Texas; Part 1: Austin, TX.

After waking up to the sounds of wild Roosters trying to out CROW each other, and feeling perhaps a little more hungover than I would have liked to be (as you do in New Orleans), I found myself hitting the road again for Austin, TX.

The drive from New Orleans to Texas was not too bad, I was still able to tune into most of the great music stations from New Orleans until the Texas line. I noticed a huge switch in the programming immediately after crossing into Texas. All NPR stations ceased to exist. Thankfully I had CD's.

Once I got to Austin though I got to begin to see why this city has grown exponentially for the last 3 years. It's one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

My friend Max took me to the Easy Tiger first, which is really a trip. It's like being transported to some European beer garden. There's a small river that passes through the back of the beer garden:




The next day we decided to hit up Jester King Brewing company, which was nothing short of fantastic. The beer they make at this place is weapons-grade amazing sour beer. We got to take the tour, and really hear about what separates Jester King from the other brewers in Texas, and also around the country. 







Aside from the beer, the food is really what struck me in Austin. There is no shortage of AMAZING food destinations. Really great stuff everywhere I went. From the most amazing tacos I've ever had at a food truck, to artisan chicken sausage with a giant Live Oak Hefeweizen, I can see why Austin is called a "loop-hole" in the bible belt. I had a blast and would definitely FLY back one day for SXSW or something.

But no amount of good beer, friendly reunions, or amazing food could prepare me for what came next. The drive through Texas back roads....to Amarillo.

Tune in later tonight for Part 2 of Texas.... because this state is so fucking big and pointless, I couldn't fit all my thoughts on it into one post.

New Orleans...

So, it's been a few days since my last update. I was without Wi-Fi in New Orleans so I figured I'd update in Austin. And then Austin became an awesome hang out and I never found the time. But... here we go.




My first time in New Orleans was 2005, about two or three months before Katrina. I went with my family for the New Orleans Jazz Fest. I absolutely fell in love with the place. The food, people, music, it just seemed like an amazing place all together. And then Katrina came, and tore the city apart. One of the most incompetent Presidents in the history of the United States didn't help the matter much either. And so I was left with this hollow sunken feeling while I helplessly watched the TV as New Orleans tore itself apart. An already poor working class city was left without food or water for a week, bodies left out on the side of the roads to cook in the hot Bayou sun. Not the best of times. George Bush of course was never held accountable for this, or any of his other atrocities.

How would the city be almost ten years later? I hadn't the slightest clue. But I'm glad I went back. Almost a decade later, a lot of the houses in certain wards have been rebuilt or at least patched up. The French Quarter obviously was left almost exactly how I remember it.

There's a certain wonder you experience walking through a city like New Orleans, especially having watched the 24hour media circus that surrounded Katrina. A lot of the musicians have returned, the music is still great as it ever was, and the city seems to be rebounding from an unacceptable tragedy in the form of insane Governmental ineptitude. It's a city with a soul, and its soul is still intact, unbroken.

It just so happened my visit coincided with an extremely random, but no less awe-inducing, concert. In all honesty, I've never listened to a lot of The Melvins music. But King Buzzo was fucking great. Ripping through a lot of heavier songs on an acoustic guitar with a surgical accuracy that left me unable to do anything but just ROCK OUT. Here's a taste of that:



All in all, my time in New Orleans was short lived, but incredibly fun. I loved seeing some old faces and meeting some new ones. New Orleans is a special place that I'll have to go back to one day.

"Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"

Much Love

I'd like to take this second post, and use it to thank everyone who came out tonight to Pangaea. It meant a lot to hang out with people who I respect so much, and who made Florida occasionally seem like a breeze.

You're all in my thoughts and I will truly relish that memory for a long time.

Now it's time to try and accomplish some form of rest, and then hit the road tomorrow/today. It was sobering to realize driving back to my house from Siesta Key, that this will be the last time I see this city I basically grew up in. At least for awhile.

The future is uncertain, but one thing is clear; There is a minority of amazing, intelligent, caring, insightful, and generally overall badass people in Sarasota. I'm proud to call you my friends.

I'll start to get emotional if I delve too much deeper, so I'll simply leave you with this song...

A preview of what's to come:

The Beginning is Nigh

The Beginning is Nigh

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sam Simmons. I'm 25 years old, and up until Thursday I'll have lived in Florida for a little over 20 years. It's been a long time. Too long in fact.

In 25 years, I've not had too much experience with this American landscape.
This country, we as Americans, call home.

I've seen New York City, I loved it but it's too hustle and bustle for me. I could never live there.
I've been to Chicago, it's one of my favorite places to visit hands down. The architecture, music, food, people, I love it. But it's way too fucking cold. Myself, I was born outside of Detroit, Michigan.

Detroit's not looking at the best of times right now, with the City Government about to shut off water to over a thousand citizens. But then Detroit hasn't been in good times Economically for the last 2-3 decades. The last time they had anything to cheer about was 2008, when the Detroit Red Wings brought the Stanley Cup back to Hockeytown.

But I will say it seems, (at least from the times I've been back) people are more real there. Perhaps it's because they've seen the "American Dream" in action. They live the everyday hell that unfettered corporate crony-capitalism can reign on the working class and poor. 

For that sacrifice alone, I will always proudly proclaim my hometown as Detroit fucking Michigan.

Home of the Coney Island/Lafayette hotdog rivalry.
Home of a true patriot in Joe Louis, a World Heavyweight Champion, who the IRS destroyed.
Home of Ford, and Packard, who single-handedly turned a once thriving metropolis
into a Ghost Town.
Home of the MC5, and John Sinclair.
Home of the Tigers, who are still trying.
And the Home of the Detroit Red Wings, who will never quit.

I've seen bits of California and Nevada, and I still remained unsatisfied. However, last September I went to Portland, Oregon and something changed. It never really hit me in the city, but in the forest, I felt at home. I felt for the first time an energy that called to me, and whispered inspiration.

It's an extremely difficult thing, to leave everything you know and hit the road with not much but yourself and this "stuff"... the shit we think we need to survive. It's even more difficult when Love is involved. And Love is really never something anyone should take for granted. But you know the love couldn't be more unconditional than when that love recognizes your need to evolve. I can't say enough amazing things about my partner in crime for the last 4 years.

I wouldn't trade any moment that's happened from the past until now. It's liberating to feel free of regret. I am the person I am today because of the pains I've weathered, but also the love I've experienced.

So now I'm hitting the road. Going on one ridiculously life changing move to the opposite of everything I've ever known both geographically and culturally. But I am going into this with so much support from my love, family, and friends. There's not much else I could ask for.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll arrive at the point of this Blog.

I will be updating this on my journey out West. And hopefully, will remain updating it once I get to Portland as a way of furthering my Beer and Loathing PDX persona. You can expect a general eclectic mixture of reviews for new craft beers, commentary on where I think the beer industry is going, reviews of movies and scripts, as well as general social/political commentary on occasion.

It is my most sincere hope that the friends I have on Facebook will support this endeavor by reading this blog and contributing with feedback, or suggestions on content.

Cheers!

-Sam