Riding trains in Texas
People, patriotism and pepper spray
I flew into Austin at 7am, July 3rd and Ivey, my dear childhood friend from South Carolina, kindly picked me up from the airport. We immediately drove to Bouldin Creek Café, a must-go vegetarian paradise for us ever since she first moved to Texas many years ago.
This visit was going to be special as I was meeting her beautiful, joyful 18-month-old daughter Iyla for the first time, and it was the week of the 4th of July, a holiday I haven’t celebrated properly in at least ten years. I’m always excited to hang out in Austin, the state’s capital, full of nearly one million interesting people. Austin is in the middle of Texas, where progress meets tradition. Austin is also where my bus trip started, and this was on my mind. So much has been happening since I left ten days ago. My sleeping patterns are shot. I’ve had no time to process anything happening, and things just don’t stop.
I told Ivey how I thought the journalist I met in Honolulu probably thought I was crazy, for attempting this challenging public transit journey.
”You better get used to people thinking that,” Ivey joked.
Monday night we went to Ivey’s friend’s parents’ house for their annual Fourth of July party. It was warm but breezy. Patriotic paraphernalia was everywhere, from the star spangled table cloths to the “home of the brave” wall hangings. At first it seemed fairly standard, like many of the fourth of Julys I experienced as a kid, only way more people. (I saw people of every age and every skin color). Then things got a bit more Texas-y I guess you could say. First we were asked to “gather” at the front of the house to say the blessing, (fairly typical) but once we had gathered that was not all that happened.
A man wearing a shirt that said “American by birth, Christian by choice” stood in front of the crowd. He looked to be in his 40s; he was white, with brown hair and glasses. First he had us say the pledge of allegiance, something I’m not sure I’ve done in sincerity since high school, and then we sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” Then this gentleman (he might have been a preacher) talked for a good 10 minutes about the American Revolution, American prosperity and American exceptionalism and how after the enlightenment period, Americans began returning in droves to the Christian church and that, he said, is why we are the most prosperous country on earth. He credited Jesus above all else. He did not say we are the “greatest country on earth” and I appreciated that.
”Is this it?” I wondered as I bowed my head to pray. Is this the fear of impending Civil War talk that I hear people bring up when discussing modern America… The grandiosity of his speech wasn’t exactly a battle cry, but it was bold, a bit chest-beaty. But then we said “Amen” and proceeded to feast on all that good potluck style food. I heard no real talk of revolution, but I did hear some folks discuss about finding local pediatricians who don’t require vaccinations. I slapped at mosquitos and watched kids play with various water toys. I felt welcome. I hope writing honestly about this does not make me sound judgmental. We went home before the fireworks to put the baby to bed.
The next morning, 4th of July, Ivey and I left Iyla with Grandma and drove to town to explore Austin’s public transportation!
We started at plaza Saltillo on E. 5th St. and got off at the Highland mall stop. Then we walked to the Crestview stop and rode back to Plaza Saltillo from there. We opted for trains this time, rather than buses, but they were running on the 4th of July. One of my favorite aspects of the trip thus far is talking to people about their experiences with public transportation. I met a couple riding bikes after riding the train, our waitress Louisa at Soup Leaf Hotpot told us about how she took Austin public transit cautiously but enjoyably. I met a conductor from California named Rachel, and all of them were happy to talk to me. Here are some videos I recently shared on Instagram about them.
I had a self proclaimed public transit nerd get in touch with me while I was in town hoping to show me Austin’s transit system. His name was Jack and while we couldn’t quite make our trip happen, he did send me an amazing day of public transit fun which I have included here.
After a day on the streets of Austin, Ivey and I went to take a quick 4th of July dip in the super clean and refreshing San Marcos River and then we headed to the little town of Dale, Texas for the most Americana, cutest fourth celebration I’ve ever seen.
I loved seeing so many different people from so many different backgrounds all come together and celebrate. Before the fireworks, we enjoyed watermelon frescas and patriotic elotes, that was a new thing for me.
The next day she and I hung out at home until late afternoon when we set out for Austin. I was on a mission to try tacos from Nixta Taqueria and also find an actual physical copy of a map, which we eventually did find at Austin’s Bookpeople, along with meeting this interesting traveler, Akhmos, who once rode his bike from New York to Atlanta! Akhmos is from the North, but he said Austin Texas has been calling him for a long time. Thanks for chatting with me Akhmos!
We wrapped up the night stopping at Wal Mart for some pepper spray, something I don’t really want to have but multiple people have encouraged me to buy, so here we are. My anxiety about the trip the next day was revving, from Dallas through to Little Rock by morning. It was a big day. For weeks I’d been staying up late, going over all the potential things that might go wrong.
Thursday morning Ives and I woke up early, kissed Grandma and baby goodbye and headed back to Austin for a cup of coffee and a quick stroll through the Capitol building, where yes, they do in fact have the ten commandments on the grounds. I also saw this cool map of Texas!
Then Ives walked me to the station where my heart was leaping out of my chest. (I’m ashamed to admit it, as people all over the world take buses every day and don’t think twice about it. So many people’s expression of concern about this trip was/is making me doubt myself.)
The bus was there waiting when we arrived, and a bus driver named Donna smoking a cigarette took my ticket details. Ivey and I took a selfie and hugged each other bye, and on the bus I went. As everyone else got on, I was intrigued to see that there was a single woman sitting behind me, a single woman to my left and a single woman in front, a younger black woman, a younger woman in a Hijab to my left, and an older white woman in front of me. I was surrounded by solo female travelers, like myself. The bus got going and I looked out the window a lot of the way to Dallas, trying to relax as I accepted that this was actually quite a normal ride without too much to think about. The three hours actually flew by, and we arrived at a Fuel City gas station where I read in Country Living, you can find some of Dallas’ best tacos, for cheap too. I opted for a quesadilla and while waiting for my food had an interesting conversation with an open, middle-aged white lady, a CPA who once lived in Dallas. She had a designer handbag and told me about how well these gas stations are doing financially, judging by how busy they are. We were talking about Cracker Barrel, Buckeys, and other big chain stores with lots of crap. Then she casually mentioned that she went to Cracker Barrel to buy lots of clothes for her would-be baby, back when she was trying to have kids. That never worked out though, she told me. Then her food came and she walked on. She didn’t even tell me her name.
I got my tacos and sat down at a picnic table between a few different young people, including 27-year-old Melissa from Dallas and 23-year-old Brecken from Kansas. The two friends worked in the ER together for years. I told them I’d been a little nervous about hanging around this gas station where the bus drops us, and they told me that they used to come here at 3am after they finished their shift. Because the ER tends to look after the most vulnerable in the community, and this gas station was quite close to an unhoused community, Melissa and Brecken would often be getting tacos and see the patients they’d just treated hours before. I was grateful they were willing to share their brief moment with me. I also liked the view of Dallas in the background.
They left and I called an Uber. In Austin, I was luckily connected with Ivey’s dear friend Valerie, who just so happens to be an events manager at the recently re-opened, historic venue, the Longhorn Ballroom! It was a five minute drive from the gas station. (I had considered instead doing the 20 minute walk along the river but multiple people had advised against it.) Then for the next hour the marketing manager Maureen and Valerie took me through the historic venue. I was inundated with fascinating facts. They told me all the different famous acts who had played there, and the exciting, massive renovation plans they have coming up. While Austin might be known as the music capital of Texas, Dallas has a story to tell too and I’m excited to be in on it.
After country music legend Bob Wills built the venue in 1950 (Bob Wills’ Ranch House) it changed hands throughout the years and was even owned by Jack Ruby, the man who eventually became most famously known as the guy who murdered presidential asassin Lee Harvey Oswald, so that’s some wild trivia.
From the Sex Pistols’ performance to BB King’s and so many in between, Longhorn Ballroom has so much history. The fact that they are bringing it back again is just awesome! Side note, I would love to write an in-depth story on it, if any potential person reading this wants to pay me to do so. ;)
My enlightenment at the Longhorn marked one of the most impressive moments in my public transport journey so far, and then it just got even better as I was linked up with a gentleman named Hexel.
During this entire trip, I’ve been networking like crazy, and my mom has a really good friend in Kentucky named Cathy. Cathy used to live in Dallas and she connected me to her friend Allison who I thought lived in Dallas but actually lived in Fort Worth (the neighboring city.) Allison couldn’t meet up with me but saw that I was into public transit and connected me with her friend and public transit activist Anna Zadeh. Anna too is in Fort Worth but she told me to connect with Hexel who lives in Dallas and is the city’s biggest transport fan. The stars aligned and Hexel and I got ahold of each other, and then Hexel proceeded to share with me more knowledge about the Dallas Authority Rapid Transit system than I could ever possibly remember. We got into the details of the Trinity River literally being straightened out, parking minimums and the beauty of negative space between buildings. He knows about the buildings, the planning, the zoning, the redlining, the highways; this guy is a genius. I was sleep-deprived and carrying my bags around, just happy to try to take in all the facts. I will have more about him shortly, because this paragraph doesn’t do him justice. He could be a worldwide ambassador for Dallas public transit; seriously, they should pay him.
Here’s just one example.
Hexel is also a street photographer, and he took a photo of me on the Dallas’ tourist trolley, with great notes on our evening.
Not only was Hexel a wealth of knowledge, he was a complete gentleman, opening doors for me and pulling out chairs, something I noticed in regards to modern and changing concepts of “The South.” He even rode with me down to the end of the Redline and waited for my Uber to arrive to take me to the Megabus location which left for Little Rock, Arkansas at 11pm. I was floored by his generosity. I have experienced so much Southern hospitality.
Well folks this was very blow-by-blow description and perhaps limited in nuance, so I apologize. I got into Memphis about 8am this morning and barely slept last night worrying about catching/missing the 5am bus outta Little Rock. More to come on that soon! Thanks if you made it to the end!
PS. My story on Little Rock is coming shortly to the Newcastle Herald.
Loved this Alex. Stay safe and give us more of the same :)
Sounds like you’re having a great time Alex