DRINKING ON SATURDAY NIGHT, IN BASTROP, TEXAS

There's a few things to do for the outgoing soul in Bastrop, Texas. It ain't 6th Street in Austin. It ain't Deep Ellum in Big D. It ain't downtown or Washington Avenue in Houston. But if you're interested in a few adult beverages and maybe some live music, then there is usually something going on.

The historic Bastrop County drinking spot for those in the know who don't mind driving a few miles outside of Bastrop proper is LEON'S in Rockne. You can go to the Catholic Church in Rockne and head on across the street for a cold one after church. It doesn't happen "all the time", but it happens. Beer. BYOB. Sometimes they have bands, otherwise they have the best jukebox in Bastrop County. LEON'S is so damn historic as to warrant it's own future blog post.

If you're wanting to confine your roaming to Main Street or thereabouts in Bastrop proper, thankfully there's a few diverse options, several of which serve hard liquor, which is essential to any drinking expedition.

With all due respect to LEON'S, I wish they'd get their liquor license, because even though you should always have a designated driver, open containers in cars are still illegal, even with a sober driver. An open bottle of liquor accessible to the occupants is an open container, as I have been told by several law men.

The drinking often begins and ends at Cindy's Gone Hog Wild on Main Street. It might be actually called Cindy's Sports Bar, but I'm too lazy to google, and I really don't care what they call it. For all intents, although wonderfully remodeled, it is still THE GENUINE OYSTER BAR. For those interested in an unimportant historical detail, the old GOB sign which reads THE GENUINE OYSTER BAR: THE PEARL OF BASTROP is still visible above Cindy's when approaching Main after crossing the Colorado River bridge from Highway 71, painted years ago on one of the upstairs walls of the building.

It's fancy now, and like it's sister bar CINDY'S ICE HOUSE just across the Travis County line, it's owned by the same folks. The owners like to drive around in their logo bearing white Hummer. The Ice House tends to be sort of a biker hangout, but that's mostly good because bikers these days are generally not criminals. They want to look like criminals, and perhaps act tough, but generally they're civil lawyers and accountants and middle managers and architects who need excitement and meaning in their lives. Somewhere over the past decade, a Harley became the Corvette and twenty something girlfriend of the mid-life crisis, and you see the yuppie motorcycling hordes around Austin all the time at CINDY'S ICE HOUSE.

I think they should have called the new place Cindy's Oyster Bar. Drinks are a bit more expensive than elsewhere but that keeps the riffiest of the riff-raff out, a problem that the old Oyster Bar never really could seem to solve.

For this blog, it shall be known as Cindy's Oyster Bar, because that's what I think they should have called it. COB. Apologies to the owners of Cindy's, but many of us older townfolk still like to call it THE OYSTER BAR, and at times when feeling grandiose THE GENUINE OYSTER BAR: THE PEARL OF BASTROP.

Cowboys, working class folks, local professionals and some bikers are often the usual suspects here. The TV's blare a bit loud at certain times but it's clean and it's nice and they make good drinks generally.

There's no smoking at Cindy's in Bastrop, but just a short hop down the street is The Big Mouth Grill bar and restaurant. You can smoke in that bar, and the drinks are cheaper there than elsewhere. Less cowboys and more bohemians tend to frequent here, but as will all social nightclubs in Bastrop, no rule is absolute.

Across the street from Big Mouth is Baxter's. Baxter's is the fanciest and nicest restaurant that Bastrop has, and a while ago Terri the owner opened a nice little bar that has it's own separate door. I think it's called a martini bar but they have everything there. It's smaller and a lot quieter and although connected to the restaurant, it's actually fairly quiet and low key for those times when you're not wanting to mingle with the regulars from either of the other two bars.

Gracie's sometimes has bands on weekends and serves beer. She also has great country cooking food as well.

Across from Cindy's is a Mexican Restaurant called Ramos that features a full bar and good drinks, although they don't stay open as late as Cindy's, Big Mouth and Baxters. Ramos used to be a nightclub called THE WESTERN PLEASURE CLUB, and some of my old dear cowboyish Bastrop friends considered it nirvana when it came to dancing and carousing. It met it's demise years ago, and suffice it to say, there are several lonely cowboys in town who cry every so often at the mere mention of it's name.

There's a bar down at Chestnut Square, where the movie theaters and bowling alley is. I've never been there, but heard it is ok, but it's not the crowd I run with. Most of us in town didn't think adding a bar to the teen movie theater/bowling hangout was not the greatest thing in the world, and it's yet another sports bar, so I haven't been in there. Besides, all my favorite spots are right on Main street and in Rockne.

In any of these locales, you're likely to encounter Bastrop Bad Hair at it's finest.