Stay Awesome

Some years back UT Austin’s Shakespeare Winedale did all of the Henry VI plays, that would be Henry VI parts 1, 2, & 3, as part of the summer series. It’s regret that I have, never got to see those plays at the Round Top (TX) Campus.

Been going out there for a few years, and tried various hotels, motels, bed-n-breakfast, and one Air BnB. Pretty good. Not ideal, but not bad. Last summer, I happened across a container hotel, and decided it was worth a shot. Booked it in January for the July shows.

First off, before ever setting foot in the converted and cleaned up shipping container? I stepped inside the warehouse, a paean to architectural junk.

“One person’s trash is another’s treasure.”

One image, I can’t pass up. It was a six-foot slide rule. (cf. — Aries, Virgo.) Ticketed at $475. I’m not used to seeing something as cool as that, or with my memory deeply embedded. One classroom, the auspices and offices of the math department, had one similar, hanging against a chalkboard. That I can use, excuse me, could use, once upon a time? Says more about age and teaching skills, and how to blend hard math with myth.

The image itself was even better, in the pile of apparent random material, the six-foot slide rule, an unopened can of Lone Star Beer, and some trays filled with various collector-grade mineral specimens — not unlike something I would find in certain rock shops.

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Each container hotel room is a standalone unit. While the first one wasn’t finished out in a style I could live with forever, as a temporary space, it was outstanding. Tiny kitchenette equipped with a coffee grinder and Chemex coffee maker, hallmarks of the best of the minimalist lifestyle.

Reclaimed — recycled wood for walls, floor, ceiling? Shotgun-style layout with a living area, kitchenette, bathroom, then “bedroom” at the far end — thoroughly functional, although, I’d be hard pressed to put more than two people in one of these units at a time, but that might be me.

Another thoughtful touch? Haven’t seen this since a hotel in Seattle during the angry double-aughts, instead of a shampoo and conditioner in landfill-choking tiny bottles? The shower stall had a wall-mounted Ten Thousand Waves spa solution of rosemary-infused shampoo and conditioner.

Bonus: there was a bottle of the same brand of lotion, with calming lavender or some such crap.

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The place ticks all the right marks, reclaimed, recycled, sustainable, funky, and apparently, each of the six units currently online, seems that each one if appointed in a different flavor or manner. Check in process was smooth; although, to be fair, there was a one little glitch. Two tiny problems.

The instructions included the directions, “The first blue container on the left,” and to my eyes, it was a grey box, not a blue one, the blue ones were next to it. Tiny problem, I understand it was blue at one time.

The AC units were going full-blast, the place was cool, but the drain line to the “kitchen” unit was plugged and the AC was puking water all over the counter.

Two workers, very polite, from the shop wandered over and blew out the drain line and toweled up the water.

No problem.

Great place to stay, halfway from nowhere to nowhere, and certainly a good place for some Shakespeare.

#StayAwesome

Flophouze