If you're the lazy type of person who enjoys the kind of event where you just simply show up, break out the lawn chairs, chill for a few hours, then split, you might want to skip this particular feature-it's not for the lighthearted. The Lone Star Rod & Kustom Round Up is a real man's (and woman's!) event, one with many different faces and personalities. During the day, it's about real hot rods and customs; after-hours, it's about the Austin nightlife, the various bands that played throughout the weekend.

When I first heard about the three-day get-together last year, I had high aspirations of a totally unique event. Once mid-April had rolled around and I successfully made my first trek to Austin, Texas, my predictions were right on the money. First off, the city of Austin itself has a lot to offer, especially if you're into really good food, great nightspots, antiques, and all kinds of music. So, in a way, one might think it would be an easy task to organize an event in such an atmosphere-well, yes and no. Putting on a first-time gig anywhere is not an easy task, but the Kontinentals (a South Austin-based car club made up of traditional folk) did a killer job scheduling and pulling off all the various "to-dos" throughout the weekend.

We rolled into town late Thursday afternoon, which left us time to check into the Hotel San Jose, directly across the street from the Continental Club-that's like booking a room for Homer Simpson right next door to any Winchell's! Actually, the club was the center of attraction for the evening and after hours goings on, making things quite convenient. With the car show not until Saturday, that left the following morning open for us to do a little sightseeing around Austin, ultimately spending all of our lunch money on antiques and collectibles. In doing so, we also stumbled across Roadhouse Relics, a local specialist in "new-old" neon and signage (see photos). Proprietor Todd Sanders has literally made an art out of recreating and restoring vintage signs and has set up a mini museum of his work. Fortunately, we didn't have enough room in our bags (nor did we want to risk broken neon tubes), but we did get Todd's card and can foresee something of his hanging in our places in the very near future.

That evening at the Continental Club, Chadd Thomas and The Crazy Kings filled the air with a heavy dosage of hot rod rockabilly, while Linda Lou, the "Well-Dressed Welderess," had an autograph session with her first-annual pin-up girl calendar. Next door at Gallery 1313, David Perry had a farewell book and print signing from his Hot Rod and Pin-Ups series at the upstairs gallery. Later on, The Horton Bros., Marti Brom (who belted out a mean song), and Wayne Hancock rounded out the evening lineup. Suffice it to say, it was not an early evening by any means, but the fact that the car show didn't start until 11 a.m. lent itself quite nicely to a long night.