The University of Texas at Austin takes up several city blocks. We arrived into the city and rode through several campus streets teeming with poker faced students in transit from one class to the next. In 1966, Charles Whitman turned the UT tower into his own personal crow's nest, raining lead and death down onto passing students and pedestrians. 14 people lost their lives in 94 minutes of shooting before the gunman was finally killed.
The streets surrounding the campus feature cafes, bookstores and all the other amenities common to a university. There were even a few comic shops nearby, although we did not have time to pay a visit:
Comics & More
(512) 440-7373
2104 S Lamar Blvd
Austin, Texas 78704
Rest days are not really rest days. Sleeping in, laundry, bike maintenance, shopping for supplies, staying off your feet and resting. They all compete for your time and there is never enough time. Possibly due to Einstein's theory of relativity. One surprising consequence of this theory is the idea of "time dilation" which states that moving clocks tick slower than an observer's "stationary" clock. We can say with certainty that once we stopped moving, the dang clock just started spinning. Blink and suddenly it is 4:30 am, time to get up and get on the bike once again. Your rest day is over, with most of it sucked into the 100 channels of motel cable TV. I can also say with certainty I am no Einstein as I bend his theory to fit my needs.
The County Line Legendary Bar-B-Q was the only choice for some messy grub and everyone we asked said the same thing. Dad loves a good BBQ sandwich - dinner plans made easy. The restaurant sits on the water a few miles out of downtown in a lush, wealthy area of Austin. We pulled into the parking lot, hungry. no open parking spots told us we were at the right place, wrong time. Chris and Phyllis went in to stake a spot on the wait list. We parked, entered the small lobby, walked passed the host, down a few steps and the place just opened up like the back forty, tables in every direction. Once again, repeat after me;
This is Texas, things are big, this is Texas, things are big.
In the time it took to park the car and walk inside, Chris and Phyllis were already seated along the windows, overlooking the deck and water. Cool. I ordered BBQ Turkey, which was A-MAZE-ING, badda-bing. I know it must sound lame, not having the Fred Flinstone Rack of Ribs, sauce smeared from bib to hairline, but I just couldn't do it. I envisioned a conveyor belt from truck to kitchen loading dock, delivering the untold pounds of meat it takes to keep this place humming. When in Austin, try it out - The County Line:
After dinner we raced over to the Congress Street bridge to see the bats swarm out from under the structure. We were too late and the parking attendant said the "bats already flew." We'd try again the next night. Here's a peak of what it looked like:
Congress Street bridge fills with people
every evening during bat season.
We saw a few bats, saw a few butts. This guy sported
a thong. Chris took this one.
over and out
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