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DESTINATIONS, Restaurants & Bars, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

Austin’s Cover 3

Jane Sadek
From the Austin Chronicle
From the Austin Chronicle

TRAVEL THERE: DINNER AND A FUNDRAISER AT COVER 3

Next on my South Texas Ramble was Austin. Now there are lots of reasons to go to Austin, but this time my primary objective was spending time with one of my favorite cousins.  However, while I was there, she was busy.  She’s an Altrusan and they had a fund raiser that evening.  Being a long time fan of Altrusa International, I was thrilled to participate.  The event was sort of a happy hour at Cover 3, an Austin hotspot.

We were able to visit with my cousin for a little while before she scurried away to set things up.  We arrived later with her husband.  Let me tell you, Cover 3 is very popular.  It was early on a Tuesday night, but you’d have thought we arrived at 7:30 on a Saturday evening.

It’s a Busy Place

Cover 3 is a sports bar and restaurant.  The buzz was roaring when we arrived and the big screens were beaming action into the crowd.  We asked after the Altrusans and were directed upstairs.  WOW – how do you spell success?  Every available couch and chair was full and making out way through the crowd was a challenge.  In one corner folks were chatting up The Daytripper  and in the other they were checking out the raffle baskets.  We dutifully bought a handful of raffle tickets and looked for a place to have some dinner.  My cousin had worried the proceeds of the event wouldn’t cover the minimum for booking the space.  I think her worries were groundless.  We gave up and found a table downstairs.

I’ve recently become a South Beach Dieter and this vacation was a trial run of what life is like on the diet.  I quickly noticed the things I can eat are usually on the more expensive parts of the menu, but they’re also among the most delicious.  Hubby had shrimp tacos and my cousin’s husband a burger.  I ordered Sauteed Gulf Snapper with Fresh Blue Crab.  Everyone else was very happy with their choices, but I’ve got to tell you, I was BEYOND happy.  If this is dieting, then I can live with it.  Since the menu didn’t say anything about the huge mound of mashed potatoes which would accompany my entree, I didn’t know I needed to select another side, but Bill was thrilled to clean those non-SBD potatoes off my dish and the huge entree completely satisfied any vestige of hunger I might have developed.  I confess, I was jealous of the beers they were drinking, but I was a good girl and stuck with my water.

After the meal, we made our way back upstairs for the big finale, the raffling of the baskets.  Everyone who won was happy with their haul, but I was not among the winners.  We made our way to my cousin’s home and visited a little more before hitting the sack.  It was a lot colder when we woke up the next morning.  The Polar Express was on its way.

Come by next week and I’ll tell you about an amazing place to have breakfast in Austin.

ART, Attractions, DESTINATIONS, Museums, Road Trips, TRAVEL, United States

South Texas Christmas Ramble

Jane Sadek

Dr. Pepper Museum

TRAVEL THERE: SOUTH TEXAS CHRISTMAS RAMBLE – WACO, AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO & GALVESTON

Did you miss me last week?  I missed being here, but not too much, because I was out having fun.  For years I’ve wanted to visit San Antonio while the luminaries glowed on the Riverwalk.  I finally headed that way and tacked Galveston’s Dickens on the Strand at the end of the trip.  I didn’t know the North Pole would be traveling with us.

Rambling South

Having declared this a ramble, we did take it slow.  Last Tuesday morning went like almost any morning at our house, except that my bags were packed and sitting next to the door.  After my morning ride on the stationary bike, I made some breakfast and then headed for a bath. Meanwhile, my husband, the investor, checked on the market and made sure his trades were all properly lined up.  About 10:30 we hit the road.

Waxahachie Drive Tour

First stop, Waxahachie.  We were a few days early for the Gingerbread Tour of Homes, but thought we might take a sneak peek at some of the old Victorians all dressed up for Christmas.  I’d found a copy of the tour map online and started putting Bill through his paces.  He was very obedient, but by the fifth house we realized the effort wasn’t worth it.  It’s the second time I’ve tried to do this and after this second fail we hightailed it back to I-35.

A Detour for the Love of Dr. Pepper

I had a wish list for Waco which included the Lee Lockwood Library, but they’re closed on Tuesdays, so we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum.  This pilgrimage had been lurking for a while on my “to do” list, but the other times I’d tried to drop by failed for one reason or another.

I'm a Pepper. Are you a Pepper, too?
I’m a Pepper. Are you a Pepper, too?

Now, if there ever was a Pepper, it’s me, so I was looking forward to the museum big time, but erase all thoughts of the CocaCola Museum in Atlanta out of your mind.  Dr. Pepper doesn’t even come in a close second.  Even a Pepper like me has to admit it.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go.  Just pare down your expectations a bit.

The building housing the museum is where the beverage was originally served and then bottled.  Since we were there on a mid-week afternoon in early December, we didn’t exactly have to fight any crowds.  We paid our $8 per person (choke choke) admission and started poking around the place.

Long before Dr. Pepper was a soda fountain drink, Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store was well known as the largest drug store in Texas.  Cowpokes and railroad tracks converged in Waco creating a clientele for emporium’s soda fountain, but old Morrison, didn’t create Dr Pepper.  One of his employees did.  For a while, even though the drink was popular at the soda fountain, no one thought of bottling it.  For one thing, soda fountains were all the rage and for another, bottling was an expensive process.

20131203_132848A la Madame Tussard’s, a wax replica of the man that did invent Dr Pepper greeted you in the original soda fountain area.  He told you the history of Morrison’s Drug Store and that odd little beverage invented there.  He also explained why the artisan wells in Waco made the bottling of Dr Pepper a possibility.

The reason I choked on the price of admission is because the majority of the museum is just a warehouse for Dr. Pepper ad media.  Strolling through the first two floors is, for the most part, a review of the Dr Pepper marketing campaigns.  Yes, there’s the original soda fountain and a room set up like the original bottling facility, but that’s pretty much all there is that has historical meaning for anyone except an ad executive.  The third floor is devoted to Foots Clements.  He’s a one time delivery truck driver who made his way through the ranks and then led the company for many years.

Remember this campaign? Have you ever actually drank it hot?
Remember this campaign? Have you ever actually drank it hot?

Several displays reminded me that 7Up is part of the Dr Pepper family, but what I found odd was that almost half of one floor was devoted to root beer.  Root beer?  I could never find the link between root beer and my favorite soda, but I did learn a few things about the whole frosty mug thing.

There’s a gift shop full of Dr Pepper t-shirts and commemorative bottles and then there’s a snack bar, where you can get a free sample of Dr Pepper products mixed the old soda fountain way.  I’d have preferred a can.  The sample didn’t taste quite right – but I bet when they started bottling Dr Pepper most people said they preferred what they were used to at the soda fountain.

The historical part of the museum
The historical part of the museum

Should you go to the Dr Pepper Museum?  Well, that depends.  Are you a Pepper?  If you’re a devoted drinker of the brand, then you will enjoy it.  Are you a Baby Boomer?  Then you’d probably enjoy the walk down the advertising memory lane. Are you majoring in marketing at one of our American universities or colleges.  Then maybe you’d learn a few things.  Otherwise, like my  husband, you’d probably prefer to spend your time elsewhere.

DESTINATIONS, DFW Metroplex, International, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL

Shopping in the Good Old Days

Jane Sadek

TRAVEL HERE/TRAVEL THERE: SHOPPING IN DALLAS IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS

I hate to say it, but today’s mall rats don’t know from shopping. Drop me in any mall from sea to shining sea and what do you have? The same hundred-odd stores and fast food outlets they have in every other mall in America.  (YAWN!)

My Memories of Shopping in Dallas

I live in Dallas where shopping centers were invented. (Well, not really, but kinda.)  Forget Mall of the Americas, I shop at NorthPark!  In days of yore, NorthPark only had three anchor stores:  Neiman’s, Titches and J.C.Penney’s.  and the other stores? Margo’s La Mode, Chandler’s Shoes, Continental Coiffures, The Carriage Shop…those were the days.  We didn’t have a food court.  We had El Fenix.  Things have changed since then, but I’m still loving me some Northpark.

Back in the good old days, department stores had departments.  I don’t mean you went to the men’s floor and then wandered from designer department to designer department to find a pair of navy slacks for your dad’s birthday.  I mean you went to the men’s pants department and wandered through islands, seas and oceans of men’s pants.  In fact, the pants department would be divided up into types of pants, so by looking on only two or three fixtures, you’d be able to tell whether they had any dressy navy blue pants in your dad’s size or not.

Shopping in Paris

I foresaw the disappearance of departments, as I knew them, before it actually happened.  In the eighties I visited Paris.  My trip was in December and the city was aglow with twinkling lights and snow.  Galeries Lafayette, all decked out for the Christmas season, was astounding.  I wandered around the store to my hearts content.  As I made my way around the upper floors for my second or third time, I began to realize what was bugging me.  I couldn’t find the blouse department.

See, as a twenty something career girl I didn’t have a lot of money, but I envisioned shrugging off my blazer at work one day and hearing someone say, “What a gorgeous blouse!”  At that point I could have answered, “Oh, I picked it up in Paris.”

But Galleries Lafayette didn’t have a blouse department.  They had blouses from many, many designers, but they were all spread out.  I couldn’t just go to the blouse department, check out the markdowns in my size and see if I could afford any.  To find out if there was a blouse in the store I could afford, I would have had to wander around all the different designer’s boutiques and handle the merchandise.  The perfectly coiffed French-speaking clerks were entirely too intimidating.  I went downstairs and bought a Christmas ornament instead.

Designer Departments Take Over

Back in Dallas I was only able to enjoy the blouse department for a little while longer – the designer departments were on their way.  Now, if I want to go to the men’s department and see all the navy dress pants in one fail swoop, then I’m headed to either Walmart or Target.  (BTW, I love Target, but that’s beside the point.)

I miss the old style department store.  To begin with they had a sort of local flavor and were targeted more specifically to local needs.  I also think that you were more likely to come up with an individualized look in a store where things were not pre-coordinated for you.  I mean you don’t have to go all matchy-matchy to look pulled together.

Nowadays, things are entirely too homogenized.  Sure Nordstrom’s has great service and a great selection of merchandise.  I love Bistro N.  But I still miss Titche-Goettinger.  And I miss the blouse department, too.  How about you?

ART, Decorative Arts, DESTINATIONS, DFW Metroplex, Road Trips, Shopping, TRAVEL

Remembering Neiman Marcus Fortnights

Jane Sadek
My Fortnight Christmas Ornaments

TRAVEL HERE: NEIMAN MARCUS FORTNIGHTS

So you think Black Friday is a shopping experience?  To me, it’s just a feeding frenzy.  If Sam Walton has been successful at anything, it has been getting us to focus on price.  I sort of liked the world better before Walmart.

The World Before Walmart

In those days price was certainly a factor, but it wasn’t the only factor.  Designer names were guideposts, not a decoration plastered across the seat of a pair of sweat pants.  Developing your own style was more important than being in style.  In other words, going shopping was about more than consuming.

Wonderful, Wonderful Fortnight

A perfect example of this was Neiman Marcus Fortnight.  During a two week period in the fall, Neiman’s would transform their Dallas stores into reasonable facsimiles of some exciting destination.  The straw ornaments above are from Bavaria and were purchased in 1983 during  the German Fortnight.  D Magazine gives you the details of Fortnight, but I want to convey the experience.

For a middle-class kid living in Dallas in the Sixties, Fortnight was a window to the wider world.  On a special evening, Mom would dress us up in the our best.  The minute Dad got home from work he’d load us in the car and take us to Neiman’s flagship store in downtown Dallas – but it didn’t seem like a store at all.  In fact, once I entered Neiman’s, I felt as if I’d stepped off a plane into a faraway place.

Granted, back in those days I’d never been on a plane, but I thought what was happening to me then must be just like arriving at a long awaited destination.  See, Mom didn’t just dress us up and make us go shopping with her for the evening, she carefully primed us for the experience.  All year we played a guessing game about what country Neiman’s might focus on for Fortnight.  If the evening news mentioned a place we’d never heard of, we discussed why or why not it might be a good country for Neiman’s.  As we studied our history and geography lessons, Mom would ask, “If this country were featured in a Neiman Marcus Fortnight, what products do you think would be stocked in the gourmet food department?”

In additon, Mother took us shopping at Neiman’s all year long, so we’d know the latest in fashion and appreciate quality.  Then we’d go to Titche’s and buy our wardrobes with Mom’s employee discount.  But a splashy ad in the Dallas Morning News Neiman’s would announce our Fortnight destination and I’d be giddy for weeks until our annual Fortnight visit was scheduled.

During Fortnight, we’d wander through the retail wonderland all agog.  The ultimate treat was dinner at one of the NM cafes tricked out like the featured locale and serving their traditional fare.  Along with many items from the featured country for sale, each floor of Neiman’s hosted special exhibits and demonstrations.  We’d watch traditionally garbed dancers perform exotic dances.  We’d see animals, artisans and actresses.   Our family added very little to Neiman Marcus’s bottom line during this annual pilgrimage, but Fortnight was such a retail success, in spite of folks like us, that many stores attempted copy cat experiences.  Yes, shopping was fun back in those days.

During the years I was busy going to school and living the disco scene, Neiman’s sort of fell off my radar.  Then I became an official consumer with a credit rating.  A Neiman Marcus charge card provided a plastic invitation to another world.  Among the most important privileges offered was postal delivery of the famous Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog with its legendary His and Hers gifts of opulence.  Trust me, nothing on the internet can replace that catalog.  The recipient of a gift, in the store’s  traditional shiny red Christmas box with the gold Neiman Marcus logo, expected no additional wrapping paper and bows.  Adulthood arrived when I received my own Neiman Marcus credit card.

I have to confess I did not inherit my parent’s frugality.  I found it impossible to merely visit Fortnight and buy nothing but dinner.  I went to the store as often as I could during those special two weeks to buy myself and others as many little treats as I thought I could get away with.  Being at Fortnight was one of those particularly Dallas experiences, like visiting the Great State Fair of Texas or seeing the Christmas decorations on Beverly Drive.

Now Neiman Marcus has stores all over the world and they belong to some big corporation – not Mr. Nieman and Mr. Marcus.  Most middle class kids in Dallas have flown somewhere before they reach their sixth birthday.  Someone took Fortnight out of the Neiman Marcus budget, but I miss it.

I still have my Neiman Marcus credit card and it gets plenty of use.  Neiman’s is my luxury store of choice.  Having lunch at Neiman’s is one of my favorite indulgences.  I will always love giving gifts wrapped in nothing but a Neiman’s logo.  Nowadays I shop at Neiman’s and buy my wardrobe at the Allen Outlet Mall, because even though Mom retired with her discount intact, department store shopping isn’t as much fun as it used to be.  Drat that Mr. Walton.

Update:  This is by far the most popular post on my blog, so even though I have created Miscellaneous Jane for the purpose of offloading things from this blog, this post stays.