Leaving Austin (Dale Watson & Junior Brown)

Finishing up my last Margarita at Guero's and thinking I'd just go back to my Motel 6 to do laundry, the bartender Ryan (I think he said was his name) told me that I just HAD to stop by "Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon" where Dale Watson was playing at a "Chicken shit bingo night". I thought he was making a wise assed comment about the bingo or something. I immediately headed out to what was a jam PACKED little club! You'd thought it was 11PM on a Friday because of the crowd and how dark the dang place was! For non-Texan's like me, there is an actually "Chicken Shit Bingo"! There's a chicken that's in a cage that's walking around on a bingo grid and according to "Carl" (a little woozy from all the Lonestar beer and all the waitin) where ever the chicken "shit's" that person who's paid for that square get's all the money. He'd said there's also rules for in case he "shits" on a line or in the intersect of all 4 squares. 3 judges decide if it's on the line or if hits a corner. Aaron, the grand prize winner (of $102) said he was gonna take the winnings and buy more beer. That brought a little tear to my eye (and getting choked up just peckin it into my laptop right now). Anyways, "Ginny's" was maybe a 90 by 300ft little bar that you'd have to SQUEEZE by the band on the way to the restroom. Dale Watson played great classic country music crowded into this little corner (ain't no stage in this place). There were also a coupla really great couples dancing in this full contact little place. In line to the bathroom a guy tells me that Junior Brown's gonna be playing the Continitnetal Club "in a little bit". Well, my ass headed that way and paid my $15 to watch! The Continental Club is really a beauitiful place that I'd been to before but was always such a "scene" in the past that I really never had a chance to look at it for how cool it really was! Anyways, I listened through Junior's set of country/blues (on acid) songs for a while (I'd forgotten how GREAT a player he was), stopped by "Home Slice" (GREAT Austin pizza/I'd suggest the Margherita!) next door and headed to my humble interstate abode at Motel 6. Weird to say but I'm really gonna miss Austin. Like Nashville, a LOT of people there take themselves WAY too serious here. The parts of Austin that I do love are the number in great clubs, the great art, the running trail by the river, the great food and the cultural diversity. OH, and the Margaritas at Guero's :). Hope to be back soon. I'm taking a coupla days to go Salado thanks the sweetest family on the planet earth, the Lowery's (Donny and Karen). Less than a week left of Texas before my cajun jaunt begins.