2020 // Texas on Film
San Antonio & Austin
Texas, March 2020
I had few expectations going into my Texas trip to San Antonio and Austin. Well, actually, that’s a complete lie. The trip arose a few months prior because Hillary had moved to San Antonio and Soleil to Austin - but the timing was intentional, coinciding with SXSW, the mecca of film, music, and tech. The festival, spanning two weeks, takes over the city and, despite not purchasing tickets, Soleil and I planned to finagle our way into promotional events and parties, maybe even sneak into the expo if we managed to get connected with the right people. This was March 2020 and the pandemic began to take hold across the world. Due to the international draw of SXSW, they cancelled the event and moved it online. I had already bought the plane ticket and was far too naive in understanding the mounting public health crisis, as we all were, and asked myself, why not still go?
I arrived in San Antonio, riddled with caution yet excited to cross Texas off my travels list. Hillary and I caught up and I quickly became acquainted with her cat Wiz. While she was at work, I popped over to various coffee shops, reluctantly mentioning I was visiting from Washington, the present epicenter, which was met with concerned gazes. An evening in the Historic Pearl District capped it off for my first day.
The next day was the full San Antonio tour, starting with dollar donuts and strolling downtown San Antonio, weaving between churches and waltzing along the River Walk while admiring the integration of Mexican culture to honor historic roots. Hillary purchased a mini sombrero for Wiz, which she didn’t take kindly to as you can see below. The heat was sweltering, but I’m also not equipped for that type of weather. To cool off and for nostalgia’s sake, we dined at the Rainforest Cafe and I readied myself for the Alamo. My life is now split into pre-Alamo and post-Alamo and I continue to fight the occasional urge to say YEE-HAW.
I had a bittersweet goodbye to Hillary as she dropped me off to catch the bus to Austin, passing the time by watching the unremarkable Texas landscape roll by. Arriving at the bus station, I avoided people and hand sanitized, until I spotted Soleil pull up with Gina and Peter in tow - Gina hopping out to hug me since we hadn’t seen each other since Christmas. It was sweet.
The four of us gorged ourselves on food, reveled in the colorfully painted local stores, and encountered a man walking his pet ferret down the street all while SWEATING beyond belief. Peter, I’m sure, recognized the error of his ways as he was fourth wheeling most of the time. just laughing the whole time. We bounced to Outdoor Voices, the rooftop at the library (how fun!!) and from iconic mural to mural (next time you see me, ask me to show you the human pyramid photos) before witnessing two girls crash a scooter into a parked car. The four of us were completely bewildered, froze, and tried to figure out what to do (they were okay thankfully). As a consolation to Peter for being a trooper and getting dragged along a majority of the day, we watched the Congress Avenue bats depart for their nightly feeding, flying together in a cloud resembling static set against the sunset.
One evening we descended upon Rainey and Sixth Street to just see what it was all about…those intentions were quickly lost when I had a Lone Star in my hand and we were in the pedicab on our way to the next bar. I got buzzed enough to force Soleil to do a photo-booth with me only to discover the camera was cracked and I had wasted ten dollars. I got drunk enough to spot another photo-booth as we were about to call it a night, and became so fixated on it that the bartender spotted me staring at it, let us in the backdoor, and gave us free drinks. Drunk Greta successfully achieved the fun photo-booth pictures she so desired.
Apart from that chaotic night, we indulged in the unique offerings of Austin like frolicking in a field of bluebells and attending chicken shit bingo. Yes, you read that correctly. Cowering around the chicken cage, Gina, Peter, and I looked at each other and remarked on how this was indeed NOT six feet apart like we had been conditioned to socially distance in our home states. To wrap up the day, we toured the (massive) capital building which exudes Texas pride.
This first venture to Texas wasn’t at all what I thought it would be, but I wouldn’t trade it for what I imagined. There is a cadence of the south that embraces donning cowboy hats unironically, priding themselves on self-sufficiency, giving proper southern hospitality, and focusing on a damn good time - nothing too flashy, just great food, booze, and music. It’s exciting to catch a sliver of the action as Hillary and Soleil build their Texas lives.
