Always trying to have the philosophy to “do *all* the things” — well, do all the things that don’t hurt ourselves or other people — but I think since we all had so many months to think about the things we couldn’t do anyway, coming out of quarantine means “do ALL the things” times a million.
Spent so much time thinking about this.
Sent texts/emails/calls to friends about “when we can, let’s do THIS” and actually, I just did one of those things.
If you’ve read DFK for a while, you might remember this story; it’s about a very special friendship, why I graduated college a year-and-a-half later than most of my classmates, and why I know Allen Ginsberg poetry so well. We still keep in touch, so one day while reading some issues of Texas Monthly I was behind on, I texted my friend and said, “did you see the Best Honky-Tonks in Texas article? When I come back to Austin, we haaaave to do that.”
Okay, I don’t know what a honky-tonk is before this article, really. I’m not a bar person, I’m not a dance hall person, but I am a person who now especially takes doing ALL the things seriously.
So we went! Ha! And it was terrific!
But the granddaddy of them all is the Broken Spoke, considered by many to be the greatest in Texas…
Inside the Spoke, hardly a thing has changed in 55 years. The speckled ceiling tiles still hang so low that a tall cowboy has to doff his hat. Chicken-fried steak is still served with steaming white gravy. Twirling couples still waltz, shuffle, and polka on the polished-concrete dance floor. And there to greet you on most nights are James and Annetta. But you probably already know all this, because of course you’ve spent an evening there. On the off chance you have yet to make this honky-tonk pilgrimage (and sacred Texan rite of passage), I recommend you tell no one. Just go ahead and book your trip now. You’ll be glad you did.
