Entertainment in an Eclectic City

Still in Las Cruces!
Leaving for Tucson in a couple days

I continue to catch up on some posts from Texas!

As Austin is known for its eclectic entertainment scene, we did spend an afternoon checking it out.  We decided to keep our tour to the Warehouse District, so we visited the following watering holes. Unfortunately, most of them did not have any live music until later in the day, but it was still fun to check them out.
First, Shiner's.  We got the lowdown on SXSW from the bartender, Madison.  This was a laid back outdoor bar with all kinds of games you can play.

We moved on to the requisite Irish bar, Fado's.

We then went to a bar called Frank's - very hipster, but I forgot to take a picture.
Here is where we had dinner - a place called Searsucker.  Very trendy interior.

Finally we found some live music at the well known Elephant Room.  It was downstairs and small so everyone shared tables.  We sat with 2 men who were in town for a science education conference. One of men wanted the wine list, to which the server replied "Sir, this is a dive bar.  We have 2 kinds of wine - red and white.  Which would you like?"

The band, including 2 trombones, played smooth jazz and had artists from all over the country.  Very enjoyable.

Finally, on another night we visited the nightlife in the South Congress neighborhood.  We went to the historical Continental Club where we saw two teenage young men, The Peterson Brothers, play the blues.  The talent was unbelievable.

On our next visit to Austin we will go to 6th street!

I also wanted to mention in this post that we visited LBJ's Presidential Library located on the campus of the University of Texas.  It was President's Day and admission was free!
This photo shows all his Presidential papers that are housed in the library.  Crazy!

LBJ's tough personality is very well known.

But I learned that he also had a softer side.  I picked up several of these phones located throughout the library to listen in on recorded phone conversations.

The ones I found interesting were one with his wife where she was critical of his television performance.  His response? "Yes ma'am".
He also called Bess Truman on Christmas and expressed his love and deep admiration for the Trumans.  And I listened to a conversation with Jackie Kennedy after the assassination of her husband where his compassion was quite touching.

Initial impressions of Austin are that it is not very "Texan" and has a thriving music and art scene.  The presence of the University in the city has a big impact on its flavor.  Another visit to Austin is definitely in our future since there is so much to see and do here.  Maybe when it's warmer and not raining!