Left Curve: From Boston to Austin, and All Points In Between...

We're about 36 hours into the Texas sojourn and so far, we're crazy about Austin. After our friend, Tex, greeted with a Guinness (in celebration of our SG Sisterhood) and some chocolate covered strawberries (in honor of Bob and my anniversary), we launched ourselves into the local scene.

Our first stop was dinner yesterday at Evangeline's Cafe, about as authentic a Cajun restaurant as you could ask for this side of the Louisiana border. Since Tex herself is a native Cajun, Evangeline's had to live up to some rather exacting standards, and we were pleased to be with her on her maiden voyage to this unexpectedly wonderful restaurant.

Luckily for all of us, the crawfish boil passed inspection, and the three of us were soon up to our elbows (or so it seemed) in crawfish juice and spices. For Bob this was a true test of his willingness to be all in on this vacation as he NEVER eats finger foods. But soon he was ripping the heads off the suckers with the best of 'em. While we licked our fingers and ordered more beers, a nice Cajun band played:

After this great start, we went down to Town Lake and walked along looking at the Austin skyline, and came upon the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue right on the water. It was a beautiful night, but since we had woken up at around 4 am to catch our flight from Boston we made it an early evening. Before we settled in, Bob and I made a quick run to the grocery, where -- unbeknownst to me -- I decided to let my wallet spend the night. Aren't I thoughtful?

It wasn't till this morning's visit to Austin Java for breakfast that I discovered my missing wallet, of course. After scouring the hotel room, the rental car, I called the grocery. Lucky for me (damn lucky for me), they had found the wallet and it soon was retrieved. Nothing like a heart palpitations to start off a vacation, eh?

Although we planned to go to see the Alamo today, the weather wasn't as cooperative. So instead we went to the Texas State House for the tour, followed by a visit to the Texas History Museum. I'm literally seeing stars, one lone star at a time, after this afternoon's trek. All the Texas history I knew before today came from watching Davy Crockett on TV as a kid, but after this afternoon's immersion, I'm fairly certain that I know the difference between Santa Ana and San Jacinto, between Stephen Austin and Sam Houston, and more.

After our history lesson, we rested our tired feet at El Arroyo's, chowing down on some great Mexican food.

Next stop...the infamous Chicken Shit Sunday at Ginny's Little Longhorn Cafe:

This is one of the places you'd NEVER find without knowing a local Austin-ite. It was a small cinderblock bar with a small band, led by James Intveld, a cross between Elvis and Willie Nelson. The place was packed wall-to-wall, finding room to dance where there was hardly any.

But the real draw, of course, is the raffle. Every hour or so, nearly the entire bar lines up to buy a $2 ticket, guessing where a chicken will drop its...well, shit. The red chicken looks rather well-fed, and is placed into its coop where a grid of numbers is painted on the floor. Everyone crowds around, taking pictures and coaxing the chicken to do its business on the proper number.