Thurs Mar 13 - SXSW/AUSTIN

Thurs Mar 13 - SXSW/AUSTIN

Outside the Moody Theatre

Bronze Willie and fans

What a busy day today. It started with a quick trip to 'Breakaway Records', a store in a northern suburb of Austin.. It carries old vinyl albums ... by the thousand  It was in a very eclectic area full of retro stores.. clothes, memorabilia from the 50's-80's era. We grabbed a coffee to go in the same strip mall. Couldn't help taking a photo of the somewhat adapted sign behind the counter at the coffee shop. Even the washroom was an experience... wall to wall graffiti. 

Playing the fool on Congress!

Headed down to downtown Austin to try and catch a flavor of the South By South West Festival (SXSW - locally known as "South by"). It is a huge annual music festival, but the main events are mostly attended by people in the music industry, as the tickets are over $650 per person for the week and includes all the concerts etc. Individual tickets for the events are not available, but the whole city gets into the festival mood. Sixth Street (and some other areas) is closed off to traffic and every bar (it is a street of bars) has live music. We started off going to see the location of Austin City Limits show (Moody Theatre) and were pleasantly surprised by a live outdoor stage and a really great band from the Netherlands, "Claes Cem". 

Bat Bar and batty people - Cheers Y'all

 After enjoying their performance we headed up to Sixth Street,  and walked up and down, but, unlike last week during the film section of the festival, most of the music was geared to a younger crowd than us (IE: head-banging music). It was still a fun time and we dropped in to The Bat Bar for a drink. We had a light lunch at restaurant on Sixth street, sitting outside in the 2nd floor outside patio. We watched the crowds walk by and enjoyed the atmosphere of the festival. SXSW is There sure were some interesting folk walking the streets. After a brief stop in the South Congress district to visit Allens boots and a couple of other stores and an outdoor craft fair, we headed home and enjoyed left overs and snacks for dinner, with a few drinks and social time together. Another great day with great friends.

Crowds on Sixth St during SXSW

We got a few laughs from this mobile rapper!!

Okay...Now What? Parking was a rare find!!!

Rows and Rows of Boots!!! Allen's boot store

DONE AND DONE!!