The Goat Pen

Just came back from Austin.

Good time, not really anxious to ever go back, though. We ate a lot of barbecue. Stubbs was just okay. My dad kills their ribs, but the brisket was solid. Freedmen's Barbecue, though, was the real deal. Only the ribs were not up to my dad's level of quality. Everything else was insane.

It rained a lot over the weekend and was generally cold, so that may have contributed to the overall vibe. The talent there was nowhere near what I was expecting. Very disappointed in the quality on my first Texas visit, in that department. I think I would rather spend time in Nashville tearing up that city than Austin.

Still a good time. My buddy enjoyed his bachelor party, so that was the most important part.

I found it ironic that Hitler promoted the race purity thing with the Germans but yet, he (and several of his henchmen) were borderline dusky, not to mention that most Germans were mongrels themselves, having descended from the barbarian tribes that chased the Romans out. Only the Scandinavian countries (well, Sweden, Norway and Denmark) had the blonde/blue-eyed ideal. Just more bullshit concocted by the Nazi leadership, who were apparently sexual degenerates and speed freaks (not that there's anything wrong with that).

Brook, you must have been in the wrong places. I've always heard that Austin is a fertile ground for fanny.

Fanny was my maids name.

I'm not saying I didn't have my fair opportunity at sampling what the city had to offer...I'm saying the quality of the offerings were not that strong. I've been very fortunate to be well received in any city I've visited, although I avoid going too far afield so my conscience is generally (generally) clear on the flight back.

Like I said, though. It was either cold or rainy/cold, the whole weekend. So, that may have played a part.

I lived in Austin ..well Cedar Park.. for a little over a year shortly after my wife and I had our second child.

Austin is a great city. But even at 33 I just felt as a married guy with small children, what makes Austin...well Austin didn't really appeal to me.

But I never locked in on that whole Texas thing. Maybe I would enjoy more now that I don't have kids in diapers. I was also working for a dot com at the time so at 33 I was also like the 3rd oldest guy in the company and I lived thru the dot com crash bust down there.

It was just a weird time in my life

I'll tell you what I wasn't locked in on and that's DC this weekend. For the first time, I felt like an old guy watching all these 20-early 30s somethings prance around. It came to a head when we tried to find this place to eat in Adams-Morgan on Sat. night. When I got over there, I realized the futility of trying to find a parking spot in my goddamn mini-van on a crowded street with bars and restaurants and everyone who lives over out and about. It was like waves of Jonkeys and D'Gauls strutting around, pecking at their phones and preening. I've never felt more over the hill.

Saint wrote:I'll tell you what I wasn't locked in on and that's DC this weekend. For the first time, I felt like an old guy watching all these 20-early 30s somethings prance around. It came to a head when we tried to find this place to eat in Adams-Morgan on Sat. night. When I got over there, I realized the futility of trying to find a parking spot in my goddamn mini-van on a crowded street with bars and restaurants and everyone who lives over out and about. It was like waves of Jonkeys and D'Gauls strutting around, pecking at their phones and preening. I've never felt more over the hill.

minivans - great to carry 4 dogs in...not so much for parallel parking

I don't mind parallel parking in mine and can usually do it quickly but it's bigger than you'd like to have trying to jam into a space on a busy street. But the problem Sat. night was that there was really nowhere to park. Reminded me of driving endless loops around the block in SF trying to find a spot. Plus, I'm not familiar with all the nuances of DC parking, like needing a neighborhood permit or the color of the curb, and mostly, I did not want to get towed, whereas in SF, if there was crack to be bought, worrying about a parking spot was not a high priority...

DC has always been a parking nightmare in Adams Morgan...minivan, or not.

Yeah. I cab it if I'm going to a place without a valet in DC.

Especially when leaving the evening desolation of L'Enfant when all the bureaucrats have gone home and tumbleweeds blow down 3rd and 4th streets.

Bureaucrats don't go home after they leave L'enfant. They go to Old Ebbitt's, the Monocle, Bullfeathers, or Johnny's Half Shell.

mass tran in DC is way to go

used to live in sanantonio and drive thru Austin a lot up 35 was only 4 lanes going by the city. I think its 12 lanes now of bumper to bumper mania.

speaking of mass transit,

If needed to go from D.C. to New York, spend the night, then go from New York to Boston, and then back to D.C., would taking a train be an easy option or would it add alot of time over taking a car?

I'm considering leaving the car in D.C. (a suburb in Maryland actually) and taking the train, but if it would be a huge hassle, I'm not sure I want to try it.

The train isn't a hassle, it's just not really quick.

AlabamAlum wrote:The train isn't a hassle, it's just not really quick.

because of multiple of stops along the way , the wait between catching trains or the speed of the train?

The stops, mostly. There are some expresses, but I have done Bham to NOLA and we stopped a ton. Sometimes we barely got to speed before slowing down for another stop.

But there is a liquor car, you can bring a cooler, and you get to see the countryside.

I'll have to read up on it.

I kind of like the idea of a train/uber trip but I can't burn hours just traveling.