Night 6, "Do you mean THE College Station?"

We checked into the lovely backpackers and took a walk around the neighborhood.

We went up the main hill to see the church--it was a rainy day when we were there before.

We walked about and found a brew pub for supper. We were exhausted and our land sickness was hitting hard. The tables and chairs wouldn't stop moving. Our drive had added to the feeling. Benjamin couldn't finish his dinner.

We didn't know that we could pay at the bar at any time--each place is a bit different. We chatted with the waitress, who is from the U.K.

Finally, Lucy took the kids to the backpackers while I settled the bill.

The co-owner brought me the check and explained that usually customers just pay at the bar. He was concerned that we were upset--I told him that the kids were just tired.

He and I had a great chat about how much we like NZ. He's from the U.K. and is happy to be here. We talked about the youngsters not appreciating how nice NZ is.

As he handed me the receipt, he asked "So where are you from?"

Usually, I just say 'from the U.S.' or 'from Texas.'

This time I said "College Station, Texas."

He pulled the recipt back. "Where?" He looked stunned.

"College Station, Texas" I said again, a bit louder.


"THE College Station, Texas???" he asked, incredulous.

He shook my hand hard and broke into a great smile.

"I've meet someone from College Station, Texas! Oh my! Where Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett wrote the porch song! I'm a great Robert Earl Keen fan and I like Lovett too. My goodness, this is great."

So we had a long chat about B/CS and he made me promise to become a friend on his Facebook page for the bar. I did.

I went back to room. We slept off our land sickness, but we had to take the Interislander back to North Island.




Click for the Nelson Jazz Club