October 2, 2010 — The past weekend was full of “big” opportunities. First, I invited a co-worker and friend to go fishing on the lake where my boat resides in Lexington, and we had an absolute blast. If we hadn’t caught a single fish, our time on the water just talking and laughing would have still been a blessing, but when my buddy set the hook on what seemed like a large rock, our Saturday morning excursion took a wild turn for the better. Of course, I had to get a picture with his hog, but here’s Todd and his monster bass!
On Sunday, I flew out to Austin, Texas for work and made the most of the few free minutes I had. I stayed at the incredible Driskill Hotel (built in 1886) in the heart of downtown Austin (on 6th Street).
Besides the immeasurable value of the workshop I attended with my counterparts, by far the highlight of the trip came after the festivities concluded. My friend Jeremiah invited me and two other long-time colleagues to a greasy burger joint called Mike’s Pub which was directly behind our hotel. This place is tiny, but clearly it has a reputation the size of Texas because while we were waiting for our food, the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, walked in and placed his order only an arms-reach away from us.
After he placed his order, he turned and saw me and my friends sitting in his “usual” booth, so he jokingly told us we were in “his” seat. We laughed (but didn’t offer to move). I love getting photos with people (famous or not), so I immediately introduced myself and struck up conversation with the Governor about whether or not he would ever make a run at the presidency. He said absolutely not, but I didn’t buy it for a second! This guy is as goofy as President Bush, so it’s only a matter of time.
Needless to say, it was an honor to meet a future presidential candidate and sitting governor, and whether you like the man or not, at least he had excellent taste for a greasy burger.
As it turns out, the Governor and I were simply trading places; I checked out of the Driskill while he was headed over to speak to a large crowd on his energy policy.
