muse

Another late night means I’m going to excuse myself and just blog for my 301. I danced at Carousel Caravan tonight, which was a big deal to me. I’ve always thought of it as the one locale in town reserved for “real” dancers, with a clientele outside of other venues (even though most of it is boozy bar partrons, but hey). So it felt like a rite of bellydance passage for me.

The Carousel Lounge is an amazing place. If you have never been there, it’s a dive bar just off of the highway. The teensy strip of parking spaces fronts a building that is painted with a mural of free-form circus performers. My favorite are the twin fire-eaters in glitzy fringed red bras with flowers in their hair. When you walk in, there’s a jukebox and vinyl booths across from a large thrust-shaped bar. The room has a general patina of age, that indescribable grubbiness that you get in a well-loved public place. It’s not dirt, it’s just use.

The bar is beer, wine, and setups only, but there’s a liquor store next door. You’ll see everyone from sorority girls to workmen holed up at booths with a giant bottle of whiskey on the table and a few sodas sitting around. There’s a miniature carousel smack in the middle of the area behind the bar, decorated with silver tinsel and twinkle lights.

At the far end of the long, rectangular room is a landing strip shaped dance floor, which is presided over by a giant pink paper-mache elephant. Above him hang giant copper-colored tassles. The walls around him is adorned with another mural, this one inside the big top, with a wonky looking ringmaster and various animals.

Dividing the room are a few VERY old video game machines. Tonight, a patron was cleaning house on Ms. Pac-Man. It was impressive to watch! The tables have candy-cane backed chairs that seem to think three legs on the ground are all you really need. The fourth one is entirely optional, and keeps you alert. Maybe it’s the sobriety test?

I love this little place, and it’s wonderfully eclectic clientele. Everyone is super friendly. If you’re looking for a slice of “old Austin”, I recommend you check it out.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 12:31 am and is filed under ARWA 301, Writings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.