#71-Keeping it Weird...Barton Springs Pool, Austin, Texas

Two cities in the United States have the motto, "Keep (insert city name) Weird"--Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas.  

The really weird thing is I was in both cities this week and swam in two new pools. First Portland (blogpost 10/12/15) and then Austin. I had never been to Austin before but everyone you talk to gives it rave reviews.  It was a quick business trip so there wasn't any really time for sightseeing but I did accomplish two important things; live music on 6th Street and dip in the renowned Barton Springs Pool. 

This huge natural pool is fed by springs that pump in 27 million gallons of water daily and is set in Zilker Park just west of downtown a little bit.  The green grassy hills gently slope to a very long and fairly wide pool that is suppose to be three acres in size. It was a hot day when I was there so their were lots of people swimming in the water and hanging out on the hillside. I swam an easy four laps up and back before taking a short nap on the grass. 

The men's locker and changing room was  great. It was a big open aired landscaped courtyard with benches along the sides and showers in the middle. I would love it if the weather in Boston would allow for outdoor showers like this at MIT. It feels decadent to be showering and changing naked outside. It's kinda like showering outdoors on Nantucket.

I wouldn't call the pool weird. The whole setting was just a very cool and unique vibe.

What really confirms that both cities are on the same hip wave length is they both have Voodoo Donut stores. It's not just coincidental-it's weird.

What are the odds of going to these two weird cities in the same week again? Weirdly, low I'd say.

#70-Multnomah Athletic Club & Keeping Portland Weird

Pool #70 is a pool I had the opportunity to swim in many times in the past. The past, being in my youth 34 plus years ago-that's a long time! The pool was at the prestigious Multnomah Athletic  Club in Portland, Oregon founded in 1891. It's a big club with a long storied history of producing top Pacific Northwest athletes of all ages in many different sports. It's on a hill in northwest Portland overlooking Providence Park (in my day Civic Stadium). Along with an extensive weight room, there are numerous studios for pilates/yoga and spinning, raquet courts, basketball courts, a couple restaurants and a pub. It also has two subterranean swimming pools in the basement. My benefactor to get into this exclusive club was my adult niece Sarah. Not only is she smart, pretty and fun but she is a star athlete and basketball coach and earned a scholarship to join the club in high school.

There are two pools at the club now, both in the basement. The new one is an 8 lane 25 yard pool and the old one is a 6 lane 50 meter pool with bulkhead. As a kid I went to many swim meets at the MAC Club and swam in the 50 meter pool. My strong memory as a kid was how shallow the pool is and on starts and flip turns you had to make sure not to go to deep or you would hit your head.

As expected, the pool area was very clean, the water was a great temp and yes, it was still shallow. I swam a short 1600 meters that felt like a lot more. Fours days out of the water and I sure felt it!  

In honor of kepping Portland weird or maybe better said keeping Portland fun we went for a brew cycle tour of Northwest Portland post swim. It was a fun group of Linda, Susie, Spencer and Sarah a couple of their friends and some friendly strangers.  We pedaled our 15 person bike to three different local micro breweries in several hours. It was beautiful Sunday Funday weather cruising Northwest listening to music (I DJ'ed) and drinking beer with friends and new friends. A perfect way to forget about a very average swim. 

Sarah-Thanks for the invite to your swanky club! Don't give up your membership. We're going back together someday.