Almost 20 years in the making.
As listed in the schedule, I was at the inaugural Austin Town Lake Holistic Health and Psychic Fair.
Loved it. Named for the old name for Austin’s river-lake, the northern terminus to Shady Acres Trailer Park (no longer there), the lake was home for many, many years. River. Lake. Town Lake, the name was for the hotel, and the location’s name stuck even though the lake is now Lake Lady Bird.
Looking over my shoulder, I could see the very trail, I walked past that hotel, quite possibly a few thousand times, wondering why no promoter ever did an event there. Perfect place.
The trail passes under the interstate, and that line divides East from West, in central Austin. East Side was rougher, ethnic, and so on. West Side was “downtown,” proper.
All those times, I wanted an event there, and finally, it happened. I could see parental-type figure (dad) trying to get two kids to pay attention while fishing on one of the docks. Fake-chartreuse trout eggs would work, catch Crappie. The bass are little more finicky. More fun but require some finesse.
Think I’ve fished every inch of the shoreline, or most of it, and buried in the archives, there’s a picture, one year near this time, of a ‘European Tournament Carp Anglers,’ several years in a row, Austin hosted the International (something-something) Carp Angling tournament. One man’s trash is another’s gold.
The image was from the bridge, looking down on a carp fishing ‘peg,’ as they call it, and a couple, basically camped out, on that spot, for the duration. Pitch the bait into the middle of the river and wait. All geared up to wait.
Had a neighbor (Sagittarius) who used to swim in the river. Town Lake. Even though it was illegal, I’m guessing. Still, I preferred Austin’s Barton Creek for swimming. That was a gray area for swimming. Still an essential part of the Austin experience.
Still thought it was the most perfect location for an event.
Wish for something long enough, hard enough, and it can happen.
Right here in River City.
Nice. I guess if you live long enough, and are patient enough to wait, and smart enough to be observant, it happens. I always wondered what happened to Shady Acres.
Paved paradise and put up a parking lot.