Yes, the Willie Nelson “420” Statue Unveiling in Austin Is True!

On April 20, 2012 at exactly 4:20 p.m., Willie Nelson sang a crowd favorite, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” while the City of Austin revealed a bronze statue to honor the Texas native. Were funny cigarettes passed around—maybe and most likely. After all, it happened in a city where the motto is “Keep Austin Weird.”

The History of 420

Believe what you will but there are many rumors on how 420 became associated with marijuana, Mary Jane, weed or whatever slang word you like! Some old hippies say they know a guy who knew a guy who started in all

The Huffington Post says one hippie icon Wavy Gravy said the term 420 began “somewhere in the foggy mists of time.” There are others that believe it was the police code for weed happenings. Others say it’s the total number of chemicals in one joint. The rumors go on and on.

In reality, 420 became associated with weed smoking before a Grateful Dead concert back in 1990—hmm I really did think I heard the term before 1990—but I digress. Again the Huffington Post  credits the term to one Grateful Dead fan who was one of many gathered at those pre-concert parking lot must-dos called “The Lot.” The man handed a flyer to Steve Bloom a pop-culture writer (formerly with High Times) and self-proclaimed hippie.

On the flyer it read “We are going to meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.” As the story goes, apparently Bloom passed the word and flyers were well—flying everywhere until the term caught on.

Of course there are many others who take credit for the term so we may never really know for sure.

Party On Because You Can

Willie Nelson represents what everyone loves about Austin. The art, the theater, the concerts and it is the self-proclaimed musical capital of the world. The Pecan Street festival happens twice a year where artists from across the state show off their wares and the people party into the night on Sixth Street. Austin needs to hold this event twice a year because weather permits and well it's another chance for more 420-ing.

Austin is a collegiate town and Sixth Street has many bars—so many you can literally fall out one door and land on the steps of the next bar—that is if you fall left or right I suppose.

Austin is also a tech city and holds its best compared to Silicon Valley. Of late, there are more tech start-ups in Austin than in any other city. Are the techies gathering here to be inspired? The warm climate? Or, are they all just here to put their imaginations to work while 420-ing? Any answer will do because it’s bringing money and profits to the City.

Then There’s SXSW

South by Southwest which is held in Austin every spring is huge tech event—but it’s also art and pop-culture and concerts galore. The festival starts out with well-known industry techs from around the world including Skype visits from bad boy Julian Assange.

Matt Cutts of Google fame is always here to tell us what’s new as far as search algorithms go but like his blog, you have to read between his words to take any valuable information away. Cutts needs to quit working for Google and run for President of the United States because he sure can side-step like a politician.

Reporter:  So Matt, when’s the next Panda or Penguin and what should we all expect?”

Cutts: Oh we never have a set date for these things and as far as what to expect, there will be advantages and disadvantages.

Reporter: Who will the algorithm harm most?

Cutts: Every algorithm has a purpose and we put a lot of research into them before we release them.

Reporter: So who is getting screwed Cutts?

Cutts: Oh! I have a Q&A in just a minute—sorry, gotta go.

Reporter under his breath: Yeah good luck with that…

So the City of Austin can’t be credited with the 420 term and how it relates to weed, but it does indeed have a Willie Nelson statue Austinites are proud of. We boast about it. We go look at it and sneak a puff. We are truly fans and in our hearts, the creators of 420.

But alas I am new in Austin so I haven't yet learned where any 420-ing hot spots are as of yet.

The Really Cool Stuff About Austin

I moved to Austin in August of 2011—if you’re an Austinite you’ll remember how hot the summer of 2011 was and we sweated our way through moving in with a lot of help from some of my husband’s co-workers.

So here we were with six dogs transported from Taos, New Mexico into a bigger house with a much smaller yard and as I looked around I realized right off—Texas is flat. But I’m not blogging to complain—yet!

Keep Austin Weird

If you’re new in Austin,  especially if you’ve moved here from another state, there are some neat things you probably haven't seen in your state/city and the first one is the city’s motto: Keep Austin Weird. There’s a website to help you learn how weird you can and should be, so check that out right off.

Tip: Get a T-Shirt that says “Keep Austin Weird”—you can find them almost everywhere!

Shop at HEBS

Next, is the grocery shopping. Pretty much your basic stores are pretty simple—I could only find two in South Austin – HEB and Randall’s. I don’t know what HEB stands for but I did see something that said “Here Everything’s Better” so that may be it, but I’d ask an expert. There are a few Randall’s stores around and they offer those discount cards—sort of like Albertson’s.

Tip: Don’t ask locals where the nearest “HEBs” is located. When saying the name of the grocery chain, you must spell it out, hence, “Where is the nearest H-E-B located?”

Miss the Turn on Ben White Blvd?

I love this next tip—the easy turning from Route 71/290—because you will need to use these little “U-Turn-like” venues a lot if you’re new in Austin. If you're on Route71/290 (Ben White Boulevard) and find you’ve passed the location you seek, at the very next light you will see left turn accesses dedicated to idiots. I use these lanes all the time. These little access lanes are located all around Austin, not just on Ben White, but don’t ask me where they are—I’m still new.

Tip: Once you pass your desired location, get in the far left lane and you’ll see these U-type turns. Make the turn and stay left and at the next light you can turn again and this time, hopefully you won’t pass the location by—again.

The Doc Is In on James Casey Street

Every doctor you’ll ever need in South Austin can be found on James Casey Street. From dermatologists to Ear-Nose-Throat doctors to cardiologists and more can be found here. On this street there are a multitude of complexes (very confusing to maneuver) but if you need a specialist, you’ll find them on James Casey.

Tip: Certain practices seem to skip around from one building suite to another building suite so ask exactly which building (and suite) they are in. I guess the landlords are pretty tough.

Extra Tip: The best family doctors are Premier Family Physicians and they have tons of locations no matter where you live in Austin.

Extra, Extra Tip: Premier Family Physicians is NOT on James Casey Street.

Go Longhorns

My last suggestion for those moving to Austin is if you aren’t a Cowboy’s fan, there are many here. I was surprised to find only one Pittsburgh Steelers Bar but locals keep telling me they are everywhere? Really? I can’t find more than one. You also have to become a University of Texas Longhorns fan—and cheer for their football team. This is the local college team that rocks so lean how to do the “Longhorn” sign and be sure to say “Hook 'Em Horns”—a lot.

Tip: Head to any HEB and you can find some Longhorn’s fan gear so you’ll at least look like you fit in.

Well, these are my first tips if you’re new in Austin but please do bookmark my blog because I’ll be updating it once week on the weird, the wild, the not so good and the very good about the City of Austin!