A Brewery and a Drive on The Beach

Spinning wheels and burning gas. As of late I’ve been running around the 4th largest City in the U.S.A doing my thing trying to reel in anything old, interesting, and considered collectible. A rare sealed jazz funk lp, some vintage tube audio equipment, and a lot of “that’s just kind of cool” has helped me to pay a barrage of fiscal necessities that appear every 6 months. Most notably in mid April. I may be a free spirit at heart but that doesn’t mean I’m irresponsible.

Work has become a constant for me and life a little too routine. I figure I can go for another two months before routine living drives me crazy. Around that time I should be good to go roam back out into the wild blue yonder, the next chapter.

Last weekend I made a day trip, two hours away, to a fine Texas institution, the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas. It was established in 1909 by Czech and German Settlers. At First they were having a tough go at it because they really didn’t know how to brew beer. That’s when they put the word out and found a guy by the name of Kosmos Spoetzl. He was a German immigrant who had devoted his life to the craft of brewing. Kosmos had even gone so far as to spend time in Egypt where beer was apparently first brewed.

Things really turned when Kosmos came on the scene and Shiner began to produce a desirable beverage. Somehow the brewery survived prohibition by selling ice, soda, and near beer to a loyal local population.

In the 1970’s all of the small breweries in America were either shutting down or being bought up by the larger breweries to the point where there were only around 40 brewing companies in the states. Spoetzl Brewing kept plugging along catering to a loyal central Texas customer base. The brewery was very small and easy to manage.

With the 80’s came the advent of Micro brewing which was born in the Pacific Northwest. Small breweries and brew pubs slowly began to open across the U.S.A. to the point of now where there are thousands of little companies brewing beer to one extent or another.

The few original small breweries that survived the buy outs and fierce competition of the 1970’s hopped on the Micro band wagon and started experimenting with variety. Spoetzl brewing was sold to an individual who poured marketing into a once limited seasonal flavor to make it a year round success, Shiner Bock. The brewery has expanded steadily in recent times while Shiner Bock makes its way to becoming available throughout most of the United States. The brewery remains privately owned by a Texan.

Like most Americans I’m a mixed mutt of European heritage but I do have a healthy dose of Texas Czech blood which makes me especially appreciative of the little brewery in Shiner, Texas.

Aside of work, a side trip to Shiner, and brisk 12 mile runs on Sunday mornings I recently went for a drive on the beach. Surfside was a mess. I have no idea where all of the tree debris came from but I know the summer drought last year killed a lot of trees. I guess a lot of it was washed down into the Gulf via the Bayous. See photos below.

Houston Shots - Nuts and Bolts

As of late I’ve been overly consumed by the nuts and bolts of life. When you’re self employed and relying on no one but yourself to wield in a few dollars there’s always something to do. The more you do the more you make. Do nothing, make nothing, It’s all up to me but it sure as heck beats working for someone else. I guess it’s just the way I’m wired. I prefer no office politics, no overbearing or moody coworkers, etc. etc. I can get along with about anyone but not everyone is all that fun to work with and there’s always one.

For me, each day is a combination of searching, buying, selling, and shipping. I do it all and I make sure it’s done right. In many ways I try and cram a year’s worth of work into 6 months so I can do as I please on a backpacker’s budget for the rest of the year. For the most part I've got a pretty good angle on it all but currently I’m feeling a need for a healthy dose of balance. As a friend recently put it, “You’re really good at going on big adventures around the world but you’re not very good about taking short mini adventures at home”.

So, taxes are filed, I’m beginning to save again, and the weather in Houston is pretty darn nice right now. I figure I’ll be around here until June sometime then I’ll likely run off into the next thing whatever it is. No plans yet.

For the uninitiated Houston might appear as a vast sprawling unattractive expanse of strip malls, suburbia, and traffic. If you’re outside of the central parts of the city, well, that’s what it is. The upside is that it’s a very reasonable if not cheap place to live and the economy is good and strong. A person can pretty much make money doing just about anything in Houston. After all, it’s the 4th largest city in the U.S.A. that is about to become the 3rd largest.

Amidst the Urban sprawl there are some very cool and interesting things to do. Yesterday I went on a really nice 10 mile run along a quiet 5 mile stretch of bike path next to a bayou without having to cross a single road. Many art connoisseurs consider Houston to be second only to New York. It’s also very multi-cultural and international which adds a lot of flavor to the city. There are loads of all kinds of restaurants all over the place and the Tex Mex here is the best in the world. It’s very tolerant and probably one of the more balanced places I’ve lived in America. The city is currently run by an openly gay female mayor and nobody could care less outside of her decisions specifically related to job as mayor.

When I travel and tell people I’m from Houston, the response I often get is, “George Bush” with an assumption that people are somewhat backwards. Well, maybe not as much as before. Yeah, Bush Sr. lives here but about the only time you ever hear or see anything about him is when he and Barbara go to a Houston Astros Baseball Game. Then it’s more like, “Hey there’s George and Barbara eating a hot dog”. That’s about it. They lead a very quiet life in Houston.

Unlike the cities of New York and San Francisco where you stumble out the door and just kind of fall into all kinds of cool stuff, in Houston you have to go out and find it. Yep, it’s here, but you really have to actively seek it out.

Today I’ve decided to grab my camera and start taking some photos of the more interesting stuff in and around the city. I intend on making it a point to post more frequently as I seek to find balance within short adventures more or less in my backyard.

Included in this post are some initial installments of Houston Shots.