Author: lewisotr

One Hell Of A Guy, If I do say so myself.
Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Nothing is ever plain or simple in Austin

lewisotr

The Pfluger Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge is a good example of this. While I considered the cost to be extravagant for a pedestrian bridge, I have grown fond of it over the years. It’s a beautiful addition to the city, especially the way it is lighted, as shown in the wonderful drone shot.Christopher V. ShermanOverAustin.com https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Pfluger_Pedestrian_and_Bicycle_Bridge This is a link to a video I took back in July 2016 from the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/EvCPwLy92QVJWFtv/?mibextid=WC7FNe Continue reading Nothing is ever plain or simple in Austin

Crazy Times, My Friends, On The Job, The Early Days5 Comments

Dink – The Man, The Myth, The Legend

lewisotr

Dink was a once in a lifetime friend. He could do things to a friendship that would test it beyond limits. I never went five minutes in his company without laughing. He was as much an comic entertainer as anyone you see now on TV or at a comedy club. Dink first entered my life when I was a pre-teen boy. He and my Dad worked construction together in the sixties. Dink was a hard worker and knew his trade. I guess you could say his specialty was road boring. That’s where a big machine drills a hole underneath a … Continue reading Dink – The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Amazing Things, In and Around Austin, Texas History, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

KRUGER’S JEWELERS, Austin, Texas

lewisotr

An Austin Institution !!!! My wife, Madeline, and I bought our wedding rings from a very young David Kruger, back in the fall of 1971. I’m not for sure, but he may have still been in college, working there part time. He dealt with this very young couple (we had both just turned 19) so nicely. You knew he was meant for the jewelry business ! On November 6, we will have been wearing these rings for 53 years. This article was in a special addition of the Austin American-Statesman March 2, 1986. Current photos of Kruger’s Jewelers Continue reading KRUGER’S JEWELERS, Austin, Texas

Aging, Amazing Things, Smithwick, Thoughts and Musings4 Comments

Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story (and other stories about this old couple)

lewisotr

This is a story about an old couple that showed up in Smithwick when I was just a kid. One day Minnie and Charlie Campbell arrived in an old Studebaker car. When people around Smithwick said their name, they always left off the “p” and the “b”. It was Charlie and Minnie Camel. I had never heard them mentioned in my 10 or 12 years or so I’d been around at that time in the early part of the 1960s. But that’s not surprising as they weren’t a very remarkable couple, until I got to know them. Then there was … Continue reading Charlie & Minnie Campbell – A Love Story (and other stories about this old couple)

In and Around Austin, The Early Days, The History of TexasLeave a comment

Butler Bricks – the bricks that built Austin

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The brick company that has been in Elgin for years, actually started out at Zilker Park in Austin. BY PHOEBE ALLEN Michael Butler & the Butler Brick Legacy Irishman Michael Butler arrived in Austin in 1873 and began manufacturing mud bricks at the foot of East Avenue (now IH-35) on the north bank of the Colorado River. An 1875 flood resulted in his move to the south bank of the Colorado River – between Barton Creek and today’s South First Street and between the river and Barton Springs Road – at brickyards that remained in place until 1958. Butler bricks … Continue reading Butler Bricks – the bricks that built Austin

Amazing Things, Texas History, The Early Days, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Pearl Beer

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The Emma Koehler Story – Pearl Beer and the Lady That Kept it Afloat. The history of The Pearl Brewery has all the twists of a Hollywood plot—murder, scandal, conflict and triumph, with an unexpected heroine at its center. At the turn of the 20th century, beer brewing was booming in San Antonio until Prohibition (1920–33) threatened to bust the good-time industry. While beer maker after beer maker went broke in dry times, Pearl survived the temperance movement, thanks to the courage of its visionary leader, Emma Koehler. This is her story. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Few could have predicted the fates of … Continue reading Pearl Beer

Crazy Times, In and Around Austin, On The Job, Past Angora Chronicles Stories, Thoughts and MusingsLeave a comment

Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

lewisotr

Sometime in the earlier part in the mid 1980s, I contracted to run the underground utilities (water, wastewater & drainage) for the New Brackenridge Apartments that were being built. The project involved the tearing down of the old wooden buildings that had far outlived their normal life. Then the site was prepared and prefabbed concrete modules built by the HB Zachery Company In San Antonio were brought in and stacked together like toy building blocks. It was a new building concept. The Zachery Company had just finished building the Palacio Del Rio, a high rise hotel on the San Antonio … Continue reading Replacing The Old Brackenridge Apartments On Lake Austin Blvd.

Crazy Times, Meeting New People, The Construction BizLeave a comment

A Case Of Mistaken Identity

lewisotr

(This happened back in December 2019. And trust me it really happened) Laying in bed at 9:30 PM on a Saturday night, in fact it was tonight, my phone rang. It wasn’t a number I recognized so I passed on answering it. It’s not like I need a warranty policy on my car or a burial policy on myself. A couple of minutes later I received a text from that same number. “Who is this?” “Why did you call my girlfriend?” I had to ask, “Hey who is your girlfriend?” I found out her name is Candice. I tried to … Continue reading A Case Of Mistaken Identity