I've been driving in, around, and through Austin for almost 20 years now, but for the most part, I have traveled the same routes over and over and over.
Lately, I've been venturing out into unknown territory so that I'm better acquainted this wonderful city and its neighborhoods, and that's how I discovered this vintage grocery store, now operating as a sandwich shop.
It's situated only a few blocks from familiar roads in all directions, but I never knew it was there until yesterday. I snapped this photo with my iPhone and drove on…but then turned around, parked, and stepped through those awesome screen doors.
Right away, I had a flashback to a small grocery store my grandparents ran so long ago I could barely see over the counter. The register, the counter, the shelves behind it were all in the exact same place. It was weird, in a very cool way, and I had a sudden urge for a candy cigarette.
Instead I wandered to the back and grabbed a Texas Tea from a cooler and started conversations with other patrons who were waiting on sandwiches. Alas, I had already eaten lunch, but vowed to return.
So I did today. TG and I shared a chicken salad sandwich (with cheddar cheese, avocado, and bacon!) and a small serving of quinoa salad, because the owner (I guess he is, anyway) gave us a taste of it when we first arrived.
Oh. My. Gosh. It was all so good! I can't believe it's been there all this time and I never knew it.
The neighborhood surrounding the shop is perfect for Halloween night. Tall oak trees, picket fences and porches. It reminded me a lot of an upscale version of Scout and Jim's neighborhood in "To Kill a Mockingbird".
Most of the houses were dripping in decorations. I had to snap some photos with my iPhone…but not enough to have the cops called on me.
The owners of this house mixed Halloween and politics, Austin-style…
Do you decorate? I used to, but in these empty-nest, pre-grandchildren years, this is the extent of my decorating…
Sigh. Where did the time go?
We won't have any trick-or-treaters – we live too far down a dirt road – so I think I'll just settle down with some popcorn and watch "Young Frankenstein" to celebrate.
What are your Halloween plans? Whatever they are, have fun!
Halloween wraps fear in innocence,
As though it were a slightly sour sweet.
Let terror, then, be turned into a treat…
~Nicholas Gordon
Long Hollow 
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