Austin

People have always said that I would love Austin. So, when I found out I would be visiting I was super excited. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much of the city because I was on a work trip. I’m finding it really hard to write something engaging about Austin. It seemed like a nice place, but I was stuck in a convention for the three days, so I can really only comment on one or two things.

The birds there make it sound like you are in another world. It isn’t just the doves it’s the pipers and other weird Texas birds. I was sitting in a café and they were very loud and happy. They were also stealing food like it was their job. Maybe it was their job, who is to say in Austin. I found the birds, or they found me on my first morning and from then on out all I wanted to do was hear more of them. I tried to get up early and walk outside the hotel, but with such early call times and such late nights I was really only able to walk around in the morning twice.

The other thing I can say about Austin is that the music is REAL. I was able to go to the Elephant Room one night kind of late, and it was the best thing I did all week. It is a basement jazz club that feels like a jazz club. It isn’t for tourists although it is a bit. It had fantastic beer and better music. I only wish I was able to share it with someone. I’m sure the bartender didn’t mind talking to me, but it would have been better with someone there just as enthusiastic about the music as I was. They played a few jazz standards that I haven’t heard live since I watched my high school jazz band preform. It surprised me at first how many of the standards I remembered, but this was no high school jazz band. These were professional musicians and it was marvelous.

This might be a short post, but it should be noted that at some point in the future I am going back to Austin and I am seeing everything and listening to all the music.

Where I stayed

The Elephantroom

My Farmer’s Market

One of the things I love not only about my neighborhood, but DC in general, is the prevalence of Farmers markets! The city only started to have markets in the late 90s. It had always had Eastern Market, but small farmers markets were non-existent. This past Saturday I was able to get to mine early enough to watch everyone set up. The flowers are the freshest, and the meats and cheeses are out on display. Every vender is excited to get ready for the day. Not many people think of our farmers market here in Silver Spring. Which makes it a very local experience. Unlike the market in Dupont Circle, all of DC does not converge on Silver Spring.

I like to venture out before the market opens because the vendors have time to chat and you learn much more about what they are selling or just them individually. Many of the vendors travel at least two hours to come to our market. Bigger farms send people to more than one market in a day. Then there are those vendors that are only in Silver Spring once a month or every other week. These vendors are usually wineries or have small handmade goods.

 

Slowly the market has become a year-round farmers market. In the coldest months of the year it moves inside the community center nearby. They may have less people attend in the winter, but there are still enough people going that it is worth the vendors time. The winter is when you will meet the small business owners. They are not going to pay people to be out in the cold when they could save that money and be there themselves. In the summer you will rarely meet an owner, just because it is busy season. The seasonality of the market is one of the reasons it is so popular here. Getting the food you want in season makes it taste so much better.

The market accepts SNAP benefits and in this neighborhood that means you see everyone at every walk of life engaged in the market. Not just the hipsters or the affluent.  There is a Whole Foods about a block away, but it doesn’t seem to impact people’s enthusiasm for our market. Also, I find that wholefoods can be over crowded on Saturdays and the ability to be outside in fresh air is very preferable, and people are just nicer at the farmers market.

 

My favorite vendors at the market are the flower and plant vendors. There are so many colors and types of flowers. It’s like walking through an urban field. I also really enjoy all the different smells. I must look weird reaching over and smelling everything, but I don’t care. The farmers market is one place where all of your senses should be used to explore. Every Saturday I am reminded that our farmers market is just another reason why I enjoy living in the Silver Spring area.

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