2001 Roadtrip | 3

07 July 2001 |

Greetings! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've reported from the road...but I've had some amazing tour guides through San Antonio, Austin and now New Orleans--haven't even had a moment to sit at the computer! Where to begin...

Missoula > Yellowstone/Tetons > Wyoming > Colorado > Santa Fe > Austin > Luckenbach > San Antonio > New Orleans > Memphis > Nashville > Detroit > Cleveland..... > Colorado

I drove a long day from El Paso to San Antonio and arrived at my friend Elizabeth's place a day early. I decided to skip Big Bend National Park in southern TX due to the heat. Can't take it.

Elizabeth took me on a whirlwind tour of several hot spots...first La Tuna for a beer, surrounded by Cacti near the train tracks, the yard is littered with bottle caps, making beautiful sounding gravel to walk through at dusk to our picnic table beneath colored lights strung from the trees.

Later we headed over to the Riverwalk (San Antonio has it's own man made canal system along which many restaurants and tourist attractions are scattered). First Stop: The Landing--a jazz club/restaurant for a live jazz trio featuring an 18 year old girl on trombone who was visiting from somewhere else.

The Landing also features a picture of Louis Armstrong sitting on the can, taken through a keyhole...other stops were the Acapulco Drive-In for authentic Chalupas...and Swig, where the entire touring cast of STOMP was hangin' out.

Next day was the highlight of the trip so far.

We drove past it a few times before finding it. There's a bar, a dancehall, a general store and a jam session every night of the week that's known the world over.

Jimmy Lee Jones served us beer, told us great one-liners and played several songs on a guitar with a monogrammed strap. My favorite went like this: "I'm a real Go Getter....I take my wife to work....and then I go get her."

Once Jimmy closed up the bar, the jam continued outside with a singer named Chigger...and a sweet-hearted older man named Danny from Tennessee. It was a beautiful evening of sing-alongs. Elizabeth and I knew we'd have to come back for the 4th of July, hoping to see Willie Nelson...

2001 Roadtrip | 4