Okay.. I'm writing this at 4am on Saturday. You know the drill...

Austin's 6th Street is roughly a carbon copy of Bourbon Street with a few exceptions. The street is a bit wider, the crowd is a lot wilder, the hours run later, and every single place has a cover charge!

We arrived promptly at 9pm, and bar-hopped for an hour or so. Some of Graham's co-working buddies were supposed to meet us between 11 and 11:15 inside Pete's Dueling Pianos Bar. Pete's is an absolutely wild place, where they absolutely know how to have a good time. Two pianos take center stage, of course, where they take requests for songs, invite brides-to-be up on the pianos and serenade them with things I wouldn't repeat to my own mother, and pretty much do whatever they feel like doing, which could be anything.

One of the most hilarious sights I've seen on this trip took place at Pete's. In one corner of the bar, there's a table with three or four senior citizens. One woman in particular, who was a bit short and stocky, must have been 80 years old. She was having a good ol' time though! So she and her friends get up and start dancing... one of them on top of a chair! The crowd is loving this, and while they're playing, one of the pianists invites her up on stage. Now, as much as I would love to, I can't really repeat the conversation verbatim on this website. (It's a family site, you know.) But I will say that the pianoman asked this little old lady how many men she's been with (more or less). She answered, "I can't count that high." The laughter was deafening. Truly a classic moment that you had to be there for. Kudos, Granny! Keep on dancin'!

Later on (around 2am), we all headed for an incredibly fun place called Polly Esther's, a retro 1970's/1980's bar. Man... this place took me back. Way, way back. When I was a kid, I remember my brother and sister going to clubs and dancing to this stuff, and I remember being a bit jealous. It was one of those grown-up things I wasn't really allowed to do.. ya know? Well.. this was awesome. Now it was my turn.

The Village People's "YMCA", Grease's "The One That I Want", Michael Jackson, Blondie... It was all there. A flashing, multi-colored dance floor underneath a mirrored ball, and I was a dancin' fool, minus the leisure suit and sideburns. For a brief moment or two, I felt like I was back in 1978. Jordache jeans were "in", disco was cool, and Pac-Man was still THE game. I loved it!

Tonight was a wild ride and a flashback to my youth. All in all, a good night.

See you on the road...

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