by Paul Norton

Remember when then Vice President Dick Cheney shot his hunting buddy in Texas? That took place a couple of days before I first visited Austin, in early 2006. I thought to myself ‘I’d better watch what I say. This is the land of George W. Bush, and the socialist views of this Canuck might be mis-interpreted.’

I was delighted at how alternative Austin was – not just the music, but the food, the businesses and the general attitude of the residents in general. And I heard more jokes about Bush and Cheney that week than I ever had, before or since!

It wasn’t my choice to go there that first time. I was attending the annual Folk Alliance International conference. It wasn’t until 2012 when I returned. I wanted to see more of what made Austin so different, and to show it to my partner Sue Malcolm.

The Live Music Capital of the World

The 1970s brought about the Austin music scene as it is now. Recording artist Willie Nelson was prominent among the artists that helped bring it to life. PBS’s Austin City Limits show is the longest running live performance TV show in US history, and it produces a massive music festival there each September.

We took full advantage of the lively and unique music scene, and hit the clubs just about every night during our visit in April 2012. We experienced the great roots rocker Dale Watson along with the “you-gotta-see-it-to-believe it” ‘Chicken Shit Bingo’ held on Sunday afternoons at Ginny’s Little Longhorn. Just a few other venues worthy of mention are the Austin Music Hall, Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, La Zona Rosa, Antone’s, The Broken Spoke and Threadgill’s. Of special note is the Cactus Café at the University of Texas. You get the idea – Austin is a VERY musical city! Pick yourself up a copy of the thoroughly awesome Austin Chronicle and let it be your guide.

Our hands-down favourite? That’s easy. The Continental Club on South Congress Avenue. Great country and roots music artists like Junior Brown, The Hot Club of Cowtown, Redd Volkaert and Toni Price appear there each and every week in the 6:30 to 9:00pm slot. Later in the evening artists like Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry, The Red Elvises and Southern Culture on the Skids appear. And that was just in the week we were there!

South Congress Avenue

Just a short walk from downtown over the Colorado River, the South Congress area is one of the most interesting in Austin. And with all the city has to offer, that’s saying something! We found ourselves returning there over and over to browse. Block after block is full of great vintage clothing stores, restaurants, and shops crammed full of folk art curios.

Some of our favourite places were Allen’s Boots, Tesoros Trading Company, Amy’s Ice Cream, Mi Casa and the Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds costume shop. There are lots of food trailers everywhere serving a wide variety of great grub. While you’re there, don’t miss the legendary and decidedly retro Austin Motel, still pretty much the same as it was when it was built in 1938.

North of the Colorado River

There’s a plethora of great stuff to see in the downtown core. Here are just five of our faves.

Above all else, make sure that you check out the exquisite Driskill Hotel on Brazos Street. Excellently preserved and maintained, the polished panelling, wrought iron, massive pillars, stained glass and tile floors will take your breath away. Their rates are probably beyond many people’s price range, but you could stop in for lunch or even just a drink in the bar.

As you are leaving the Driskill, walk across East 6th Street and check out Wild About Music. This store describes itself as dealing in “Art, Gifts and Apparel for your Music Lifestyle”. Whether you’ve always yearned for a set of coasters fashioned as little Beatles album covers, a pair of DayGlo cowboy boots, or a toilet seat that’s the spittin’ image of a Fender Telecaster guitar, this is the place for you.

Not too far down 6th at North Lamar is Waterloo Records. Their slogan once again pretty much sums it all up – “Where Music Matters”. Aside from seemingly every CD ever made, they have serious sections devoted to vinyl, DVDs and used items. They average two free in-store performances a week, too.

In 1960, the Colorado River, which runs through the centre of Austin, was dammed to create a huge reservoir originally called Town Lake, recently renamed Lady Bird Lake in honour of celebrated Austin patron Lady Bird Johnson. There is a well-appointed trail (approx. 16 km, or 10 miles long) all around the lake, complete with pedestrian-only bridges at either end. A walk around it is a great remedy for the excesses of the night before in the local watering holes. Try and get an early start to avoid the mid-day heat.

Last but not least is the Black Star Co-op Brew Pub. A bit of a hike from town centre, it is “the world’s first co-operatively owned and worker self-managed brewpub”. The staff is paid a decent wage and tipping isn’t allowed. You don’t have to be a member to attend, but it’s cheaper if you are. There are typically 16 beers on the menu, from basic to exotic, and they often brew up a special small batch of something unique. Members can vote on which of those get produced. The food’s great too.

Wine and Guitar Making

Just a forty minute drive west of downtown Austin is the world-famous Collings Guitar Factory. We were expecting something a bit short and superficial, but were pleasantly surprised to discover it was an extremely comprehensive look at every phase of instrument building. The 90 minute journey took us from a climate-controlled warehouse full of blocks of exotic wood to the final room where the guitars, mandolins and so on were shipped out. There is only one tour a week, so it’s best to book ahead by phone or email.

If you are like us, probably the first image that pops into your head when you think of Texas isn’t wine. But in fact the hill country just west of Austin has many vineyards producing world-class vino. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon with friends visiting five wineries. They all had tasting rooms where you could buy a sampler of several small glasses of wine. The buildings were beautiful, and you could usually buy a whole bottle and go for a picnic on the grounds if you wished. Some of the establishments, like Saltlick Cellars, had restaurants as part of the operation. There are bus tours available out of Austin.

Austin is a State Of Mind

More than one resident proclaimed to us “I’m not from Texas … I’m from Austin”. It gradually dawned on me that this is more than a cute turn of phrase. The reason why we love Austin so much is because it’s so different from the rest of Texas. It’s like a little Democrat island in the middle of a great big Republican sea. There’s a very vibrant “Buy Local” movement in the city that seems to be embraced by merchants and customers alike. The city has an unofficial slogan … “Keep Austin Weird”. You see it all over. There’s a sense that its residents feel that they are part of something special – something that they are striving to keep. They are fighting the good fight against big chain stores and high-rise developments that most of us view as inevitable. They are regrettably losing some ground here and there. There was noticeable gentrification since my last visit six years ago. But that spirit of independence that some call weirdness still prevails. And hopefully it will remain so. Long live Austin!

Austin Live Music & Brewery Tour

If You Go:

♦ Austin Chronicle – www.austinchronicle.com
♦ Austin Motel – www.austinmotel.com
♦ Black Star Co-op Brew Pub – www.blackstar.coop
♦ Cactus Café – www.cactuscafe.org
♦ Collings Guitar Factory – www.collingsguitars.com
♦ Continental Club – www.continentalclub.com/Austin.html
♦ Driskill Hotel – www.driskillhotel.com
♦ Saltlick Cellars Winery – www.saltlickcellars.com
♦ Waterloo Records – www.waterloorecords.com
♦ Wild About Music – www.wildaboutmusic.com

About the author:
Paul Norton does many things – Radio show host/producer, graphic artist and web designer to name just a few. He’d love to be able to travel more. Visit www.paulnorton.ca.

All photographs are by Paul Norton or Sue Malcolm:
Congress Avenue Bridge and Lady Bird Lake
Hot Club of Cowtown at the Continental Club
Fran’s Burgers Drive-in on South Congress
The lobby of the Driskill Hotel
The Duchman Family Winery
Guitars nearing completion at Collings Guitars

by Laura Roberts

Located in Austin, Texas, the O. Henry Museum is an unassuming bungalow situated just a short walk from the city’s modern glass convention center and its shiny new metro rail service. The cream-colored Queen Anne style cottage at 409 East 5th Street resembles many of Austin’s quaint and cozy historic homes, but the major difference is that a famous writer once lived here.

The house itself has been moved twice from its original location at 308 East 4th Street , where it served as a rental property during William Sidney Porter’s time. The man that would come to be best known as the writer O. Henry rented the property where he lived with his family, working first as a draftsman in the Texas General Land Office and later as an ill-fated teller at the First National Bank of Austin. Porter also produced his own humorous paper, The Rolling Stone, and participated in local theatrical and musical events in his free time.

Before moving to Houston to work full-time as a writer for the Houston Post, Porter collected some unique information and experiences in the Texas capital, which later appeared in his works Bexar Scrip No. 2692, Georgia’s Ruling and Gifts of the Magi. Inspired by his work in the Texas General Land Office, Bexar Scrip No. 2692 takes its name from a land grant file that Porter accessed during his daily duties, which had somehow gone astray. In O. Henry’s fictional story, the file goes missing because a rich railroad owner steals it in order to illegally obtain a poor homesteader’s land. Porter’s real-life boss, however, was adamant that such a crime could never have actually occurred, based on the office’s own rules and regulations. Whether you are interested in the historical angle of the document or the writer’s literary take on ordinary events, the original land grant can be viewed online at the Portal to Texas History at texashistory.unt.edu while O. Henry’s short story can be read at www.literaturecollection.com. For those visiting Austin, the Capitol Visitors Center at 112 East 11th Street maintains a permanent exhibit dedicated to the writer called the O. Henry Room, where visitors can tread the spiral staircase described in the story and enjoy listening to a condensed version through old-fashioned telephones.

Returning to the O. Henry Museum, visitors can glimpse two more objects that provided inspiration for Porter’s writing. The home showcases two wicker chairs, which were allegedly the inspiration for O. Henry’s best known story, Gifts of the Magi. The author’s wife, Athol, apparently bought him the chairs as a present to decorate their rented home, using money he had saved to purchase her tickets to attend the World’s Fair. Inspired by his wife’s generous act, he wrote the ironic Christmas story in which two lovers buy each other gifts that neither can use, having sold off their most prized worldly possessions in order to pay for the other’s gift. Though the moral is that it’s better to give than to receive, O. Henry’s infamous twist ending provides a bit of dark humor amidst more typical seasonal tales of sharing and caring.

Though the museum itself is quite small, containing just one bedroom along with a sitting room, dining room, kitchen and gift shop, visitors can enjoy free admission as well as friendly docent-led tours given from noon to 5 PM on Wednesdays through Sundays. Since the space is small and visitors tend to come and go quickly, there’s plenty of opportunity to ask lots of questions about the famous writer and his life in Austin.

Two O. Henry Houses?

While you’re visiting the O. Henry Museum, be sure to ask the docents about the rival San Antonio O. Henry House. It may not quite get their blood boiling, since the other house is set up as part of a local probation program, but I find it funny that Texas so desperately wants to claim O. Henry for its own that it’s got not one but two of his houses listed as historic sites. If you can’t make the trip down San Antonio way, their website hosts a virtual tour, as well as an audio tour that you can check out from the comfort of your desk chair.

 

If You Go:

3-Hour Austin Beer and Brewery Guided Tour with Snacks

Austin Events

Austin’s museum is home to the fun and funny yearly Pun-Off event, which offers pun-lovers the chance to spar with words in an effort to be crowned Punster of the Year. Held each May, this year’s winner was Jerzy Gwiazdowski of Queens, whom you can see in action in the video below:

In addition, the museum also hosts a monthly “Lunchtime Lit” series, with readings and discussions of a different O. Henry story led by docent emeritus J.C. Elkins. The September story will be By Courier, to be discussed at 1 PM on September 28, while the aforementioned Bexar Scrip No. 2692 will be discussed on October 26.

Finally, 2012 marks O. Henry’s 150th birthday, which means the museum is gearing up for a special birthday celebration. Though William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862 in North Carolina, his birthday will be commemorated this year on September 15 with a Birthday Crawl from the O. Henry Museum to the Capitol Visitors Center and the Austin History Center. At the museum, featured events include the unveiling of the U.S. Post Office’s new O. Henry stamp, a group reading of Buried Treasure at 2 PM, plus a presentation of a new exhibit, co-produced by Richard Linklater, entitled “O. Henry: Original Slacker.” The Capitol Visitors Center will host dramatic presentations of Bexar Scrip No. 2692 at 11 AM and noon, in addition to offering a 10% discount on items at the gift shop. The Austin History Center will round out the festivities, hosting a mock appeals trial to reverse Porter’s embezzlement conviction at 4 PM. Audience members will have a chance to serve as the jury and decide O. Henry’s fate!

Additional Events

The nearby HandleBar (121 East 5th Street) boasts an excellent O. Henry mural on the brick exterior of the building. Inside, O. Henry enthusiasts will find bartenders and wait staff sporting handlebar mustaches, serving local beers and craft cocktails, and hosting events such as the annual Mustache Competition (held this year on August 29, 2012).
An exhibit entitled O. Henry: A Short Story is currently on display at the Austin History Center (810 Guadalupe Street) and runs through October 21, 2012.

 

About the author:
Laura Roberts is the author of Rebels of the 512, a satirical ninja novel set in Austin, Texas. The founding editor of upstart literary magazine, Black Heart, she is currently completing her novel, The Vixen Files: Naughty Notes from a Montreal Sex Columnist by Laura Roberts (2013-04-15), based on her days as a sex columnist in the Sin City of the North.

Photos by Laura Robert