Memories of Our Austin - Places

SAHARA MOTEL

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:51:41 -0700

Does anyone remember The Sahara Motel on Lamar? It was a dump in the early eighties when I actually lived there for about a year with my boyfriend and two cats, but the air conditioner was cold and the rent was cheap. There were still a few bedraggled palm trees but the swimming pool was long since abandoned, quite a few people lived there. I liked it.

Swedish Hill Bakery on 6th

Mon, 03 May 2010 20:42:07 -0700

A New Jersey transplant. Hooked up with a Texas native, fell in love and stayed for 6 years! Worked at Swedish Hill Bakery on 6th street while going to school. Some of the best Sourdough bread ever made. famous couissants and fabulous cakes, cookies, you name it, couldn't beat it. We were commrades. Long hours, great times. I used to get there at 5am. travel down Bee Caves. So peaceful in the morning back then.

Texas Sun

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:36:22 -0800

Here's a treasure trove for all of you with fuzzy memories of Austin in the 70's. A full scan of the Texas Sun newspaper from 1977. I'm sure that there's more to be found but wow... check out those club listings!

Coors Beer

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:46:15 -0800

The old memory is fading fast, but remember living in Austin in the mid 70's and having to drive to this little C-store (I believe somewhere out by Lake Travis) to purchase what was then a new, must have, beer - Coors. Remember pulling up the Store and there were car loads on folks walking out with cases of the stuff. Not sure why or how the situation - but that one little store had the market for a short period.

WurstFest - New Braunfels

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:11:54 -0700

Well, I knew U.T. would be a fun place when I visited my sister, Ann Sidor (Baird), during my junior year in highschool (1968), and she was already a freshmen in Longhorn country. I arrived at her apartment while she was still in class, and ran into some other hometown (older - well, at least 18) friends who invited me to join them on a jaunt down to New Braunsfels for WurstFest (or was it "BeerFest"?!) Of course, I couldn't resist and headed out with them not even thinking of my "under age" issue. When she arrived home, no Andrea, and all she saw was a note on her bed -- "I'm off to New Braunfels with Jan" (Nichols - our neighbor from back home). So much for her following our mother's admonition - "Now, take care of Andrea while she's there!" Needless to say - I was cut free from our small town where we had grown up, and I was ready to take in the action! And after I arrived at U.T. 2 years later (1970), I kept the action going for the next 4 years, and loved every minute of it. (By the way, the cops at WurstFest bought my story of really being 18, and I had just left my driver's license at home!!). Oh, the good ole' days.

Best Products

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:28:01 -0700

Anyone remember a Best Products store in Central/North Austin? I worked at one for about 6 months back in 76 or 77. About 10 of us got fire one night 'cause someone shipped a joint in one of those vaccum tubes that was used to request the orders. Trying to remember where it was located. (and no it wasn't me who shipped it!)

Shiner

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 19:46:19 -0800

Shiner Bock took off in the mid-70's in Austin and thanks to that we have the wonderful story and even better, the beer today. Prior to that, Shiner was the beer of choice for the country folks. As usual, the counter culture has a large part in this story. There were kegs of Shiner and the omnipresent white cups with the Shiner logo at every Cosmic Cowboy bar and event. Happy hour was a bit different back then... one dollar pitchers and two-for-one drinks meant that Shiner and Lone Star greased many an enjoyable conversation.

Another Austin tradition that seems to have fallen off was the pilgrimage to the Shiner brewery. It went something like this:

Wait for a nice day in early summer
Head down to Black's in Lockhart for a barbecue lunch
Continue to Luling, stealing a watermelon from a field and eating it in the car along the way
Blaze through Gonzales
Arrive at Shiner and wonder how the brewery could be so small
Take the 5-minute brewery tour
Spend the next hour or two in the hospitality room
For bonus points... you could swing by Staples on your way back for a quick dip in the falls

Yes, that is certainly the proper summer's day BBQ, Beer, and Swimming checklist.

High Karma Spots

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:37:44 -0700

There are many places of high-karma in Austin. These are those spots in town that are always in the center of culture and happenings. Over the years, these places consistently stay cool and must have good karma. Places like:

5th and Baylor
This spot has survived as the gateway to Austin's hippie house culture. This Hippie houses are now law offices and galleries... but still look like Hippie houses. This area also survived a serious attempt at bad karma when the Treaty Oak killing was attempted. Lot's of folks remember a cozy beer joint that was nearby

The Bremond Block
Elegance and family pride the Austin way. The B-Block is the place I have used over and over to show folks that Austin has always had style. This entire block is listed in the national register of historic places, the only listing like that. A 100% class act.

5th x 6th x Guadalupe x West Ave.
These few blocks have always been a happening area. In the really old days, Austin settlers gathered here to buy land. Later, this area was on the outskirts of downtown and the location of many a haunt and beer joint. As Austin grew, it was the site of both major debacles and timeless Austin.

2222
The whole windy road. This was the way to get to Travis for generations. Along the way, you could look down onto Lake Austin and undisturbed vistas for miles. Even in it's developed state, it's still cool.

Bee Caves Rd.
Remember when a trip to Soap Creek felt like a long drive in the country? Did y'all ever keep going all the way to Hwy 71 and Bee Caves Rd.? If you ever took your blender to Rosie's Tamale House, you probably did.

The Pleasure Of One Year and Several 'Visits' Afterwards

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 14:48:20 -0800

I happened upon Austin at the invite of my best friend in high school(Upstate NY early'70's)in Nov.1974. I was in college in Okla. and he at UT. Sooo I went and experienced Austin on substances no longer the quailtiy they were back then. Imagine walking into the 'Dillo 3 days before Thanksgiving seeing that mural of Freddy 'Strait From Heart' King & drinking my first Lonestar and ordering up a chalupa and a Chocalate chip cookie. On that one visit I knew I had to live here. I quit college moved to Austin became a partime Rest. Mgr and full time part-taker of everthing musically-epicurian-artisan Tejas Hill country had to offer.
So my question is, other than the places, people, and things mentioned here does anybody remember:
1.The original 'Hole-In-Wall' off 'The Drag'
2.Mother Earth (I saw Tommy Shannon play there I think with the 'Fools').
3.Mad-dog and Beans (right anround the corner from Inner-Sactum.)
4.Ice Scream You Scream or even 'Nothing Strikes Back' ice cream parlour (if you had a serious case of the munchies, nothing like black-lights/deadheads and a chocolate-banana malt with whipcream and a nilla wafer).
5.BalconesFault (if you remember the 'Savages' you can't forget the 'Fault')
6.Too Smooth, The Electromagnets, 40times it's Own Weight.
7.Antones, Soap Creek, Blue Parrot, The Filling Station, Bee Caves, Mt.Bonnell......'Hippie Hollow'.
8.W.N.'s annual 4th picnic.
10.Middle Earth
11.I'll need to be refreshed here, out by Lake Travis there used to be a co-op run eatery that served family style dinners great viddles!!!!
12.Shivas Headband (I heat they'll still going strong)Commander cody,Asleep at the Wheel.

33rd street

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:38:37 -0700

when i first came to austin, i stayed for a bit on the infamous 33rd street. i am still friends with some of those folks and we have a sort of reunion every xmas.

this semi reunion has been taking place since 1990. it grows a bit smaller every year due to the passing of some.

i miss old austin. i do not like what has happened with this new austin. i do not mind growth and change but today's Austin does not work for me.

i am glad that someone is doing this website.

Google Bucket

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 23:02:01 -0700

If you get here through a search, then you remember something listed on this page. Do us a favor and log-in and record that Austin memory!

Treaty Oak - still there in spite of the attempted VooDoo killing
North vs. South Tug of war - The North won, I believe
The Buccaneer - a seedy bar in the south
The old dinner theaters - on the edge of town... speaking of that!
The Edge of Town - a night club in a converted dinner theater
Dessau Hall - country girl, I think you're pretty
Jalapeno Charlie's - in that strange building on S. Lamar
The Hanging Tree - more S. Lamar weirdness
The Chaparral Lounge - what's this "new Chaparral" bullshit?
The Split Rail - I remember this as a biker bar
Duke's Royal Coach Inn - punk club on Congress... Joe King's homeroom
Maggie Mae's - remember when it was so narrow and one of the pioneers of 6th street?
The Salt Lick - before it was famous. The best Friday lunch was to fill a cooler and head out Camp Ben McCulloch road for the afternoon.
Holiday House - wild animals and burgers!
2J's - good burgers, loyal following
The Draught House - the one before the Draught Horse!
Lone Star Beer sign - stood above the Drag for a generation
Dry Creek Cafe - still kicking and lot's of ink spilt already... add your special experience
Scarbrough building and store - Austin elegance
The Silver Dollar - WAY before Dallas, the night club
The Raw Deal - the original... east 6th back in the day
Update: nice photo show of the old RD
The Poodle Dog - still there I think, as is...
The Horseshoe Lounge - got kicked out of there once
emmajoe's - small e, small place, small cover, huge talent every night

The Capitol Building

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:16:33 -0700

Before the fear-laden days we currently know, our State Capitol building prided itself on being open 24 hours a day. They had a security guard or two but you could drive right up to the building, park near the south door, and walk right in at 2:00am. I know this first hand because of the many times I did just that. It is an amazing building (this was WAY before they added the underground complex) and experiencing it in the still and quiet and solitude will stay with me forever.

It's still there, still beautiful, but essentialy lost to us at this point. Like so many freedoms and other things of beauty.

The Alamo Hotel and Lounge

Mon, 17 Jul 2006 13:24:29 -0700

Talk about spooky... The Alamo Hotel even looked like it was haunted... which it was. Haunted by the ghosts of old Texas politics, haunted by the residual effects of time and social stratification. However, the Alamo Lounge was one of those places where the counter culture seeped into, bit by bit, and took it over. Much like Spellman's, The Lounge was the venue for many a-starvin' Austin picker. Probably the most interesting product of the Lounge is Lyle Lovett. He seemed to be the leader/headliner for a weekly picker session.

In those days, it seemed like the Alamo stood alone at the corner of 6th and Guadalupe. Now, it's hard to imagine that spot could have been so isolated even though isoaltion was what many of it's denizens craved.

Update!
I just watched "Be There To Love Me", the Townes bio-pic, and was reminded that the video for Willie and Merle's "Pancho and Lefty" was shot at the Alamo Hotel during its final days. Watching that video, actually looking "through" the video to see a snapshot of old Austin is very rewarding. Here is an outstanding memoire on the Hotel and the shoot: Pancho and Lefty, Part 1 and Pancho and Lefty, Part 2