Oh Austin, please lighten up a bit!  Tonight we strolled down to the second street cinco de mayo festival.  It was a gorgeous evening out and we ducked in for a phenomenal salad at Leaf.  Hoping to join the festivities, have a beer, see some friends and watch a bit of the bands we entered the portion of closed off second street.   It quickly became apparent that in order to get a beer you had to go to the “beer garden” — a fenced off sub-area of the block.  I’ve seen this practice before at places all over the country and it has always seemed a little puritanical and representative of the worst parts of America.  What’s the real harm in serving beer in a closed off street?  The area is already cordoned off, is it really necessary to put a 12 foot tall chain link fence and make the beer drinkers watch the bands from a seeming cage?

Cinco de Mayo Festival Downtown Austin