If Lynn Meredith and I joined the Hell Marys roller derby
team, we might take up monikers like “Sue This!” and “LMurder-ith” to join team
members Barbara Ambush, Lucille Brawl, Olivia Shootin’ John and The Killa Sal Monella.
Lynn had said that she wanted to go to a
Texas Rollergirls game some day. Last night that day arrived, and so did we.
The first thing I noticed when we walked into the Austin Convention
Center was that it was way too quiet. No chants of “Texas, Texas, Kill, Kill,
Kill!” No loud horns or slap sticks creating the usual Texas Rollergirl bouts’
cacophony. What was going on? Well after a few inquires, we found out that this
weekend wasn’t a regular season game, but rather a tournament including teams
from Austin (Texecutioners), New York (Gotham City Rollers), San Francisco (Bay
Area Roller Girls), and Chicago (Windy City Rollers). The teams skating the
first bout when we arrived at 6:30 were Chicago and New York, so not a lot of
home-team fans there to make a ruckus.
My rare trips to watch the Texas Rollergirls usually consists of
watching people and being clueless about what is going on. Well, that changed
last night when Lynn sat down, opened up her tournament program and set out to
educate us both on what the heck was going on on the track. Between
Lynn’s research, and with a little help from the gal sitting in front
of us, I learned more about roller derby last night than I’d gleaned from
several other trips to bouts.
Gotham City pretty much blew the Windy City Rollers off the track in the first round, but when the Texecutioners and the Bay Area Rollers bout began, it was
much more competitive and fun. Lynn and I yelled and clapped for the Texas team, and yelled over the din at each other about this and that and everything else.
Lynn kept checking her phone as her daughter is expecting to deliver
Lynn’s first grandbaby any day. I kept checking my phone worried about my
“home alone” husband, who although mostly recovered at this point, had suffered
two strokes in May. Suddenly I realized it was two hours past my bedtime, 9:30
pm, and we hadn’t even started the second half of our adventure – a trip to the
Liberty Bar in East Austin. Click On Read More Below...
So off we went, me trying to remember how to drive after dark, and Lynn,
a seasoned downtown gal, guiding me courageously. Soon enough we found the perfect
parking spot and charged through the entrance of what looked like a serious
dive in a sketchy area. Of course once we breeched the door of the Liberty Bar it was obvious
that we were perfectly safe, albeit looking a little like lost tourists. We did
not, however, allow that to impede our progress even a tad. We went straight
out the back door where legions of thirty-somethings were lined up like inmates
in a prison cafeteria. Tucked in the back of the otherwise nondescript “beer
garten” was East Side Kings, The Food Network’s 2012 Top Chef Paul Qui’s food
trailer! Although Paul wasn’t there, you could tell by the food coming out of
the trailer that he was “there.”
Being Jack Sprat’s wife, I immediately zeroed in on the pork belly buns
on the menu, but Lynn said, “You go ahead. I’m not eating meat.” Well, that
led to a lengthy conversation about health and eating and how we felt and yada
yada - all interesting and fun. Meanwhile we’d fetched ourselves drinks from
the bar and settled in to wait for our deep fried roasted beets with kewpie
mayo, schichimi tougarashi and green onion, our fried brussels sprouts salad
with sweet and spicy sauce, fresh shredded cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, fresh
basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño, and our steamed jasmine rice with
ginger, garlic oil, fresh basil, cilantro, mint, onion, and jalapeño. Now if
that doesn’t make your mouth water, you’d better check your pulse.
It was all yum yum yummy, and we left feeling very hip and
adventuresome! Fun times in the city with very smart gal-friend Lynn Meredith!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment