Texas Nightlife

When my family and I moved to Texas, back in 2003, we had moved in with my mother-in-law, prior to finding a place of our own. My wife and I were busting our tails in an attempt to readjust to “civilian” life: we had spent the last eight years or so living under the U.S. military’s umbrella. We quickly found that we preferred the pace and overall characteristic of our new lifestyle – it did not take us long to abandon our old ways.

After spending a week or so living under my mother-in-law’s roof, she volunteered to watch my children so that my wife and I could spend a night out, alone, although we ended up hanging out with both of my sister-in-laws. We hopped on Interstate 10 and drove east for about an hour or so, to the City of Beaumont, where, after obtaining some rather flawed directions, we attempted to make our way to Crockett Street, the official nightlife capital of the city.

Although our mission was anything but simple, we eventually made our way – after spending several minutes driving around the city aimlessly and numerous launches of the F-Bomb, on my part – to our destination. Instantly, I realized that Crockett Street was the city’s “bread and butter”, so to speak: it was highly commercialized, with numerous neon signs, stalls and shops offering various trinkets and memorabilia, and hundreds of people lining the street.

We made our way to some bar – a shoddy little dive which lacked individuality and a distinction of some kind from every other bar in the area – at the beginning of the street. Needless to say, I wasn’t very impressed: upon entering the bar I became overwhelmed by the awful stench of stale beer and a tornado of cigarette smoke. I began to gag, violently, so my wife and I abandoned my sister-in-laws and decided to explore the rest of the area.

After spending maybe two to three minutes walking around, we stumbled upon Antones, where we found ourselves overtaken by the restful melodies of classical Blues – a staple of the local live music scene. Even though Antones was packed with people, to the point in which mobility had been stunted, I found it to be rather appealing: people were friendly and courteous, generous with their money, and the establishment was…well…it was the complete opposite of the dive where I had gladly left my sister-in-laws.

We stayed in Antones for about an hour, dancing to the Blues, and talking with many people from all over Eastern Texas and Western Louisiana -- we made numerous friends for the night, but never stayed in contact; afterwards, we continued on with our exploration of Crockett Street, finding it to be a rather enjoyable place, loaded with great restaurants, delghtfu live music venues, and history.

Texas Nightlife

Visiting Texas?

Visiting Texas?