Sunday, May 14, 2023

Austin - Night one - Ghost Tour

 After recharging, we were hungry again.  Having such great luck with the food this morning, we asked google for a food truck recommendation on the way to our tour,  The first thing to pop up was Sabor Venezolano

We went with the recommendations of the proprietor and had Tequenos with guasacaca (Venezuelan avocado-based sauce).  I'd compare these to mozzarella sticks, but better. 


Cachapa is a thin pancake made with ground fresh corn, cheese, and panela (or sugar), cooked in a budare (a clay or iron plate). It is then served with queso de mano (Venezuelan fresh cheese) and butter.

This has made Karl and I search to see if we can find a Venezuelan restaurant in St. Louis.  Stupid good.  

And Empanadas.  These were good as well.  We probably should have eaten these first because we REALLY liked the pancake.  LOL 




We grabbed a drink at Speakeasy as we waited for our tour guide to arrive.  
I had this Hill Country Peach Tea Cooler....YUMMYY/  


Deep Eddy Vodka is so good.  Karl had something with peach at Coopers.  We meant to buy some while we were there and it just got away from us. 

Anyway, on to the Ghost Tour.  I am not gonna lie, I wasn't a fan of our guide.  I didn't feel like she really explained things in an interesting way.  So what I am retelling is largely gathered elsewhere online.  Because of this, I found out she was in fact making shit up. Two thumbs down. 

Spaghetti Warehouse Building

117 West Fourth Street, Austin, TX 78701 The Austin location was the third location in the chain's history, now houses the "Capitol Grille" and "Parker Jazz Club". Built in 1902, it used to be a grocery warehouse, and during prohibition, was a brothel. Every night the sound of merriment, and the occasional sounds of fighting and even death, reverberated from the walls until the morning light made the operators return to discretion. While no reported deaths in the building are in record, the old warehouse had seen more than its fair share of tragedy. Former employees of the Spaghetti Warehouse report a variety of strange events taking place on the second floor. Specifically, lights would flicker on and off and strange noises came from the employee break room. The basement of the Spaghetti Warehouse apparently also makes the employees a bit edgy. They also reported an eerie feeling as though they are being watched. A young blonde boy, between the age of 8 and 10 runs through the building after hours and is mostly seen where the moderns bathrooms now stand. His identity is unknown, but it’s assumed that he was the child of one of the prostitutes who lived in the old warehouse. 

The Capital Grille (formerly The Old Spaghetti Warehouse) on West 4th Street is Austin’s original railroad depot, built in 1871. Past and present employees and customers have reported spectral figures in Victorian dress, bar glasses that rearrange themselves, shelves in the basement storage area shaking violently and unexplained temperature plunges. The eight square blocks surrounding the depot were known as Guy Town. A bustling center of commerce by day, it was Austin’s red-light district at night, where gun fights, mayhem and murder were regular occurrences. “Ghost sightings usually occur in places with many deaths,” says Miles. “The introduction of the railroad in the late 19th Century introduced a new element to the population: transients, which led to a surge in crime and violence.”



Speakeasy Austin

On July 23, 1916, the Austin Fire Department fought its first major fire in the Kreisle Building at Congress and 4th. The building was a total loss. Also lost were the lives of two women unable to escape their elevator cage. Slamming doors and blood-curdling screams have been heard, accompanied by the sound of running up and down the 59-step staircase—perhaps the ancient cries and footfalls of valiant firefighter James “Jimmy” Glass, whose spine was crushed inside the burning building. Would you like to take a guess at his badge number? A most unlucky 13. The Kreisle Building was rebuilt and is now home to Speakeasy Austin. During a recent renovation, workers complained that their tools and supplies were shuffled around the spooky speakeasy. Several people claim to have seen a woman’s apparition in the antique elevator—the only item that survived the fire—now located inside Speakeasy Austin’s swanky prohibition era vibe Kabaret Room.



Texas Capitol 

State Capitol Building, 1100 Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78701 Designed in 1881 and completed in 1888, the Texas Capitol has had its share of people in and out of the building since it was first built. Today, people working or visiting in the Capitol are not the ones around. It is believed that the rotunda is haunted by the ghosts of the workers killed during the construction. One legend tells the story of a worker who fell to his death from the top of the dome, a 300 ft drop. His shadow on the floor can be seen late at night. The ghost of the wife of Governor Stevenson, who passed away from Cancer in 1942, has been seen in period clothing. She has a friendly attitude and not frightening. Comptroller Robert Marshall Love was shot by a disgruntled associate in 1903 at his office, located on the 1st Floor. He has startled state troopers and tourists alike when walking up de promenade in a period suit and sometimes a top hat. Reports increase in the month of June, during the anniversary of his death. The "lady in red" is believed to be the illicit lover of House Speaker Pete Langley or someone in his staff. She can be seen near the stairwell of the 3rd floor, waiting for a rendezvous.  Mysterious handprints appear on foggy mornings in one of the Senate reception windows, in the West wing of the building. Despite repeated cleanings, the prints continue to appear. It is believed that they are left by the ghost of a young woman who died in the Fire in 1983. Former Governor Edmund Jackson Davis is also said to haunt the Texas Capitol. People have reported that he stares at people from the first-floor window until the move out of his line of sight. 
But the more terrifying Texas Goddess of Liberty The statue is thought to represent Zeus' daughter, Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, justice, and arts and crafts and a fierce warrior, defender of the state. (also out tour guide made up something about it being a meld between someone's wife and someone else.  Can't find that anywhere else online. :cough: liare :cough:



The Haunting Legend of the Littlefield House

The Legend of Littlefield House begins with George and Alice Littlefield, a loving couple who were universally adored throughout Austin.

No one knew that George had a secret.

Unable to have children of their own, George and Alice doted on their twelve nephews and seventeen nieces. When George built his mansion, he intended to house as many children as he could.

He and Alice even paid for all twenty-nine college educations at the University of Texas at Austin. You could say that George and Alice were adored by their family members.

They didn’t know that each time George went on an errand or a trip, he locked his wife in the attic. He feared that the Yankees might swarm in and kidnap her, leading him to bolt the attic door with Alice inside.

As you’d expect, Alice began to experience fits of hysteria.

She lived in terror that she might be stolen away from George, or worse – brutally murdered. On more than one occasion, Alice could be seen hurrying down the stairs. Her horrifying screams could be heard echoing throughout the mansion.

George had little idea about what to do with his wife. He brought her to one doctor after another, until one advised him to take Alice to a sanitarium.

George refused. Instead, he hired three nurses whose sole job was to comfort and care for his beloved Alice. (Wait, didn’t this guy lock his wife in an attic?)

As the legend goes, George Littlefield died of pneumonia in 1920. While Alice remained heartbroken, her mental condition began to improve after some time.

She regained her zest for life and attended parties hosted by friends and family. When she died at the age of 88, Alice bequeathed her home to the University of Texas.

She was buried in Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery beside her beloved husband.

 

The Phantom Piano Player

The most common paranormal phenomena known to occur at the Littlefield House is the haunting sounds of the piano playing upstairs. As Alice Littlefield was the one who played it most frequently during life, it makes sense that her spirit continues doing so in the afterlife. 

**Please note, The story above relates to the family home below.  It has nothing to do with the building she pointed out. This is actually The Littlefield house.  The other is just a building that he may have owned or may have been named in his honor.  They were large contributors to the University.  (again, I was not a fan of the tour guide) 


Paramount Theatre 
Built in 1915, the Paramount Theatre has been entertaining Austin residents for over 100 years. Initially intended for vaudeville acts, the theatre hosts plays, musicians, comedians, and feature films. Originally named The Majestic, the theatre once gave a platform to prominent vaudeville acts like the Marx Brothers, Katherine Hepburn, and Harry Houdini. The theatre later began showing films to compete with the growing number of movie houses, premiering movies like Batman in 1966. Today, the Paramount is best known as one of the featured venues in South By Southwest. Like many theatres, the Paramount is haunted. Three confirmed ghosts live in the theatre. Emily is the most well known, often seen floating across the theatre room, looking for her long lost husband. She was even recently captured in a photo floating above the mezzanine. Walter is the ghost of a projectionist who also haunts the theatre. He recently died during a showing of Casablanca. Quite mischievous in the afterlife, he causes the theatre equipment to malfunction unless the staff bribes him with candy and soft drinks. There’s also the ghost of an old man who sits high above the crowd in the theatre box. He’s usually seen smoking a cigar before vanishing into thin air.




Driskill Hotel


Room 525

THE TALE

Two jilted lovers, separated by a century of history, roam The Driskill’s halls.

THE DETAILS


Like Stephen King’s infamous Room 217 in The Shining (changed to 237 in the Kubrick film), The Driskill has its own haunted suite where tragedy keeps repeating itself. Little is known of the first dead bride, a sort of ancillary ghost peppered in for flavor. The only thing confirmed is that she killed herself in Room 525 after her fiancé called off their wedding, and that she mournfully walks the halls in her Victorian gown. 

The second bride is the more famous one, in part because she is a rare Gen X ghost who died in 1991—yet she still fits the trope of a young and beautiful woman who meets a terrible end.

A Houston socialite who escaped to the hotel after being jilted at the altar, she went on a massive shopping spree with her lover’s purloined credit card and was last seen carrying several bags into Room 525. Later that night, while sitting in the bathtub, the bride put a gun in one hand and a pillow in the other, then shot herself. Since then, Driskill guests have claimed to see her carrying packages or a pistol down the hall before she vanishes into Room 525 without ever opening the door.

 


The Senator’s Daughter

THE TALE

A child meets an untimely end and continues to play among some of the hotel’s most storied features.

THE DETAILS

Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Of all melancholy topics…the death of a beautiful woman is un- questionably the most poetical topic in the world…” He built a legacy on the backs of dead brides, much like ghost tour companies, podcasters, and writers that specialize in Austin’s tales of the macabre. But when it comes to gothic tropes, nothing competes with a ghost bride quite like a ghost child.
Legend says that a girl, rumored to be named Samantha Houston, tripped and fell to her death on the Driskill’s grand staircase and can since be heard giggling and bouncing a ball on its steps. Historians have long searched for any evidence to verify the tale, all to no avail. Considering the public setting and the headline-grabbing implications of the story, it seems to point to the apocryphal—even if some supernatural ball continues dribbling down the hotel’s staircase and into our nightmares.

 



Annie Lennox’s Ghost

THE TALE

The spirit of a suave Texas cowboy haunts traveling female rock stars.

THE DETAILS

The Driskill has been smoke-free for more than a decade, but that hasn’t deterred pockets of cigar smoke from being detected by unsuspecting guests. Some blame the hotel’s founder, Col. Jesse Driskill, who was known to frequently partake of a good stogie. Regardless, one cigar-wielding male ghost dressed in 19th-century cowboy clothing has appeared before many a female musician. Annie Lennox claimed he selected her stage outfit while she showered, and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde wrote the song “Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man” after a night of enduring his ghostly shenanigans. He’s also been known to touch women on the arm or back, proving himself more worthy of a historical romance than a gothic novel.


Here is a tour from the ATX TV Festival: https://youtu.be/9yg7TGaQYoY This guide actually knew what she was talking about.  LOL  


The Firehouse Hostel and Lounge are located in the oldest standing fire station in Austin. The original facade of Washington Fire Hall #1 at 605 Brazos was built in 1885. The building was home to a brigade of volunteer firemen through the turn of the 20th century.

I can't remember what she told us about haunted history - but I couldn't find anything "haunted" so here's some info about the hostel and speakeasy

Nothing haunted, just thought it was a funny name.  (it's next to the Floppy Disk Repair)


Servant Girl Annihilator

During the course of 1885 a series of eight murders had occurred in Austin, Texas; all carried out in a similar manner. The victims were attacked in their beds as they slept; they were struck in the head with an axe and then carried into the yard where they were raped and mutilated. The axe used by the perpetrator was left behind at the scene of the murder. Also left behind were the bare footprints of the perpetrator who forfeited his boots to enable his stealthy entrances and exits.



Here's a PBS episode
The Case:

In 1884, a string of gruesome murders terrorized the people of Austin, Texas. Three years before Jack the Ripper struck London, a killer—or possibly multiple killers—brutally attacked and murdered eight women in their beds. The heinous crimes stopped as abruptly as they began, and the slayings have remained unsolved for over a century.

Could this be one of the first known serial murders in the United States? Why were those responsible never brought to justice? Six of the eight victims were African American—were the crimes racially motivated?

Armed with modern forensics, the History Detectives interview descendants of the murdered women and enlist the help of modern-day experts in an effort to solve this historical whodunit. Can they finally crack the case?

According to Texas Monthly, the killer murdered seven women (five black, two white) and one black man. Additionally, the killer seriously injured six women and two men.[8]

All the victims were attacked indoors while asleep in their beds. Five of the women were dragged, unconscious but still alive, and killed outdoors. Three of the women were severely mutilated while outdoors.

All the victims were posed in a similar manner. Six of the murdered women had a "sharp object" inserted into their ears.[9]

The series of murders ended with the killing of two white women, Eula Phillips, age 17, and Susan Hancock, who was attacked while sleeping in the bed of her 16-year-old daughter on the night of 24 December 1885.[1]

Only one of those arrested, James Phillips, was convicted. He was found guilty of murdering his wife but the conviction was later overturned.[1]

London authorities questioned several American cowboys, one of whom (according to the authors of Jack the Ripper, A to Z) was possibly Buck Taylor, a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.[10] Taylor was born in Fredericksburg, Texas,[11] about 70 miles west of Austin.

According to a front-page article in The New York Times of December 26, 1885, 400 men were arrested during the course of the year.[6] According to the Texas Monthly, powerful elected officials refused to believe that one man, or one group of men, was responsible for all the murders.

The African-American community and some practitioners of voodoo believed the killer was a white man who had magic powers that enabled him to become invisible, as no dogs outside or in fenced-yards adjacent to locations where murders occurred were heard to bark or raise any alarm.[1]

The series of murders stopped when additional police officers were hired, rewards were offered and citizens formed a vigilance committee to patrol the streets at night.[12] Contemporary newspapers reported that the murderer(s) had apparently fled the area, as no more murders were officially attributed to the killer by the authorities.[1]


The BS our tour guide gave us was someone named Maurice and she grabbed pieces of the "missing toe" of Nathaniel Elgin and the mention of Buck Taylor being a cowboy from Austin that the authorities were questioning as a possible Jack the Ripper - and wrapped it all into Maurice.  She said Maurice lived where this Residence Inn stands now.  All BS.  Who the hell is Maurice?  

So, as much as I *LOVE* a good ghost tour, even if I don't see anything creepy, this was just a waste of time.  She clearly didn't actually know Austin history??? 

Tomorrow we hit Waco.  Fingers crossed Chip and Joanne are there! 


Austin - Day one - Food Tour

 Karl bought a new car, Rae,  She's a 2023 Acura Integra, A spec.....I don't know some other bells and whistles and all that jazz.  With the crazy airline prices and madness at the airport, why not drive Rae instead of fly?  And as you know, we like to try and check off at least one state per year together.  Karl has been dying to get to Austin to visit the Comedy Mothership, and I heard great things about the food scene and Waco is within driving distance so we can do a little detour for me.  :)  

We left out of St. Louis around 5:00 am stopped for lunch in Texarkana and got in to Austin around 7:00.  Not a back drive all in all.  Also, it's the 1st time in road trip history that I was not the primary driver!  In fact, I wasn't behind the wheel once this entire trip!  It was kind of nice! 

We checked in and had a nightcap at the bar.  



Our original plan was to do San Antonio on Wednesday, but after the drive on Tuesday, the last thing we wanted to do was drive two more hours, so we opted to stick around Austin instead.  

We decided on taking this tasting tour.  First off, I knew the day was going to be a hit when we parked in this spot.  (if you know, you know) 



AJ was our tour guide and he was amazing.  He added in history facts about Austin as well as the restaurants we visited.  We we starving and we were not disappointed!! 

First stop was Coopers Pit BBQ

The 200 block of Congress has been the home to several pubs, saloons, cafes and restaurants over the years including the Bradshaw Saloon, Pearlhouse Saloon, Tradewinds Lounge, The Dew Drop, Avenue Cafe, Las Manitas and Copa Lounge. Across the street was home to the International and Great Northern Rail Road Depot, built in 1888. The upstairs space at 217 was once the Travis Hotel, rumored to have been a cat house!

Here we sampled brisket and jalapeno pinto beans.  I am not normally a brisket fan, I was this day!!  

The pit is open and you can check out all the meat as it cooks
These beans were amazing!! 
Congress is the widest street in Austin.  They used to herd cattle down this street.  The original 1839 Waller Plan for the city designed Congress Avenue to be Austin's central and most prominent street, and named in honor of the Republic-era Congress. The capital building is visible from anywhere on congress. 

The brisket and beans may have been my favorite 


Next stop, Torchy's Tacos for a Migas. Migas, which means “crumbs,” is a dish traditionally made from stale bread and other ingredients in Spanish and Portuguese cuisines. Instead of stale bread, Torchy uses tortilla strips
EGGS, CORN TORTILLA STRIPS, GREEN CHILES, AVOCADO, PICO DE GALLO & CHEESE WITH TOMATILLO SAUCE ON YOUR CHOICE OF TORTILLA.



I took the avocado off mine.  It was DAMN GOOD
A long time ago, in the bustling town of Austin, Texas, a man named Mike Rypka bought a food trailer and a red Vespa. His dream? To start a taco joint. Like all great chefs, he filled his first menu with more experiments than meals — and thanks to some trips around town on his Vespa, and overheard iterations of "Damn, these tacos are good!" at the food trailer, it was declared a hit.


Next up, ZikiZiki started with a food trailer at 2118 S. Congress Ave. It has added a second location near University of Texas and plans to open a third location at Third Street and Congress Avenue later this month. Nick Nanakos founded Ziki with the goal of health-conscious Greek and Mexican fusion food.  
Last month, the company raised $6.7 million in seed funding from investors including high-profile venture capital firm Gigafund. (which has invested more than $1 billion in Elon Musk's SpaceX)


Ziki bites were my 2nd favorite.  And part of me thinks because I was extra hungry the brisket and beans may have had an unfair advantage!  


Next stop was Juiceland 

We had to guess the 7 ingredients in the smoothie.  We did it, and apparently faster than anyone else!  :)  



This was my least favorite stop, but it was someone else's favorite. 


We then stopped at Fareground - Fareground houses five restaurant kiosks helmed by some of Austin’s best chefs, including several James Beard nominees, and offers Asian, Mexican, French, New American and Mediterranean cuisine, plus two craft cocktail bars. It’s hard to put a label on Fareground, they describe themselves as "a space where restauranteurs come to grow and scale their businesses."

We had two offerings in Fareground, 1st was Jewboy Sliders.

JewBoy Burgers is about Mo Pittle, a guy from El Paso who loves burgers enough to open a food truck in his 40s and become a chef through trial by fire. Mo says he was the only Jewish kid on the team at Coronado High School. He grew up mostly among Latinos and “Jew boy” was the term he was referred to.
We had the Tickllish Reuben

The Ticklish Reuben - House Smoked and Steamed pastrami grilled with onions and melted Swiss topped with grilled sauerkraut and 1000 island dressing.

I don't like sauerkraut but everything else was good.  



 



The last offering was from Taco Pegaso - Based on myth and legend from Oaxacan “alebrijes,” Taco Pegaso is brought to life by chef and restauranteur Richard Sandoval bringing the flavor and colors of Mexican street food and refreshing bebidas right to you!


We were treated to something off menu. This is chef's grandmother's recipe, with a twist. Paying homage to Flan, these cheesecakes had a drizzle of caramel. DELICIOUS!



Some random things we saw along the walk.

This is a speakeasy. These are huge all over Austin. Some have the passwords online, while others you have to know someone to get in. This one you can sometimes get the password from the bar across the street,

Wholeheartedly agree Janet!


Willie Nelson Statue - Following his move to Nashville in 1960, Nelson enjoyed success as a songwriter, but his career as a singer did not progress. After shortly retiring from the music business, Nelson moved to Austin in 1972, where his career found new success as a performer. 
The Austin musical scene, and his performances at the Armadillo World Headquarters rejuvenated his career. Local audiences welcomed his style of country music marked by traditional country, folk and jazz influences.[8] In 1974, Nelson produced and performed on the pilot of PBSAustin City Limits.[9] 



I mean, this is a very fair statement.
The Tito's in downtown Austin sells no vodka.

Tito's fought the law, and the law won,  
“We worked closely with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission as we conceptualized and built out the Love, Tito’s store. Since we are not distilling vodka at the store location, we legally cannot sell or sample Tito’s on-site,”

Tito's decided to continue on with the store and at our Love, Tito's store in Austin, net  proceeds  constitute an average margin of at least 25% of the retail price of a product, excluding the cost of tax on the purchase. We are not deducting cost of our people, the store rent or other operating costs.

After all the food and walking (and heat), we went back to the hotel to recharge for our ghost tour that evening.