Bats!

OK, so the photo above is not the best one you'll ever see, even on this blog. But trust me when I tell you that the dark blotches on the underside of the Congress Avenue bridge in Austin are a few of the million-plus Mexican freetail bats that reside there and make nightly pilgrimages out from under the span to search for food.

This image gives you an idea of what we, along with several hundred other people on top of and beneath the bridge, looked at Tuesday night. It wasn't quite as pretty as that, but it was really pretty darn cool.



We might have been better off on top of the bridge, watching the bats come out below us. But we chose the low angle, and a little after 9 p.m., watched as the little creatures began to stream out from their resting places below the bridge. Though they were at times tough to see against an already dark sky, eventually we got ourselves under a streetlamp and looked up to see a constant stream of wings flitting by, turning the air between the lamp and our eyes a hazy brown as they zipped past.

My description, like my picture, doesn't do the sight justice: It really is something to behold, like the transition in an old Batman cartoon come to life. If ever you find yourself in Austin during the summer, it should be high on the to-do list.

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In praise of Jo’s

Anyone who's known me for any length of time (i.e., more than 10 minutes) is aware that I am utterly enamored of Austin, Texas. I am a pretender; I've only been here four times (including now). I've been a pilgrim to South by Southwest – the film festival too. I've had a Texas Monthly subscription for more than seven years. There are Lyndon Johnson White House tapes on my iPod. And occasionally, I dream about Jo's on South Congress Avenue.




I get why people want to keep Austin weird, and agree it's important to take a stand against the hipster doofusication of truly cool neighborhoods. South Congress has changed a good deal even since the first time I came here – some for better, some for worse (unless I'm mistaken, it looks like Just Guns across the street is now a pet store specializing in tropical fish), but it remains, for me anyway, one of those places where you just want to hang out.

Jo's is a coffee stand/shack just up the street from the Austin Motel, across from the Continental Club and near the shop where I just bought my nephew a cowboy guitar. Right now, three umbrellas covered in what looks like hot pink hula skirts shade the sidewalk tables. Sit here long enough at least a good portion of Austin passes by. Don't let the fact that Rachael Ray featured it put you off.


To catch up:

Sunday mileage: About 560
Route: 285 South from Roswell, N.M. to Fort Stockton, Texas, then I-10 East to Austin
Time: About eight hours. The parts of West Texas where the speed limit is 80 ROCK.
Consumed: Some incredible pork and red chile tamales from La Nortena in Pecos, Texas; Wasabi Funyuns (I’d eat these every day, but no one would want me to come near them); another Doritos Collisions flavor combination: zesty taco and chipotle ranch (our verdict: save your money), and a delicious homemade dinner with family in Austin who were kind enough to welcome this interloper. Thank you. Couldn't be more delighted to be here.

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