Today is (or was) the last day for the Alamo Drafthouse’s third (or was it fourth) location in Austin. It was originally the first franchise, meaning it wasn’t owned/operated by Alamo’s founders Tim and Carrie League, so the menu had been slightly different.
This post isn’t sad news though. Tomorrow (Monday, July 22, 2013), the new Lakeline branch opens and it’s only two miles north of Lake Creek! It’s bigger (10 instead of seven theaters) and will have a larger, sit-down bar inside. Lakeline was also built from the ground up to Alamo standards, Lake Creek was a converted, failed Regal Cinema location known for being an easy gig if you worked at it in the Nineties. If I were the landlord of the strip mall, I’d be a tad worried since I doubt Hobby Lobby, Jason’s Deli or Pep Boys bring in much traffic.
I’m glad there will be no interruption too. The Ritz had a gap when the Original closed and South Lamar remains under construction as Austin’s south side is being gentrified (a polite word synonymous with “ruining a good thing”).
There were awesome memories at this location:
- Princess Bride Feast/Quote-along for Valentine’s Day 2012
- This is Spinal Tap Quote-along on 11-11-11
- Clue Quote-along in costume this Spring (a belated story)
- So I Married an Axe-Murderer and Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion Quote-alongs which were new, Nineties-based attempts to expand the Quote-along canon
- Several Apple functions, namely team-building
- It was often the easiest, quickest location to get to after work, just up 183
We’re already going to start having new, fantastic memories at Lakeline this week!
- Seeing The Host in a couple days. This is a Korean Horror moving, not the flick by Twitard author Stephanie Meyer. I owed Somara for The Way, Way Back.
- Attending a couple special events with MST3K creator and stand-up comedian Joel Hodgson for my 45th birthday!