A trip that began with me standing in the middle of the women’s bathroom at BWI and ended with Gail leaving her laptop in the food court at the Austin airport might sound like one we would just as soon file under “F” for Forgettable. On the contrary, the pleasant memories sandwiched between these two curious events are ones we are savoring as we head into Thanksgiving. A chance to spend a long weekend with our two sons Matt and Stephen and daughter-in-law Jeannette was just the kind of opportunity for which today we give thanks on this most American of family holidays.
From the minute we picked up Matt and Jeannette at the Austin airport, after their 4-hour flight from Boston, we recognized a certain resolve on Jeannette’s face: she had come to experience Texas, no doubt about it. Her quest, we were soon to discover, was to eat at least one authentic pulled pork barbecue sandwich. Approximately 24 hours later, it appeared that both her primary directive and appetite would be satisfied, as we pulled into the parking lot of Ruby’s Barbecue on an unusually cool and rainy Austin afternoon. On this day, however, the stars over Texas were not yet quite aligned in her favor, as the wait staff informed us that they were out of pulled pork! The pain! The disappointment! They were palpable as she slumped into the arms of her husband, nearly collapsing to the floor, upon hearing the devastating news!
How could a barbecue joint in the middle of Austin run out of pulled pork on the day of a UT football game, which was to be played later that evening? Does anyone ever ask the pig while he’s alive if he prefers being sliced, cut, or pulled when his time has come? What was I doing in the middle of the ladies room at BWI? For some questions, there are no easy answers. Putting on her best game face, Jeannette ordered a BBQ chicken sandwich, which was served on a roll, although we think that deep down she would have preferred it on Texas Toast.
Forgive me, but I am getting ahead of myself.
“This weekend,” our UT student Stephen reminded us soon after we welcomed him at our hotel room, “is all about me.” Indeed, his mother and I and brother and sister-in-law had traveled 1,500 miles and farther to celebrate his first appearance in a University mainstage production (Pride and Prejudice), his 20th birthday, and his first Thanksgiving away from home. Well, his weekend got off to an especially good start when his Mom offered, at a very weak moment, to do all his laundry for him, before he even had a chance to tell us that we needed to fill up his car with gas. Things got even better when we all headed to Potbelly’s for lunch, where he could catch up with his brother and sister-in-law.
We followed this retina-scorching experience with a walk around the “40 acres”, as the campus is known, the home to some 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The “40” are very compact, and the place has a very manageable feel to it. The academic buildings are attractive and architecturally interesting. There are several museums and performing arts venues sprinkled about. For the most part, the dorms appear to be in good shape. One particular dorm houses 3,000 students, which is about the population of a small Texan town. Unfortunately, only about 7,000 students can live on campus! Most juniors and seniors, such as Stephen, live in privately owned apartment complexes, most of which are conveniently located within walking distance of campus.
Of course, the athletic facilities are first-rate. The football stadium is colossal. With recent renovations, it now seats approximately 100,000 and there is never an empty seat, except, of course, when there is no game. We had a chance during our walk-around to visit the stadium, which reminded Matt, at first glance, of the coliseum in the movie The Gladiator. Although we did not attend the next evening’s game, against Kansas, we did have an opportunity to absorb some of the energy that 100,000 Longhorn fans and thousands of tailgaters camped on every conceivable piece of property around the stadium can produce as they encourage their heroes to “hook em.” The tailgaters are extremely well prepared: almost all come with their UT canopies and many with full service gas grills. Some even set up satellite dishes and televisions so they’ll be sure not to miss what is happening inside the stadium. We pulled over by the side of the road during the second quarter to take pictures and listen to the roar of the crowd. It was quite impressive. Curious, though, as Matt pointed out, that this gigantic stadium is filled to capacity by students, alumni and fans only 6 days a year! The revenue generated during those six days? It probably rivals the amount of money many developing countries spend on health care each year.We enjoyed the show and were impressed by the actors’ mastery of their English accents and their many and difficult lines, which they had to repeat over eight performances. We were especially proud of the professional manner in which Stephen carried himself on stage. We are looking forward to seeing more shows in the future. We finished the evening and welcomed the morning at the Magnolia Café, where we met many of the local employees and customers who work hard every day to keep Austin Weird.
Saturday was our time to celebrate Stephen’s birthday and to pre-celebrate Thanksgiving. In the morning, however, while the footman was fast asleep, and Jeannette could only visualize her erstwhile pulled pork sandwich, about half the laundry got done, and then the four of us drove to Mellow Johnny’s. MJ’s is Lance Armstrong’s bicycle shop in downtown Austin. The shop isn’t just about bicycles; it’s about the cycling experience. The place is part retail, part training site, part commuting center, and part museum, with a nice coffee shop to boot. It was a treat to see all those yellow jerseys from the Tour hanging on the walls, each bearing the signature of LA. A close second treat were several Lance-Wanna-Be’s, who had parked their rides and were wandering about the store hoping to be seen. Many of the bikes Lance rode in different races, not just for the Tour, were also on display.
A quick stop at Allen’s Boots followed, where the youngins’ modeled several cowboy hats and the ancients each bought a pair of cowboy boots. Jeannette purchased a pair of earrings at an outdoor craft market, and we all watched some professional glass blowers practicing their craft in our favorite decorative glass store in Austin. From there we headed straight into the disappointment that awaited Jeannette at Ruby’s. But the “Great Pulled Pork Quest” continued several hours later as we drove through the Texas Hill Country to the Oasis restaurant, a magnificent structure overlooking Lake Travis, about one-half hour’s drive from Austin.
Before we even entered the restaurant, we had a fairly good idea of who was not going to be on the menu that evening. A large Longhorn steer was available near the entrance for the picture-taking pleasure of guests. Saddle and black cowboys hat were provided, and guests were invited to strike their own best western poses. Jeannette and I opted to take our own pictures, at a safe distance from those really, really sharp horns! Once inside there was more picture taking on a balcony from which guests can normally view one of the best sunsets in Texas. Unfortunately, there would be no sun setting this cloudy day. We settled in under the outdoor heaters for a nice dinner.
It became quickly apparent, however, that the cuisine was decidedly Tex-Mex, which meant that Jeannette’s persistent pursuit of the perfect pulled pork plate to please her pleading palette would have to be postponed for yet another day! All was not lost, however, as we were celebrating Stephen’s birthday and Thanksgiving, the drinks were cold, the food was tasty, the treasures of a gift shop were waiting to be explored, a country rock band was beckoning us to ascend to the next floor, and there were plenty of televisions in an adjacent bar to watch the Texas-Kansas football game. Following a brief sampling of all of these, we headed back to Austin, where we tuned in to watch the Longhorns take care of business.
The next morning, following a brief tour of the State Capitol building and a relaxing snack at the Blanton Museum café on campus, we made one last excursion downtown in hopes that Jeannette could grab that gold ring of a sandwich. Alas, once again she was to be denied her pleasure, but she contented herself with continuing her search at the airport, where several good opportunities awaited her. After dropping Matt and Jeannette at the airport and wishing them safe travels, we purchased and delivered Stephen’s birthday present (a keyboard), we met him later for dinner at Chipotle’s, printed Southwest boarding passes, watched the Eagles defeat the Bears, and finished the laundry.
All in all, it was a splendid trip and a great start to the holiday season. We look forward to seeing the kids during Christmas, both in Massachusetts and Maryland. Next time we go to Texas, we'll be sure to make time to visit San Antonio, see a rodeo, and maybe even go to a baseball game!
By the way, Gail recovered her computer, thanks to the kindness of an airport employee. And, we heard that Jeannette finally put her hands around that long-awaited sandwich. However, we still haven’t figured out how I ended up in the middle of the ladies bathroom. Oddly enough, as I recall, the five women I ran into hardly even noticed me and no one seemed the least bit surprised. Then again, at this time of the year, they are all accustomed to looking at a turkey.
