I "heart" SWT

If you know me at all, then you know that I absolutely love SWT and San Marcos, Texas. To steal a line from Rod Stewart, they're in my heart and they're in my soul! Last week, I was lucky enough to visit San Marcos twice...and Jeff was lucky enough to have sole custody of Harper...twice!

Alyssa and I trekked to San Marky, and we kicked I-35's ass on the way there. The entire purpose of our trip was to consume the world's most perfect hamburger courtesy of the Tap Room. Since the ol' Tap-a-roo doesn't open until 3PM, we were forced to kill time shopping at the mega-crazy-gigantor outlet mall beforehand. A travesty, I know! Unlike college shopping trips, I targeted children's stores like Gymboree where I may or may not have picked up another four swimsuits for Miss HP. Shhhhh! Also, I may or may not have tried on a ridiculous blue jumpsuit for Miss Alyssa, which she may or may not have also videotaped.


Muhahahaha!

Anyhoo, fast forward to the Tap Room. Behold the Mushroom Swiss burger and a side of fries with medium wing sauce for dippin':


A little taste of heaven on Earth!

My longtime friend, Hank, met us for an early dinner and drinks. We love Hank, too! He is the best brother that I never had. The powers that be may as well hang a historical marker around his neck since he is one of the most well-known San Martians ever! He informed us of all the recent changes in SM including the new bar closing time of 2AM! We always wished for an extension of our drinking hours, but it was probably best that it didn't take place during my years! Oh, and Hank also took us over to the newly remodeled and renamed bar, Harper's Hall. It's got a nice ring to it, eh? ;)


JenHowePeel & Brother Hank!


Alyssa & Jennybean at Harper's Hall!

Two days later, I returned to San Marcos with my other good buddy, Kristin. Kristin is the most spontaneous friend I've ever had, so I had a feeling she would be game for the adventure I had in mind. Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen were scheduled to play an acoustic show at Cheatham Street Warehouse in SM last Monday, and I just knew I had to be there! (It would have been much easier to attend the show they put on in Waco a few nights before, but it didn't work out as planned.) Anyhoo, Kristin jumped on board, and we headed southbound to good ol' San Marvelous. (FYI, there is no shortage of catchy nicknames for our beloved town.)

It never occurred to either of us that the show might sell out, oh, say two to three days earlier. We pulled up to a sold out show at Cheatham Street where a scalper without tickets tried to get us to bite. We tried to pull a string through a friend and family member of Wade Bowen, but even Wade couldn't get us in! Kristin and I were heartbroken at the prospect of not getting into the show, so we headed over to Tap Room for another chart-topping burger and beer. Then we pulled up to this guy/dog, and we laughed so hard that we knew we couldn't give up that easily!



After dinner and drinks with the Hankster, we headed back to Cheatham to test our luck and/or possibly get ripped off by the sucky scalper. By some stroke of pure luck, we were offered tickets at face value by two girls with two extras. Kristin and I were so happy we could have peed ourselves! (For the record, we did not!)



The place was packed--I mean, it was no wonder the band couldn't add any more names to the list. We found a cozy nook with some nice guys and a steady supply of free beer to enjoy the show. We had the best time ever! Randy and Wade put on an awesome show, and it was well worth all of our efforts! At one point Wade addressed the crowd and mentioned he is from Waco, Texas...cue the scene back over to me...I proceed to YELL out a big "woooohooooo!"....and Wade laughs his butt off because I am the lone Wacoan present. He may also have been laughing because he realized I was one of two idiots who drove two hours for a concert they did not have tickets for!


Just a fraction of the people wedged into Cheatham Street that night! Thank goodness they now A/C that joint!


Jen-a-licious & Kristin-a-licious ;)

It felt great to be back in San Marcos for a little while. I lived there from 1998-2006...it was a great stretch! I was amazed at the thought of how drastically my life has changed in the last three years. I met Jeff, moved to Austin, got engaged, moved to Waco, got married one week later, got a new job, came thisclose to finishing my master's degree, had a baby and quit that ol' gig. Whew! Lucky for me, I happen to love this new life of mine even more than I loved my old one. It helps that Jeff, Harper and Wrigley are all so darn cute! ;)