Changes to the Skyline

A home just off Stratford has a startling view of our skyline. The Austonian now peaks above the 360. We took a photo from this house over a year ago, before we moved in. In this time the Ashton has also hove into view, making the skyline look very dense from Monarch to 100 Congress and 1 Congress.

Austin Mural...On a Food Mart

The side of the car wash at this South Congress gas station and Food Mart has representations of the Little Colorado and its lakes, the bats under the Congress Avenue bridge, the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue, the Capitol, the UT Tower and...the food mart that would be visible if the car wash building weren't there. Very clever mural. I think painting on walls, graffiti often excepted though not always, can liven things up. This one certainly adds something to a drab necessity on the corner of Riverside as one arrives in the SoCo area.

Jazz in Motion

The Jeff Lofton quartet played inside the cool, dark (and strangely lit!) Dakota Lounge at the Belmont last night. We walked over, trying to stay on the shady side of the street and settled in with cool drinks and nice Happy Hour apps for several sets of dynamite arrangements. Took this with available light so the musicians are in motion.

Pipes

The decommissioned Seaholm Power plant has been destined to be transformed into shopping and a hotel and condos for several years. The Green Water Treatment plant is being decommissioned right now. There is utility construction on Third Street and I'm told the purpose is to reroute this 24-inch water line to serve the Seaholm project. I don't think that the project will get started for a long time, given the 'downturn' (aka Recession) but it will have proper utilities when it does. Mostly, however, I liked the shapes of the old power plant smokestacks and the new water pipe juxaposed with the workers.

View Changes

I took this on the Fourth of July this year from Headliners Club in the Chase Building. Last year a similar shot showed a hole in the ground where the white crane is and the W Hotel is rising. I understand it will be almost twice as tall as the AMLI (silver building) so next year Auditorium Shores and Long Center won't be nearly as visible, if they are at all, from that twenty-first floor perch. Last yea's shot was taken later and showed more people and the green light already on the AMLI. By the end of next year the skyline will be pretty settled, I think. We will have some time to get used to it before the next round of building gets underway.

Texas Flag

This is a very large flag at the Texas State Cemetery in east Austin. I can see this from the condo when it's flying so I stopped by to shoot a picture the other day.

Atrium Bar

This is the atrium bar at the Fonda San Miguel restaurant. A very pleasant place for some apps and drinks.