US Tour Diaries #4 – Everything’s Bigger

After walking in Memphis, sampling the likes of Alabama and Georgia, and sampling the ‘villes, the fourth part of the tour diaries takes in three stops in Texas (San Antonio, Austin and Dallas) as well as San Francisco.

WINNERS

·         The Alamo –obviously a more sombre place than your typical tourist destination, but worth a look all the same.

·         San Antonio Spurs basketball. Nick and I agree on this point – the NFL (and college football, for that matter) is better to view on TV than in person, but the opposite is true of basketball. This is especially true of a team such as the Spurs, who play such disciplined, team-oriented hoops. The Pacers were off their game and deserved the hiding they received.

·         Mexican food in Texas. It stands to reason that a state which borders Mexico to the south should come up with quality options, but it’s still nice to experience it firsthand.

·         Open bars at US election parties in Austin. The last thing I remember was having shots with some Alabama college football fans at around 10pm. Apparently we went to the Democrat function shortly thereafter. Apparently Parko put me in a cab to go back to the hotel around midnight or so. Apparently the last couple of hours were as fun as the first few. I do, however, remember a guy from the Cedar Park Fire Department giving me his business card for reasons that were unclear at the time and no more obvious now.

·         More Molotov cocktails – this time it was Austin, the Bossman and Democrat-voting women.

·         Lucy’s Fried Chicken in Austin – a legitimate threat to Gus’ Fried Chicken (in Memphis) as the alpha dog of such food on the tour.

·         Dirt cheap bus tickets in Texas. We immediately ditched the idea of hiring a car and played euchre on the bus instead.

·         The JFK Museum in Dallas. A cool tour, luckily topped off for us by arriving half an hour before a guest talk from Bill and Gail Newman, who were the closest witnesses (literally within a few metres) when the final gunshot cracked Kennedy’s skull open. We then an into Bill in the gift shop, and he was good enough to give us some of his time. He’s a very straight-laced kind of guy – Parko thinks he’s like Hank from “King of the Hill’.

·         Cowboys Stadium. The size of the stadium is impressive, but it’s the opulence and luxury that really sets it apart from your typical football ground. The guided tour took us through Jerry Jones’ viewing area, a luxury suite, the locker rooms for both the Cowgirl cheerleaders and the Cowboys themselves, the press conference room and of course, the field itself. A really fun couple of hours.

·         The Golden State Warriors v Denver Nuggets game somehow scraping past the 201.5 total points line, despite both teams playing terribly. Double overtime helps.

·         Niners football at Candlestick Park. A major contrast to Cowboys Stadium – it’s old and a bit rundown. Yet the atmosphere more than makes up for this. As did the massive kielbasas for $8 a pop. A substantial number of beers and our second live viewing of overtime in less than 24 hours also made it a great day out.

LOSERS

·         Watching the Melbourne Cup replay on a laptop in a San Antonio hotel – not quite the same as being at Flemington last year.

·         San Antonio and Dallas (touristy things aside). I’m not sure what we’d have done had we stayed an extra day or two in San Antonio. Meanwhile, Dallas is too spread out and thus you have to drive or catch taxis everywhere – after struggling to get a cab back from Arlington after the Cowboys tour, we jumped in one that was dropping another guy off first. As we weaved through the back streets of Arlington and the front seat conversation revolved around going to jail, I got quite nervous about the prospect of being robbed. Didn’t happen. Instead, the first guy was dropped off before we were recklessly driven back to our hotel at about 90mph. We were just happy to get out of Dallas all in one piece.

·         Now having lost three out of my four bets on the Atlanta Falcons this season, despite them holding an 8-1 record. Learn how to cover the spread when my cash is on board, you bums.

 

US CITY POWER RANKINGS

1.       Nashville

2.       Austin

3.       San Francisco

4.       Tuscaloosa

5.       Knoxville

6.       Memphis

7.       San Antonio

8.       Louisville

9.       Dallas

10.   Atlanta

 

EUCHRE POWER RANKINGS

1.       Anyone playing against me

2.       My unfortunate partner

3.       Yours truly – I failed to win a single game, irrespective of whom I teamed up with.

We’re now in Las Vegas, before the touring party goes it separate ways for a few days and then joins back up for the Niners-Bears Monday Night Football game next week.