Threadgill's...and Cabela's...

Now that my son, Jon, has a new vehicle (I'll post more on that some other time), I felt like a free woman this weekend. No car sharing, no picking him up or dropping him off...I didn't know what to do with myself. So I called my son, Jeff, in Austin and asked if he wanted to go to lunch. (He's a college student with no money...chances were slim that he'd turn me down for a free lunch.) He suggested Threadgill's because that's where his girlfriend works. I've posted a similar picture of this on my South Austin post, but here it is again.

I got there a few minutes before him, so I took some pictures. Interesting armadillo window treatment.

This is the artwork in the entryway. A different take on the "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme...

Now I'm a die-hard art lover of all eras, but these two were VERY strange in my humble opinion.

Pictures like this one lined the walls around the entire restaurant. This one of Boz Scaggs was by our table. Love the shoes...do they say "70's" or what?

There is a lot of history with this restaurant...way back from 1933.

Here's the menu. I just couldn't decide between the chicken livers and the liver and onions. (I'm kidding.)

Lone Star draft beer is $1 all the time. You can't beat that with a stick...but then again, I've never had a Lone Star beer. You have to admit that the selection of side orders (vegetables) is extensive.

So here was lunch. I ordered the "world famous" chicken fried steak. I haven't had chicken fried steak in years so I was really expecting the best...especially since it was "world famous." Looks good...

...but, alas, was very bland. For all its history and "world famous" claim, it was very disappointing. The steak was kind of rubbery and hard to cut, the potatoes were so-so...as were the beans. Jeff had the ham and cheese sandwich which wasn't even worth a picture. (Besides that, he was so hungry he dove right in before I could get a shot.) Oh, well...it was worth it to get together and catch up.

So on the way back, I was glad I was in the southbound lane of I-35 because the northbound lane was much worse than it was when I came up. That's why I don't get up to Austin much...the traffic really sucks and I swear every time I come up I see an accident on the highway.

I decided to stop off at Wal-Mart on the way to pick up some necessities which happened to be right next door to...

Sidebar: The very first time I had been in a Cabela's was when they opened a new one in South Dakota when I was living there. It's in Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace (I got this photo off the web, by the way)...

If you ever get to Mitchell, South Dakota (which is totally not on the way to anywhere, so you'll probably never get there), the Corn Palace is definitely worth a stop. The sides of the building are completely done in corn cobs...and changed every year. Kind of amazing.

Anyway, it's been years since I've been in a Cabela's so I thought I'd stop in. Before I went inside, I got this picture. I love the colors of these Kayaks. I think I'd have to go with the pretty blue one...if I were into kayaking...which I'm not...but you never know...

Here's what you see when you walk in...

This guy reminded me of the ones you'd see climbing around Mt. Rushmore.

The "game" room.

And this mechanical guy was talking about something regarding camping or hunting...I wasn't really interested enough to hear what it was about. I thought it was very corny.

Lots of heads of just about every variety of horned aminal you can imagine...

Then there is the aquarium...

And on to the guns! Just about every make and model you can imagine. That little girl on the far left is looking at all the handguns in the display case. I wonder which one she's going to pick.

"Gun Library." Hmmm...is that an oxymoron if you ever saw one?

The whole Cabela's visit left me kind of depressed. The place was packed. You would never have known there is an economy problem going on. I'm not an anti-gun, anti-hunting kind of person, but between you, me and the fencepost, I think Cabela's is WAY overpriced and just a gimmick to get consumers to spend their money...which they were definitely doing today. After all, they have to get back the millions of dollars they've spent on building these ridiculous, incredibly materialistic stores. My dos centavos.

So, driving out of the parking lot, I saw this...

...but no one was around. I guess my "learn to ride" lesson will have to wait. Oh, well...

South Austin

I went up to Austin to visit my son and his girlfriend on New Year's Day. He picked out the restaurant...a place he found by mistake when he was having his truck fixed at a nearby repair shop. He knows his mom after my visits to Mexico. It was perfect...I could tell right away by the nativity scene on the roof. I don't even need to say what this reminds me of.

Here's the non-descript restaurant sign. A very low-key, authentic Mexican place on the south side of Austin. Many of the waitresses didn't even speak English.

I loved the tables.

And here was lunch. Muy delicious! And look! A sure sign of an authentic Mexican restaurant...they wrap their utensils VERY tightly in the thinnest napkin you can find.

"Famous" patrons.

And here is the cute couple. (Sidebar to Jeffrey and Erica...take advantage of the time you still look cute when you're munching on food. Just to let you know, that doesn't last forever.)

I've been to Austin a few times, but this is the first time I've been in this area. I loved it! Very eclectic and nostalgic. A lot of the places kept the old vintage signs of the 50s which I can appreciate. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Being a Route 66 kind of gal, I had to take pictures on my way back.

This one made me laugh out loud. If you can't read it, the little warning sign below says, "Hey big truck drivers. Look up. There's a sign. Please don't hit it again!" Too funny.

This is Threadgill's...a landmark restaurant that's been around for about 75 years. According to a website, "Janis Joplin, The Police, Van Halen, Jimmy Buffet, Journey, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Bob Seger, and Fats Domino are just a few of the thousands of musicians who developed their talents and whose memorabilia grace the walls of the restaurant. Despite a curfew law enacted in 1942, Threadgill's continued to provide a music-loving culture for rednecks, longhairs, beatniks, and hippies. Somehow, this business changed the social culture of the times, and in the 1960's, it was peaceful at the party when the rednecks met up with the longhairs. During this otherwise tumultuous time, Janis Joplin attended the University of Texas at Austin, and it was at Threadgill's where she exploited her hybrid country and blues style that would begin the movement to cross country and rock n' roll."

Threadgill's has its own website (threadgills.com), but every time I tried to access it, it wouldn't work...so I got this information from this site.

Just a couple more pictures from the area. I'm betting this Mexican bakery has some pretty sweet treats.

And I'm thinking this guy might have put away too much at the Trailer Park & Eatery.