Texas Toy Museum

 Recently I went to Austin, Texas, which was my first time on a plane since the Zombie Apocalypse began almost two years ago. My first international flight in a long time will be this Friday, but that's another post in and of itself. I'll certainly have more to say about the Austin trip, which was wonderful. My long-time friend Jack (when did I reach the point when I can honestly say that I've had friends for fifty years?) was supposed to be taking his wife to Austin for a romantic getaway, centered around the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Induction, but at the last minute she couldn't get off work. So, I pinch-hit. It was an absolute blur, but what an amazing time.

Like all great trips it was a combination of the planned and the unplanned, the profound and the silly. In regards to the unplanned and the silly you'd definitely have to include our trip to the Texas Toy Museum, which is located right on the main drag in Austin. We had passed it a couple times and I eventually dragooned Jack into heading there. It cost $9 to get in, but you also got unlimited free game play so it quickly paid for itself. We were going to go in for about ten minutes to say we visited, but I'm sure we stayed a couple hours. There was no great order to the place, just mainly a mosh pit of different toys, which actually worked because it felt like a trip down memory lane of my son's childhood (including the chaos).

My son was a big Aliens fan.

I didn't see this until I was leaving. This is brilliant.

I think I spent more time playing pinball than my previous life put together. Jack, of course, wearing his Los Angeles Rams shirt. Our friendship has been tested (hardened and purified) by way too many Rams vs Vikings games over the years.

Jack definitely found his groove on Centipede, where he set the high score.

Oh, and you could buy beer in the museum, which clearly would have fueled the competitive drive of our younger selves.