Day trip to Shiner, Texas

Chris after a wonderful day at Shiner Brewery

Chris after a wonderful day at Shiner Brewery

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Carlos and I took off on a Wednesday to make our pilgrimage to the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas.  We decided to make a whole “guys day” out of the trip.  First, we stopped for lunch at Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart.  Great barbecue at Texas’ oldest barbecue restaurant continuously owned by the same family.  After having our fill of bbq, we drove onto Shiner and made it in time for the 1:30 tour.  They don’t run tours on the weekends so you have to make a trip during the week for this treat.  The brewery is not that big but has a lot of history.  We spent more time in the gift shop though because they give you tokens for 4 glasses of draft beer.

After the tour, we made our way to several local sites in Shiner.  To absolve our sins from our midday beer drinking,

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Bluegrass at Creekside Lounge

Two C&L's at Jo's Cafe

Two C&L's at Jo's Cafe

We headed downtown to Jo’s Cafe with Carlos & Lorna for our monthly night out together.  Life is so hectic that we have to schedule time to see each other, even though we live only about 15 minutes away from each other.

We had a great time catching up.  After closing down Jo’s, Lindsey and I went to the Creekside Lounge to check out my business partner’s bluegrass band.  It is always fun checking out a show when you know someone personally on stage. Blake has a couple of different bands that he plays with.  His more successful band is the Strollers, a kiddie band that is becoming more popular in the kiddie circuit around Austin.

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Texas Relays 2009

Maston Wallace clears 18.2'

Maston Wallace clears 18.2'

The Texas Relays 2009 happened two weeks ago here in Austin and I always try to make it, at least to watch the pole vault and running finals. This year’s university men’s pole vault was very entertaining. It always brings me back to my pole vault days, albeit at much lower heights. There is just something about being at a track meet… the outdoors, the competition, the possibility of performing your best at any given moment.

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