I used to sit on the porch of Halcyon, smoking cigarettes, writing, people watching. I would lose myself in another time, another world.
I once wrote the cafe into my novel as the setting where my heroine, very much like me, would sink into a chair and stare out the window and watch; She would ponder why he left, she would mull over what she had done so wrong, she would curse him and curse herself, sipping at her coffee, picking at her panini, wasting time and waiting for something she couldn't put her finger on. It was the place she'd eventually see him walk by after over a year of abandonment, the collar of his gray peacoat covering his neck, his gray woolen scarf wrapped around his chin, his hands shoved into his pockets as he moved through the cold - she recognized him by his gait, fast, like a New Yorker, by his blue eyes and furrowed brow, his blond hair. It was the place they'd reunite later over wine and laughs and "I'm sorrys" and promises before parting ways yet again.
Woulda been a great story had some jerk not broken into my car and stole my laptop... or if I had backed up my computer to an exterior hard drive.
Besides Metro on the drag, Halcyon was my college haunt and a place that inspired great creativity in me. I liked the solace I felt being there. I liked going in on cold, rainy afternoons with my Moleskin and my laptop and being completely alone while surrounded by people who were quietly also being completely alone.
When he left in 2007 to go back to LA, we had been sitting in my apartment that night. I'd just moved in. I had an air mattress in the living room and a TV. We were going to drink wine and watch movies when he said he had to go to his car. He left the front door ajar, just a bit. After a few moments, I walked out to see what was taking him... when I realized that he had simply driven away. He called me crying from El Paso 2 hours later and told me he wouldn't be coming back. He had things to do in LA, he'd made promises.
So over the next months I found myself at Halcyon every weekend, filling the alone time, refusing to go home. It's easier to feel sad, I think, when you're around strangers. It's better than feeling alone when you truly are alone. Halcyon was very much like a kind hug to me. And what I was going through was very much what I did write about when I'd sit there, in the ragged easy chair that used to be to the right of the door by the window. And I wrote that I imagined we'd meet there when he came back to Austin.
And eventually, that's just what we did. I often wondered if I had written that into reality. ... And, maybe I didn't lose myself in another time, another world. Maybe I'd just lose myself in life as it was.
The Tomato Mozzarella panini is my favorite thing on the menu.
Their prices are very low and you can kill hours here with plenty of distraction. Their crepes are wonderful, as are the quiche.
That combined with knowledgeable baristas and a full bar... It's a wonderful place to simply be.
Every time I go back, I feel like I'm walking into my past, into a place that belongs to me. read more