The next day I spent some time at Lake Austin, above, created by a dam on the Colorado River which runs through the city.

That evening Hilmar took me to the tiniest bar in Texas. The window in the picture above is the extent of it. At one point while we were there, when I pulled out my wallet, a waitress said, “Oh, a rattlesnake-skin wallet — can I touch it?” I said, “Ma’am, you can rub it all over yourself if you want to.” She took it from me and rubbed it slowly over both her breasts. I found this charming.

We then headed to a joint called Lustre Pearl, where we’d heard some good bands would be playing. We’d heard right. I have no idea what bands they were, but they were excellent. Lustre Pearl is like an ancient Louisiana roadhouse, with an outdoor music area.  It’s motto is “Ici Tout Est Bon”, spelled out in neon above. Hilmar and I managed to score a couple of rocking chairs on the front porch, where the music was still loud, even though we couldn’t see the stage.

Hilmar’s daughter Jordan appeared at the place later on — that’s her below in one of the rocking chairs next to her dad:

And again with a friend of hers:

As the night progressed and the bands got better, we drifted out back to stand in front of the stage:

It was all very cool.

Click on the images to enlarge.