glorious. After what seemed like six months of winter in Melbourne it was great to sit in 32C heat in the late afternoon and dip in and out of the pool for a few hours.
I recalled that 20 years ago my friend Tony Wood and I stayed at the then Crockett House (now a fancy hotel), went to ACL Fest and then rented a car and drove to Monterrey in Mexico for a few nights! Possibly one of the more daring things I have done. We chose Monterrey because it was the brewing capital of Mexico and the car rental limited us to drive no more than 250 miles into Mexico. Imagine a city the size of Geelong with a couple of million people in it and traffic that resembles a Formula 1 Grand Prix. That’s Monterrey. How we found our hotel is a mystery. We parked and didn’t drive again until we left. The taxi drivers were possibly more dangerous. Some of them had a photo of their family over the speedo, we surmised because that is the last thing they will see.
Monterrey reputedly has the largest plaza in the world and has a fantastic museum through which we enjoyed a three hour guided tour by a university student who was not allowed to accept a tip! Being adventurous Tony decided we needed a drink in the old part of town and we found ourselves in a bar with authentic Mexican music on the jukebox and a clientele of locals, none of whom spoke English. We wandered around later in the evening through the night market with bands playing and felt quite at ease. One of the highlights was going to a restaurant staffed by nuns! Although I have to say, they didn’t really look like the nuns who taught me in primary school at St John’s in Heidelberg! The city was allegedly a safe zone from the cartels but I believe that has changed in recent years.
This Sunday evening I strolled up South Congress to Guero’s Mexican restaurant where we always start our visit. It’s not the best Mexican place in Austin in terms of the food but it has lots of atmosphere. I texted my friends to let them know I had arrived. Free tortilla chips and three different salsas were followed by shrimp tacos, beans and rice. By now, I am addicted to shrimp tacos.
By 9.00pm I was exhausted and I hobbled back down the hill, past the Continental Club where I will be on Tuesday night, to the motel and straight to bed. A great day in a favourite place.