Austin Chronicles Part 3
Saturday 4/5/08
Grabbed some pastries and headed off with the brood to South Lamar for a drop-in at Austin Vintage Guitars and Ray Henning's Heart of Texas Music (the shop where Stevie Ray Vaughn bought his signature "Number One" '63 Strat and immortalized by King of the Hill). Hawkspawn and Hawkette (who occasionally dabble in musical performance) are like kids in a candy store. Hawkspawn noodles with a Telecaster and Hawkette an Alamo Fiesta, both updating their Christmas lists.
From there we do a short photo-op at the Broken Spoke, the venerable Austin cowboy honky tonk and home of the world's greatest chicken fried steak.
Then back to the Expo center to catch Day 2 of the Lonestar Round Up car show, and the joint is packed to the gills. Plenty of good stuff right at the gate, including a display of vintage drag strip warriors from the Texas Timing Association, who indulge the crowd by occasionally firing up the old nitro cacklers. Nearby is a row of kickass customs including Mercury Charlie's Nadine and an array of Gary Howard customs, including the '54 Ford and '62 Coupe de Ville he built for Jimmy Vaughn.
Jimmy is there, along with Billy Gibbons who has brought along his Rudy Rodriguez built roadster. Here it is, facing off against Von Franco's "Lightning Bug" T-roadster.
After that, a blur of nice machinery. Plowboy's Atomic Punk and Lunar Lander:
A ('52?) Mercury M-1 pickup custom (yes, Ford sold trucks in Canada under the Mercury name from '46 to '68)
Panel-laced '55 Chevy custom painted at West Coast Choppers:
Satin crayon box:
Contrast in eras -- '60s, '30s, '50s.
Nice bass boat sparkle.
Jackalope!
The farmer in me dug this little One Shot decoration.
On the way out we run into our friend Reggie Hill and his family. A former UT football player turned tech industry exec, Reggie is a member of the Kontinentals Car Club who throw this little shindig. On the side he works on his incredible stable of traditional style Ford hot rods, and cooks the best homemade BBQ you'll ever taste. If that weren't cool enough, Reggie's sons Dax and Kerrington are nationally-ranked high school swimmers at Round Rock High and U.S. Olympic Team hopefuls. So now you know why they call this corner of Texas "Hill Country."
Front: Reggie's folks Mr. & Mrs. Don Hill of Taylor. Back: wife Marilyn, Reggie, Dax, Kerrington, and nephew Jamal.
Speaking of barbecue, on the way out of the show we buzz over to Donn's on Decker Lane for the brisket, as recommended by Bolus reader "Donnie Darko." Verdict: outstanding. Head back to the hotel to wash off the fairground dust, big doin's tonight.
Awesome stuff. This is why I will never leave Texas! I spent a quarter of my life in Austin, and have schemed for a way to get back there ever since Uncle Sam's Propeller Club took me away.
Posted by: CaptainVictory | April 10, 2008 at 05:51 PM
That's a picture of the Donn's in Oak Hill at the Y (you can see The Pinnacle in the background) - gooooood stuff, too.
Posted by: CedarFever | April 10, 2008 at 11:35 PM
Man... you are livin' the dream. I'm so envious I'm going to puke.
Posted by: jreid | April 10, 2008 at 11:58 PM