Historically good food

Lambert's Restaurant is in a building near us. Its owners have withstood the pressures to tear it down and replace it with a more modern structure. It is kind of nice to have a few buildings from a bygone era in our downtown neighborhood.

A well-preserved automobile

This fine old Mercedes was parked in front of a body shop on South Congress not long ago. I'll bet someone is really proud of it.  

Preservation

There was an old apartment building at this location on Guadalupe near 18th Street. It's been razed with the doorway surround restored on the new roomy sidewalk. Interesting landmark!

Flowering in the heart of Austin

Linda and I hosted a dinner party in one of Austin's finest homes Saturday night. The flowers were provided by Talulah Bleu, the new incarnation of Austin's oldest flower shop. Formerly Tarry Town Florist, Lauren Tolley's shop is going far beyond being just a place to buy pretty plants. She's going to use the land behind her shop to start a Farmer's Market that happens twice a month, complete with live music. And she is featuring the work of many local artisans, such as jewelers, in her retail space.

As luck would have it, I was interviewing her for my newspaper column Tuesday afternoon.

Lauren (shown here) took me around back to show me this natural spring behind the store. Does this look like we're out in the country? Well, about we're just a matter of maybe one hundred feet from busy Exposition Blvd. in the heart of west Austin, not far south of West 35th. And yes, that is a natural spring in the background.

Just a historical note--Tarrytown Florist was run by iconic Austinite R.A. Lewis from 1946 until his death. He used to go crawfishing in the spring shown here. His father held the first agricultural permit in Texas for this land.

Preserving a Power Plant

What was once an important power plant for a growing Austin has been sitting idle for some time. The iconic art deco decoration, the shape of the building and some (out of commission but visually interesting) stacks and boilers will remain but the building will become a multi-use retail and events center and have a hotel, condos, parking and green space around it. The Lance Armstrong bike way and the commuter rail will be nearby. That's the goal anyway. FFP and I went to a Heritage Society event where the future of the property was discussed. Thus I got close enough for some interesting pictures. Our new home will be mere steps aways from this property.