Austin from a Phoenicians point of view.

(originally written Sept. 26, 2011)

Austin, Texas- a town known for it's college pride and music scene; a place where being "weird" is valued and even expected. Compared to this place, Phoenix, Arizona (including its ASU campuses) looks like a coddled teenager next to a wild free-spirit. And yet, with it's showcase capitol building, friendly neighbors and courteous drivers, this city felt like a home away from home for a tourist on vacation.

From my brief encounter with the Lone Star State's well-rounded capitol, I learned that the old saying definitely applies: "Everything's bigger in Texas." From church buildings to the local college party-street, 6th street. From the length of history behind each building to the diversity among its residents'. There is so much for a tourist like myself to take in and absorb.

Focusing a little bit more on my particular observations, I'll start from the beginning. Being from Arizona, I got off that plane in Austin, Texas packed with my flip flops, 3 pairs of pants, a few tops, and a gel deodorant (more on that item later). Immediately upon exiting the terminal, I was shocked that the alternative to business/dress shoes for business travelers or tennis shoes for the common weekend traveler wasn't flats or flip flops, but instead, a stereotype I'd only seen in Hollywood films: a thousand designs of cowboy boots.

I was so excited to participate in this look, I immediately borrowed a pair of boots from my traveling companion and prepared for an evening out on the town, Texas style. For our first night in Austin, my friends and I were visiting Austin's version of Mill, or as I'd heard of it, "Mill on steroids." This description was accurate, if one expects the most random of combinations of behaviors when on steroids. From clothing to scenery, bar etiquette to attractions, 6th Street has it all.

From a stylistic point of view, the local pool hall, Buffalo Billiards, wins the award for most surprising attire. The building itself donned a ranch-style decor: hunted game mounted on the rustic walls, hand carved tables and chairs that lacked the perfectionists touch of an even, smooth base. Even the patrons themselves were a clash of fashion do's and don't's. With the demographic mainly consisting of Long Horn students, it was surprising to see the fashion mix shine on plaid shirts with sassy heels and college polo's with cowboy boots.

Our second stop, Maggie Mae's, was a skip, hop and a jump away from the pool hall, but was a world of difference in venue style. This two story, half inside/half patio designed building is the Martini Ranch of 6th Street. With a live band playing downstairs, and a Hip hop/R&B music room battling against the tempo of techno/dance music on the adjacent patio upstairs, this place is the most ADD club on route.

Speaking of the route up and down 6th street, the scenery alone is enough to stay entertained. Talk about variety. Shortly down the road is Bikini's where, you guessed it, all the women servers wear only bikinis as they serve you drinks. The open window at Bikini's gives way to men and women, or both, riding a mechanical bull. Further down the path is a pirate bar and a biker bar in case you want to walk on the side of "danger." The "weirdest" of them all, was The Jackalope, with its biker entrance, dark lighting and Jimmy Buffet/Beyonce sound track.

Now for my last observation of the Texas night scene. I have to say that the most shocking thing I witnessed in its entirety on 6th Street...are you ready for this? Its subtle but big. The courtesy of all bar staff. At every location, the bar tenders and waiting staff individually did something to astonish my friend and myself. One waitress at Jackalope stopped with a full tray of drinks to offer to take a picture of me and my friend as we struggled with our myspace-style picture taking abilities. A bar tender at Maggie Mae's didn't know how to make a drink we wanted, so he asked what was in it and made three different versions to find the mixture we liked.
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Now onto the rest of my trip while returning to how my years of knowledge on how to pack for vacation had failed me (when you've only traveled to Mexico, Chicago, and California). By the early hours of my first full day in Austin, Texas, I deeply regretted those second two items I'd thought I needed for "obvious" reasons: pants and gel deodorant. I was coming face to face with the mythical element I'd heard so much about but had never experienced myself until this moment:...humidity. Walking around the city, up sidewalk hills and posing in front of old buildings for pictures, I became spastic almost in my search for shade under the green trees or that of another building. Thankfully, despite its spectacular preservation of old artifacts and buildings, Austin still managed to work in a modern store like Target. I'd never wanted a powder-based dry stick deodorant so badly ever in my life. I found it amusing to find that in Texas Targets, a staple of design in their women's clothing section is a wide variety of plaid button up shirts, something I'd never find in an Arizona target before October. This came in handy now that I'd adopted my new Texas look for our walk around the town. I was sporting shorts I'd found in the bottom of my suitcase, with a blue, green and yellow plaid button-up shirt with green cowgirl boots. And I fit right in.

First, we visited the State Capitol. May I just note that this was easily the least inconspicuous building in town with it's large white columns and highly raised Texas flag. Inside, the architecture was even more impressive. Once you get past the metal detectors in the entrance, you're immersed in room-after-room of history and culture that as an Arizonan since birth, I vaguely remembered from my history text books. And yet here it all was now, popping off the walls with vibrancy and life. Each painting on the wall, each inch of the building's internal architecture, screamed of a world beyond our imagination. The spiraling ceiling in the center of the building stretched with the portraits of presidents after presidents to governors after governors, all previous leaders of the state that was once it's own recognized country.

That kind of infamous history continues outside the Capitol building itself and onto Austin's other historic landmarks, as Austin is also known for its ghost stories. A prime example is the --hotel-- , just a few blocks away from the Capitol building, where history becomes a ghost story for all to be entertained with. The one particularly in the Driskill Hotel tells of a little girl who was in attendance of a political shindig with her Senator father. She was playing with a ball, chasing it as it bounced around, when she fell down the hotel's grand staircare near the main entrance and was killed due to the impact.The stories say that guests at the Driskill hear a child's laughter and the bouncing of a ball in the hallway at night.

Growing up in Phoenix, I've attended many public events and outings: art walks, museums, fairs, etc. And I'd never thought of my fellow residents as particularly rude or inamicable in such settings. However, Austin's Peacon Festival on 6th Street not only brought to life the reality of how little our Phoenix events are for such a big city, but how comparably unfriendly we are in Arizona. The people of Austin were nice and friendly in the smallest of ways. Everyone greeted our group at booths, welcomed us into their bars, made friendly conversation with strangers gathered at booths.There is just a larger sense of community in Austin it seems.

The next morning, when I arrived at the airport, I held a new appreciation for the little gift shop full of tie dye and cowboy replicas that I'd passed just a few days prior with a raised eyebrow and confused look in my eyes.

Keep It Weird, Austin.