Stopped at the Whole Foods flagship store in Austin while out shopping for a pair of sensible walking shoes for Happy Wife. She’d forgotten to pack flats or flip-flops. The healthiest food, the store claims, is near the entrance. The abundance is overwhelming
We didn’t intend to stay long, just wanted to check the place out. Then HW said, Hey, why don’t we pick up some cheese, hummus, crackers, and olives to eat back at our room? Brilliant! So far so good. Until we spotted the wine bar. Instantly we looked at each other, raised our eyebrows and nodded simultaneously. Not a word went between us. We tend to be of one mind in such matters. Before we knew it we were seated at the bar, the groceries paid for, opened and spread out in front of us like a picnic lunch. We were into our second glass of wine before we took note of the cheesy movie showing on the TV behind the bar: Circle of Iron. NYT review here. Think Quest of Fire but with more dialog. The lead dude looked like Peter Frampton but was actually Roddie McDowell, plus David Carradine, who played four different roles in the movie, and Eli Wallach, who had to sit in a barrel of oil for ten years to get rid of his genitals. I asked folks around the bar why, but nobody was sure.
If you want to shop while you drink you can. The bartender was happy to decant your beer or wine into a plastic cup. If I’m not mistaken the shopping carts had drink holders. What a country.
Like in other cities the abundance in Austin is not evenly distributed
For those of you trying to guess where we stayed, The Driskill. Happy Wife paused to point out the obvious, Dude, that’s Mr. Driskill
Later it was back to Tim Love’s Lonesome Dove restaurant to celebrate HW’s birthday
We enjoyed the food so much the night before we went back for more.
Wednesday we packed everything up and headed west to Fredericksburg to begin the bike tour. Hill country! Pretty country. Bluebonnets! The landscape sorta reminds me of a cross between Pasa Robles, CA and the hills outside Santa Fe, NM. More later from the first day of the ride.
Today (Friday) was supposed to be the second day of riding, except we woke to heavy thunderstorms and sheets of rain. So the tour leader cancelled the ride. It was 84 yesterday. This morning it was 55. Not expected to reach even 65 today. Starting tomorrow, 75-85 and sunny for a week or more. Tomorrow we’re all entered in the LBJ 100.