Aug 17 2008
Don’t Mess With Texas -or- Why a Yankee Loves Austin
The Oasis at Lake Travis--photo by Llalan
The verdict on Texas: HOT. With lots of nice folks, though! You can’t let that whole “Don’t Mess With Texas” bit fool you. I happened to meet several born ‘n’ bred Texans who not only procured veggie burgers AND sausage for me (reportedly after several confusing trips to the grocery), but even tried it with me!
More importantly they made sure the air conditioning was on extra-high at all times and didn’t roll their eyes when I yelled, “Oh, hothothot!” each and every time we walked outside.
If I have my stereotypes right, though, big trucks and oil derricks in the backyard belong to Houston; Austin is a whole other matter. As the capital of Texas and the home of the US’s largest university, Austin is therefore also the hipster capital of the state.
Even that lone blue spot in the sea of red can’t help but be Texas, though. And by that, I mean big: one-way streets with four lanes (unheard of in New England!), a school with its own zip code…even the statue of Cesar Chavez is twice life size. And now, I’m not a very big person myself — and I never did get myself a good pair of cowboy boots — but I squinted my eyes to the sun, spat in the dust, and tackled Austin and the Hill Country like a drunk guy on a mechanical bull.
Read more: Austin, Beer, Food & Wine, South US, Texas, Travel
