Route 30
from In Motion
Jennifer turned 30 on April 4, and we hit the road to celebrate: we flew in to New Orleans, but we headed straight west without even stopping in the city. Somewhere near Erath, we stopped to throw back 5 pounds of crawfish and a heap of fried oysters, then continued on toward the forgettable Super 8 in Lake Charles. On the way, we encountered students headed to the prom, wearing huge dresses and cowboy hats, gathered in a gas station to stock up.
The next day, we drove to Austin, where we checked in to the Austin Motel and spent the afternoon basking in the first sunshine we'd seen in days. We introduced ourselves to Lone Star Beer and were well-received. We woke up the next morning and headed northwest to Balcones National Park for a hike.
We worked up an appetite hiking, so we drove as fast as our Dodge Stratus could bear to go to Lockhart, where Texas barbecue is supposed to be at its best. Heaped-up plates of sausage, brisket, and ribs did ok by us, though we had trouble adjusting to the concept of unsweetened iced tea.
With our stomachs full, we drove to the beach, in Galveston. Galveston's a funny place.
We spent our last night in New Orleans, America's most tragic city, if you ask me. But more on that some other time.
April 16, 2003
noteworthy:
- Jane
- Paintings from the last 7 or 8 years are archived on Jane's portfolio site.
- Ftrain re-vamp
- Paul Ford's already inimitable site, Ftrain.com, is now even less imitable, sitekit notwithstanding. Graph Narratives? Web Pidgin? A site designed to work better in Mozilla and Safari than in IE? Dreamy and strange.
- Walker Percy on Bourbon
- “Who is he kidding? If this joker has to knock back five shots of Bourbon every afternoon just to stand the twentieth century, he's already an alcoholic.”