22 July 2021
It’s amazing what does and doesn’t change in 50 years. There is still a Schnabel’s Hardware on McCollugh Avenue and the old, angular building I once thought I would like to turn into a restaurant is still there. I’ve driven I-35 from San Antonio to Austin a few times in my life and every time I got to Austin, the dome of the state capitol was easy to see in the skyline. I still saw it but it was tricky with all the new high rise buildings going up all over the place.
I also thought I remembered you could see the UT Tower from the interstate. It was no where to be seen. It’s 307 feet tall and was built in 1937 and is most famous for the UT Texas Tower shootings. On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman, after killing his mother and wife the night before, climbed to the top of the tower and killed 15 people and wounded 31. Whitman was portrayed in a movie made later by Kurt Russell.
What hasn’t changed, at least for this trip, is the number of rest rooms closed on the interstates. Jo and I were denied twice this trip (actually, she found the women’s open after questioning a worker) and the first one out of San Antonio was closed. That makes three closures in one trip. At the last one, someone was digging behind the rest stop and ruptured the water pipe. I was getting ready to break out a pee can but finally found one open past Austin. Shades of mother! On long trips, she provided my brother and I a can to pee in so they wouldn’t have to stop so often.
Traffic out of San Antonio was heavy, but that was expected. It also slowed to a crawl in Austin but after I hit I-20, it thinned pretty well and I made it to Shreveport by 3:30 pm. There was a fair bit of construction that forced you from 75 mph down to 60 mph and transfer trucks kept jockeying for position with one another, but otherwise, it was a smooth ride.
My hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn. The nicest I’ve stayed in was in California and this may possibly be the worst. I don’t think management has everything together or it simply could be they are just recovering from COVID. The tub in the bathroom has mold and mildew around the edges of the tub and there’s a tear in the shower curtain.
They have a guest laundry but the door didn’t accept the key card. It seems they’ve disabled the door lock and it’s open to the public. I prefer it to be accessed by the key card so just anyone doesn’t walk in.
They’ve started opening their bar and restaurant with a limited menu. I asked for a very dry, vodka martini. When he reached for the vermouth, I told him no. Just make it with vodka. I was busy texting Jo the locations of all the Sonics in San Antonio so she could get her fix of chocolate shakes when he sets this purple drink in front of me. I asked what it was and he said my martini. I said no it wasn’t. He showed me a bottle of vermouth that he must have mixed 50/50 with the vodka. It tasted soooo sweet. Southern ice tea would compete with it on sweetness. It also had not been shaken or stirred with ice. Also, no olives nor any offer of one.
Jo responded to my text about Sonic’s locations in San Antonio by calling me a little devil. Now I ask you, can this sweet face possibly be a devil?
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When they brought me my meal, they did not provide napkins or silverware. Oh, did I mention the fire alarm went off while waiting for my meal. No one seemed to know how to turn it off. At least the bed is comfortable and, right now, the hotel is quiet. There seems to be a lot of construction people staying here – probably from working on the interstate – and they are doing construction on the roof of the hotel.
I admit to tearing up a little when I left Jo’s this morning. It was so good to see her again after two years. She even made me a toast hole egg for breakfast just like the first one she made me back in 1984.
It was an emotional morning. She had promised to show me a photo of my grandfather Hollie and Mom with Archie.
As we looked for the photograph, we kept running into more and more memories. She even broke out the 1956 Morton yearbook called The Mirror. We sat and looked at the teachers we both had – I was in the third grade that year. I remembered a surprising number of teachers – some of whom I was related to. After all, it was a very small town and a little like Peyton Place.
Tomorrow, I get to see Archie and Tanis. It’s been two years since I’ve seen them.
Stay tuned!