WE’RE OUTTA HERE

a weekend destinationkeeping you on the backroads

LA CALAVERA CASITA

5002 CREEKLINE DRIVE, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78745 512-914-4226 • FINDTHEMON AIRBNB.COM

As you head into the city of Austin, riding across the expansive Texas plains that spreads out from the Colorado River which gracefully bends it way through the Lone Star state, the city stands out like a modern day Earthly bound City of Oz. But Austin hasn’t always been the bustling city that it is today. It was this gentle bend in the Colorado River that had many settlers coming to the region long before the rst cornerstone was laid. For hundreds of years, nomadic tribes of Tonkawas, Comanches, and Lipan Apaches camped and hunted along the creeks, including what is now known as Barton Springs. In the late 1700s, the Spanish set up temporary missions in the area. In the 1830s the rst permanent Anglo settlers arrived and called their village Waterloo. In 1839, tiny Waterloo was chosen to be the capital of the new Republic of Texas. A new city was built quickly in the wilderness, and was named after Stephen Austin, “The Father of Texas.” Judge Edwin Waller, who was later to become the city’s rst mayor, surveyed the site and laid out a street plan that has survived largely intact to this day. In October 1839, the entire government of the Republic arrived from Houston in oxcarts. By the next January, the town’s population had swollen to 856 people. The new town plan included a hilltop site for a capitol building looking down toward the Colorado River from the head of a broad Congress Avenue. “The Avenue” and Pecan Street (now 6th Street) have remained Austin’s principal business streets for the 150 years since. After Texas was annexed by the United States in 1845, it took two statewide elections to keep Austin the capital city. Nowadays the city of Austin, Texas has a motto of which they are very proud - “Keep Austin Weird!” and AirBnB hostess Chris Coxwell (female) and La Calavera Casita is doing its best in keeping the tradition. For years now Chris has been hosting travelers at her home which is one of the most interesting and weird places at which we have stayed in a very long time. Please note that weird here in Austin is a good thing. La Calavera Casita is a very happy place. The word calavera means “skull” in Spanish, but the term is also used to refer to a kind of poem that is written and published especially around the season of the Day of the Dead. The word calavera is generally used playfully: in the different contexts that it is used, it does not have a gloomy or macabre, but rather it has a happy connotation. Calaveras reminds us of the transitory nature of life, that our time here on Earth is limited, and that it’s acceptable (and maybe even desirable) to play and poke fun at ideas about death. Casita simply means a cottage.

La Calavera Casita is a very happy and very eclectic cottage. We stayed here during our trip to the 2021 American round of MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and when we arrived, we were met by Chris who gave us a quick tour of the two-bedroom cottage and told us a bit about her place. Walking around the property we were pleasantly stunned by the, umm, weirdness of it all. Full of Mexican curios, beach treasures, vintage cameras, purple glass, rocks, fossils, and feathers; it had us and friends John and Laurie wide-eyed and slightly stunned with it all. It was truly different, and I mean different is such a good way. Chris is a very talented artist, as seen by her many painting that are scattered around the B & B, and she has one of the greatest collections of old cameras I have ever seen. The Fender acoustic guitar immediately caught my eye as well. Guitars are always a plus in my book! While Chris is gone the place is watched over by Sordu and Caixa, her two Tabby cats who come and go as they please via a cat door. Upon reserving, you will be asked if you mind setting out their daily meals, which Chris has easily organized – super easy and barely an inconvenience. To be honest, other than hearing the cat door once or twice, you would never know these two large felines are sharing your space.

Each room had its own wonders, chachkas and bit of Americana and Mexican history and the place feels vibrant and alive!

Outside the garden paths lead to several covered seating areas, including a re pit, grill and outdoor dining. Since Austin was quite crowded the weekend we were visiting, with MotoGP and a music festival, we chose to utilize the grill for a homemade dinner. Once you set foot in this space, you’ll realize why we chose to spend time here rather than ghting crowds.

She has created a most marvelous place.

In addition, Chris has her place very well stocked with pretty much anything you may need to make your stay as homey as possible, from a refrigerator full of breakfast items to bathroom essentials and more. There’s a mercado in the neighborhood, as well as a convenient liquor store just around the corner.

In these days of the incredibly drab and boring chain hotels it is well worth seeking out the odd, different and very avor- lled places like La Calavera Casita.

If in the Austin area and looking for something different, wonderful and weird give Chris a call and stay at La Calavera Casita. Just don’t try to book it during the MotoGP weekend – ‘cause we’ll be there rst. ,