Everyone knows I love Austin, but the city itself isn’t quite enough to get me to drive there on a whim. Carrie, on the other hand, is. The weekend was supposed to involve two major activities of interest: date night with Carrie, and photoshoot with Cassandra. Event number one happened, but the weather cancelled my photoshoot.

So, date night in Austin. I’ll start this off with the disclaimer that I have little interest in 6th Street. It may well be the single worst feature of Austin. That said, I avoid it like the plague unless I’m showing someone from out of town what that little piece of town is all about (binge drinking, and hipsters). 3rd and 4th are more my speed, so I planned to hit up The Ginger Man and The Elephant Room after dinner. Carrie picked our dinner spot (Moonshine), but we got there and the wait was more than an hour. Right, on to Plan B (Fogo De Chao).

On our way from Plan A to Plan B, I had perhaps one of the most enraging encounters I’ve ever had in Austin. Apparently, on the way to Moonshine we passed a man on the corner of 4th street and Red River, in a wheelchair. Apparently, this man tried to get my attention and failed. This, to me, is understandable on account of my attention being strictly focused on Carrie at that moment in time. When we walked back by the same general area, the man asked if he could trouble us for an answer to a question. Sure, why not.

His question boiled down to an accusation that I had turned my back on a wounded Iraq veteran (it wasn’t clear if he meant OIF, or ODS). This of course prompted me to respond that I, too, am an Iraq veteran – and one of my related disabilities is the fact I can’t exactly hear. I apologized for not hearing him attempt to get my attention earlier, and he just got louder and more irrational. The exchange ended with him hoping I’d die should I ever return to Iraq. Kind sentiments indeed. Through the whole ordeal, I’m glad I had Carrie there. She definitely helped cool me down.

Food at Fogo De Chao was pretty tasty. Carrie managed to fill up at the salad bar, but I enjoyed the meat portion of the meal as well. From there, we migrated to The Ginger Man where I got to enjoy a half-pint (it’s all they had left) of Real Ale’s Devil’s Backbone. The last time I blogged about Devil’s Backbone, it was because I managed to knock about a third of a pint of it into my old Macbook Pro. Sad, the loss of such an excellent beer. After a few drinks at The Ginger Man we made our way over to The Elephant Room and slid up to the bar.

The Elephant Room might just be one of my favorite places on Earth. Amazing live music? Check. Good beer selection? Check. Apply a serving of gorgeous girl to enjoy the atmosphere with, and you’ve got one hell of a winning combination. If sleeping weren’t a requirement, and were their hours 24/7, I’d probably spend all of my time there.