The state of the State.

With Cousin-brother Ron awake, coffee'ed and showered, we were ready to take on Austin again Saturday afternoon.

Problem:  Still a little wobbly from the night before + HOT.
Austin is fantastic in every conceivable way (again, neighbor Fred was absolutely, 100%, totally right about Austin.  There.  I've said it.  Twice.  Happy now!?!!  Geez.  Let it go man.  Just let it go.) But it is down right HOT in the afternoon.

Solution:  The State Theater's Summer Movie Fest.
I saw the poster while walking around Saturday morning and after consulting with Cousin-brother Ron decided that:
a.)  Seeing a classic movie in a classic 1920's theater would be a good idea.
2.)  Getting out of the 98 degree Austin afternoon would be most excellent.

http://www.austintheatre.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

Bonus:  Hitchcock Week

We huffed it a few blocks down Congress Ave. to The State Theater and laid our money down for Hitchcock's North by Northwest.

Our parents and grandparents got Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint,

(Lots of fun to see it on the big screen.
Eva Marie Saint is unbelievably gorgeous in NbNW and Grant hilarious.  Good times. )











Our generation,

and

Oh, just F#@K YOU Hollywood!

Talk amongst yourselves while I pillage, burn, and vomit for a few.

























(whistling)




























(whistling)

Inside the State Theater

The artwork on the ceiling is amazing.  Very reminiscent of The Fox in Atlanta (I think the Fox went more Arabesque though, right?  If you look closely to the left of the painting you can see a black spot on the ceiling - that's a hole Harry Houdini put there for one of his tricks.  Sorry, "illusions".  A trick is something a whore does for money.  Or cocaine.

A close up of the ceiling. (Duh.)

 The balcony seats on the left.

And, the balcony seats on the right.
(What were you expecting?  Get your own blog smartass!)

Yeah, I tried fixing/editing.  Shut up.  It's free.

and then....

After Hitchcock we walked into Roaring Fork, mostly b/c they have an awesome deck on the second story, which, as luck would have it, is not theirs.  But, b/c Maddie and Anthony behind the bar were funny and charming and we were having a great time harrassing other patrons (including Andrew and Elizabeth who have a sister in the VaHi, right down the street from me) we stayed.

So very glad we did.
Anthony got out the tech manuals and hand crafted a couple cocktails made from lots of things I can't remember and also pomegranate.  The green chili carnitas(?) appetizer was delicious but the pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, all over a bed of grits and corn, which had been grilled and sliced off the cobb was exactly what I wanted.  My reward for being such a trooper and riding in the rain all that way.  Um...Yes.  More.  Put into my head right now.
(P.S.  Anthony - save your tip money and go take that trip.  Do.  Go.  Now.  Send me your blog link when you go.)

 http://roaringfork.com/
Can't say enough good things about it.   Eat the food.  Eat it.  Eat the food!






SPECIALTIES OF THE HOUSE
SPIT ROASTED HALF CHICKEN 16 ROASTED VEGETABLES, CORN BREAD STUFFING & ROASTED GARLIC JUS
SLOW ROASTED PORK SHOULDER “CARNITAS” 17 BLACK BEANS WITH FRESH HOT BUTTERED FLOUR TORTILLAS
BACON WRAPPED PORK TENDERLOIN* 21 WHITE FALLS MILLS CHEESE GRITS & FINISHED WITH MEXICAN STREET CORN
BRAISED BEEF SHORT RIBS 25 HORSERADISH MASHED POTATOES AND TOMATO JAM
SLOW BRAISED COLORADO LAMB SHANK 24 MASHED POTATOES, NATURAL JUS & APPLE MINT GREMOLATA
RAINBOW TROUT* 21 SAUTÉED WITH ROASTED ALMONDS, BROWN BUTTER & SERVED WITH SAUTÉED GREEN BEANS
CEDAR PLANKED SALMON* 21 WOOD OVEN ROASTED WITH TERIYAKI BBQ & SERVED WITH CHILLED GREEN BEAN SALAD

Next, we....

walked the 7 blocks down to the river/lake/otherbodyofwater to watch bats!

"Come to Austin!  Bat capital of the World!  "We're stink-y with Bats" is what the brochure said.

Nada.

Nothing.

Kaput.

Fin.

Something about a solstice(?)                
Now, I'm not sure what flying rodents and cheap Pontiacs have to do with one another but I waited an hour and a half by that bridge, waiting to see a, "....veritable tornado of bats...." and got nothing but nearly sober.
Unacceptable.
Wrong, not right.  Wrong.

This IS bat country.......

After not seeing "those millions of wing-ed angels of death" that we had been promised and had been looking forward to seeing since I left Atlanta.  AND, after suffering the shame and humiliation of being found in a condition of NEAR SOBRIETY, we hurried to the nearest bar (the Radisson) to correct our lapse in judgement and loss of time.


Cousin-brother Ron suggested a trip thru The Elephant Room for some live jazz.
The Elephant Room is a basement level old bar right off Congress.  It's a little easy to miss if you're not careful, but you want to go here, so please be careful.
The band (name forgotten, sorry dudes) did a Stevie Wonder set shortly after we sat down.
Yessir.  I like it.
And, Guinness and Shiner on tap.  God loves this town of Austin.
Plus, the doorman was the only other man in Austin wearing an eyepatch so I got in FREE!
After he took Cousin-brother Ron's money, he looked at me and said, "Pirates get in free tonight.  Have a good time."  YES.  AWESOME.

http://www.elephantroom.com/

Live jazz at The Elephant Room.

After the second set we decided to head on out into the world again.  After fighting thru sweating mobs on 6th Street we found ourselves at: 

Same smiling faces and cold beers as before.  I am a big fan of this bar.  Don't go there and screw it up!  But say Hi! to Nick (gotta love a fellow Coen Bros fanatic)

While, in retrospect, that last Irish Car Bomb may have been a bit gratuitous, a good time was had by all and no one got left behind.  We were, for the second night in a row, unceremoniously THROWN out of The Camino at 2 AM and forced to walk 6th St. like common animals or Longhorns fans!!!
The NERVE!!

 After a quick "shoving of the street-cheese-steak into the head" moment we were back safely in the Marriott.
Good night Austin.

Sleep well.