Austin Texas

Last week I got on a plane and headed to Austin Texas for a conference in Austin, Texas. I'd never been to Austin before, but it was well worth the journey.

We stayed at the Hilton downtown, a mere block from 6th Street, but I didn't experience that first. First I went for a walk. There was a nice little 4 mile path I walked down with some of my fellow convention goers that took us by the bat bridge.

Bat Bridge you ask? Why, Austin has the largest urban colony of bats! These tiny mammals live under several bridges, but most famously under the Congress bridge. They were incredibly cute and cool, and well worth checking out.

I won't go into the list of places I ate and drank over the course of the week, but I will say that if you like live music, Austin is your destination. Sixth Street reminded me of a clean Bourbon. Meaning, I didn't smell piss and puke, and there weren't the strip clubs, but the street was blocked off for foot traffic and there was a lot of that. Ok, most of it was a very young foot traffic, Frat Row so to speak, but still. All bars sported music, most were live bands playing and playing very well.

Austin rolled out the Red Carpet for our conference, literally, bringing in musical talent from their city that blew my socks off. I did not leave the dance floor Friday night for the Spazmatics, and if you ever get the opportunity I highly recommend catching their show. All in all, the only downside to my trip was the return home.

Nashville, TN

Once upon a time, I lived in Nashville Tennessee. I paid a membership to the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere and would spend random days of a weekend visiting the animals there, walked my dog at Percy Priest park, paid homage to the arts and a Goddess at the Parthenon...

Yesterday I had cause to return to the city. A very dear woman to me was having a graduation party, having after many years decided it was Time to do something better. So, she passed with honors and promptly got placed with a job as a dental assistant and is now harboring plans to improve on that even further. As it happens, she lives close to my most recent "home" in the Music City, so I found myself gawking at the changes as I drove to her home.

The first thing I noticed was the construction. Naturally, the interstate is still under some construction. Currently, its around the Murfreesboro area. I had trouble recognizing familiar exits as a result. Once I got to the Harding Place area however, it all settled back and I found myself remembering... *here* is where my Greg lived when we were occasional lovers, *there* is where Andi lived when she got married, *that corner* is where that terrific grocery is with the live fish, *that way* is my old apartment, *back there* was the Tritel project office. I almost missed it. I did enjoy my time in that town, but then I started contemplating the roads and where I would take my bike for rides.

I don't think I'll be moving back there by mere choice. The city offers many things that I enjoy, but the distance to most of them, just to get out of the city itself, is too great for my blood.

Next stop: Austin Texas.