Weird Austin

Downtown Austin, Texas--taken from Congress St. bridge

We all have dreams about places where we'd like to go. And we all have dreams about places where we'd like to live. For some the dream is the same whether you're talking about just visiting or staying. For others, like me, we have different dream places in mind. I dream of someday going to Iceland, Fiji, South Africa, Norway, Morocco, Brazil, and so on--but I don't think I would ever be able to live in any of those places. (Won't know for sure until I get there though!) As for living, for awhile now I've been dreaming of Austin, the capital of Texas. Austin because its winters are warm where Chicago's are brutal and neverending. Austin because it's relaxed and relatively safe where Chicago is rough around the edges. And Austin because it's weird where Chicago, as cultured, diverse, and exciting a city as it is, is sometimes too Midwestern for its own good.

Kayakers on Town Lake in Austin. Yes, it does look like a river.

Motel in SoCo

I'm not the only one with Austin-livin' fantasies. Sometime in the last decade or so, word of Austin's awesomeness got out and it became the 2nd fastest-growing city in Texas, which in turn was last decade's fastest-growing state in the country. Job growth in Austin has been high and unemployment low compared to the rest of the U.S., and many students who move to Austin to attend the University of Texas campus there stay on and settle in the city rather than moving on after graduating. For musicians and music lovers, Austin's reputation as "the live music capital of the world" is a big draw--in this town, genuine talent trumps the manufactured glitz favored by Nashville and LA.

Mudphonic playing at the Continental Club in SoCo

The Derailers playing at the Broken Spoke

Two-steppin' at the Broken Spoke

George Strait asking me to dance at the Broken Spoke

Local dude singin' and strummin' the night away in SoCo

Meanwhile, Austin people know their city is cool. I've been there twice now--once in late 2008 when I was traveling solo around the southern and southwestern states by Greyhound and again just a few days ago with a friend. Both times I met locals (born that way or blow-ins) who just assumed that I was visiting the city with a notion to move there, with no hints from me. They see it all the time. And in classic cool, laid-back Austin fashion, they were friendly about it too. No hostile hipster vibes. It's certainly in the city's favor.

Welcome to Texas!

Welcome to Austin!

Then there's the weirdness factor. "Keep Austin Weird" the saying goes--on T-shirts, bumper stickers, postcards, babies' onesies, and beer can koozies. It's a slogan that is said to have been coined in earnest by a couple locals who wanted to champion Austin's high tolerance for eccentricity in the face of growing commercialism and conformity. Ironically, the slogan was trademarked in 2003 by some company that now markets Austin's quirkiness on everything from baby clothing to trucker hats. Because there's no more unconventional a figure in American culture than a toddler or a truck driver, I guess.

So how weird is this town? I'm sure I didn't see enough of it or spend enough time there to really say. But from what I have seen, Austin's weirdness seems to comes in layers or pockets, the way other cities' diversity comes in the form of ethnic neighborhoods or history comes in the form of well-kept pedestrian-only historical districts with tourist trolley stops. There's a wonderfully thick layer of Charmingly Weird Austin or Cutely Weird Austin:

Teddy bear in a tree outside Guero's Taco Bar

There's Naturally Weird Austin, most famously the colony of 1.5 million bats that live under the Congress Street Bridge and emerge every day at dusk during the warmer months. It's the largest urban bat colony in the U.S.:

Bats streaming out at dusk

There's Culinary Weird Austin (I could post a thousand examples):

Would you like some pigeon food with your gigantic sno-cone?

Meat served in a tortilla cone...out of a trailer in SoCo

There's UnCategorizably Weird Austin:

More cowbell, less dead mounted animals, please

There's Random Displays of Intellectual Obsessions Weird Austin:

Ode to late-19th-century French poetry, in sidewalk on Blanco Street

And there's even Airport Weird Austin:

Baggage claim area in Austin Airport--with oversized decorated guitars

Janis Joplin guitar at Austin Airport baggage claim. Janis began her career in Austin

Apart from the multiple dimensions of weirdness, there's definitely a layer of "Normal Austin." This is a pretty city, which is something I usually don't say about cities that sprawl a la LA or Phoenix. Austin has a cleaner and much better planned look to it. Its State Capitol building, right in downtown, is truly beautiful and worth a look inside and out. Portraits of every former Texas governor (even ol' W) and president (when Texas was a republic) line the walls beneath the capitol dome, and the lawn of the capitol building is marked with fountains and statues depicting notable scenes in the state's history. And while Texas' capitol building is modeled after the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the Texas dome is said to be larger--because of course everything's bigger in Texas.

State Capitol building in downtown Austin

Looking up at dome inside State Capitol building

Who's this? Someone's portrait on the wall of former Texas governors

Ann Richards, former Texas governor, genuine steel magnolia

State Capitol lawn and downtown Austin

On the State Capitol lawn

Along with the State Capitol, Austin has the lovely UT campus, some good museums of contemporary and Mexican art, lots and lots of parks and green space, and the Town Lake with opportunities for canoeing (like my friend and I did, at Zilker Park, where we were forewarned not to take pictures of any celebrities???), kayaking, swimming, tripping off a rock into the water (like I did, near Barton Springs Pool--my friend really impressed me by not laughing).

My friend Liz, heading the canoe on Town Lake

Turtle family. Are these the celebrities we were told to ignore?

Me after canoeing

Austin also has plenty of the great Southern homes that I can never stop wishing I lived in--the kind with columns and a grand front porch with rocking chairs and gentle afternoon breezes. If you're looking to stay in one, right near downtown Austin, I recommend this one (the Brava House--friendly owners, good breakfasts, quiet setting, touches of traditional Austin quirkiness):

The lovely Brava House B&B

Brava House back patio

Genuine Texas armadillo, in a tree

Genuine Texas flamingos

Genuine Texas troll

Potted plant, Creature from the Black Lagoon action figure, and teaspoon--a classic Austin still-life

But back to weirdness. So what;s the weirdest thing I've seen in Austin? Is it the sight of someone walking a Vietnamese pot-bellied piglet down South Congress one evening? Or the cabbie with the serial killer laugh who drove us home from the Broken Spoke honky tonk? No...I'd say it was the Texas state flags used as "doors" for the stalls in the women's room at the Broken Spoke. I thought of taking a picture of this touching tribute to the Lone Star State, but decided against it--it would've been just too weird.

One last thing, to the 5 or 6 people out there who glance at my blog:

But I have to be honest: