The copper ceiling has an elaborate pattern, and the floors are cement. On a second visit, a weeknight about 9:30 p.m., I sat at the bar. Beer in cans (none on draft) fill a fridge and include locals such as Liberty Lunch IPA from Independence Brewing Co. It tasted good-whiskey, lemon, and honey pretty much always tastes good.
The Brentwood is essentially a gold rush (whiskey, lemon, honey) served with a large square ice cube. The cocktails on the menu are named for North Austin neighborhoods: Allandale, Wooten, etc. A man wearing a Yankees baseball jersey came over to take our order. Night Owl is a neighborhood joint, owned by the same pair who used to run Old School Bar and Grill on Sixth Street. The TVs were big enough to light the bar in blues and yellows, though the fuchsia filaments of the 15 or so small bulbs hanging from the ceiling added a bit of ambience too. The Astros were playing on one enormous screen college football shone from the other. A handful of people sat at the bar, and the place was relatively quiet. We stopped by the Night Owl, a new spot on Burnet Road, not far from Anderson Lane, next to a Jacuzzi store. So one Saturday evening I’d promised to relieve our babysitter by 10:30 p.m., which meant that my husband and I only had an hour after dinner for a drink. I live, however, in a non-night-owl world, and I try to get up at the same time every day (6:45 a.m.). I like long winter nights and the cold dark they are made for snuggling under blankets and reading books beneath a single dim light.
Still, I stubbornly dream about working out at 6 a.m., the whole day spread out before me, an unbroken series of hours for working and sociable lunches before afternoon carpool.
I’ve been trying to make myself get up early for years-so many years now the endeavor seems silly.