Dry Creek Inn, Austin, TX -Sarah is dead

**DW313512** · April-21-09, 09:36 AM

Sarah, the owner has passed away. Here is John Kelso's obit. Anyone else ever been to Dry Creek?

SARAH RANSOM: 1913-2009
Meanest ol' bartender in Austin dead at 95

By John Kelso
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sarah Ransom, the crusty old bartender and owner of the Dry Creek Cafe beer joint at 4812 Mount Bonnell Road, died Thursday night at Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple. She would have been 96 next Thursday.
If you walked into the Dry Creek Cafe, you knew you'd get verbally whiplashed by Sarah, known affectionately as "the meanest bartender in Austin, Texas." And she didn't mind the reputation.
Still, Sarah was loved by many of the folks at the receiving end of one of her spoken-word canings.
She was a hard worker. She ran the place from 1956 until about six years ago. And most of the time she ran it by herself.
"Oh, gosh, everybody that came in there knew they were going to get chewed out in one form or another," said Jay "Buddy" Reynolds, a former state representative and her son. He now owns the bar and lives in a house he built behind the place.
One cause for abuse from Ransom was leaving empty beer bottles on the upstairs deck, because she didn't want to climb the stairs to collect them. If you didn't bring your empties back downstairs, you'd get hammered.
"If you wanted another beer, you better have empty beer bottles," her son recalled. "If you didn't have one, she'd just tell you where the door was and get out."
Reynolds recalled that his mother had posted her own version of the 23rd Psalm on the back of the joint's front door that ended with "I shall fear no evil because I'm the meanest SOB in the valley."
"She had it glued up for a long time," Reynolds said. "I used to read it all the time."
Many's the customer who can tell you stories about how she laid into somebody. Eddie Wilson, owner of Threadgill's Restaurants in Austin and one of a few people she seemed to like, recalls the time he sent a kid out there with instructions on what to do to keep from getting cussed out.
Wilson recalled that Ransom kept an ugly ceramic pig on the bar as a tip jar. The kid Wilson sent out there made the mistake of leaving a $1 tip on the counter. Wilson says she hollered at the kid as he was leaving, "Hey, boy, come here." When the kid returned to the bar to ask what the problem was, she bellowed at him, "The damn dollar goes in the pig."
Austin attorney and musician Bobby Earl Smith was so taken with her that he wrote a song back in the '70s called the "Dry Creek Inn." But when he went to the bar to take photos for an album cover, he was not well-received.
"We were out there snapping away and all of a sudden the door flies open and Sarah says, `Bobby Smith, I know what you're doing, and get your ass out of here.' I hauled tail. I'm not crazy," Smith said.
Smith added, however, that Ransom was a good mother. He was impressed after talking with her children about how she kept on them about hard work and a good education.
Going places with her was another kind of education.
Reynolds remembers the time five or six years ago when he took his mother to the bank and the teller suggested that she'd do better if she kept more of her money in savings and less in her checking account.
"She said, `You mind your [[blankin') business and I'll mind mine,'" Reynolds said.
Reynolds added that his mother was married four times: "Oh, God yeah, she put them in the grave. She was like living with a bobcat or a black widow spider."
Ransom is survived by her son, Buddy; her daughter, Frances Phillips of the San Diego area; a brother, Lee Boyd of Arlington; two sisters, Mary Barker of Giddings and Dolly Mabry of Vancouver, Wash.; 12 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

**MoparDan** · April-21-09, 10:09 AM

Diane, sorry to say I never went there. She sounds just like everybody's mom that I've met, mine included!

I take it you've been before?John's also written about Giddy Up's a few times but I've never stepped foot in the place. Despite the fact it's barely a 5min drive from my house. Guess I better do it soon.

**DW313512** · April-21-09, 10:37 AM

Dan,

Looks like a cool place. It is sooooo far from my house. [[I live near TX DPS). It would seem like a day trip to get there. I haven't been to Dry Creek in a few years. I guess I will be going soon.

Sarah really was quite the character. You did not want to get her attention.

**MoparDan** · April-21-09, 11:17 AM

I remember you telling me that so I'm literally across the street from you.

Giddy Up's usually has some live music but I'll assume it's C&W. I'm trying to think of a decent route if you went...MoPac gets congested as well as IH-35. You could take Lamar until you hit Manchaca Rd[[just past Kerbey Lane Cafe), hang a left, then take that all the way down as Giddy Up's is right at the end of it.
I wonder if Sarge has ever been because he lives south also.
I read John's column on a regular basis & need to start venturing into these places he writes about. Dry Creek sounds like a fun place provided you remembered to bring your empties back to the bar.

**sarge** · April-21-09, 05:08 PM

I've driven by both many a time, but have never went in to either place.

**MoparDan** · April-22-09, 07:43 AM

Sarge, Diane[[& any other Austinites)...we know the people that put this on & it's always a nice evening. They're south of Slaughter off Brodie Lane.
http://wyldwood.startlogic.com/index.html

Be sure to read this page so you know what to expect. It also has a link to a map at the bottom
http://wyldwood.startlogic.com/page2.html
My wife & I have attended many of the shows & found it very enjoyable. We also take our youngest daughter who is good friends with theirs.

**CountrySquire** · April-22-09, 08:05 AM

Wierd! I can't imagine returning to an establishment where I was treated rudely. Must be a bunch of masochists living in Texas.

**MoparDan** · April-22-09, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by CountrySquire

Wierd! I can't imagine returning to an establishment where I was treated rudely. Must be a bunch of masochists living in Texas.

LOL
The slogan is "Keep Austin Weird"...just about every city has places like this; you just have to know where to look. Plus you'd have to read John Kelso's column to keep up with all the oddities that occur.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...t_jumbo_1.html

**DW313512** · April-22-09, 03:46 PM

Country Squire, Texas is not your kind of country. Takes someone special [[weird) to appreciate Dry Creek. Good reply Dan.

**MoparDan** · April-22-09, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by DW313512

Country Squire, Texas is not your kind of country. Takes someone special [[weird) to appreciate Dry Creek. Good reply Dan.

I do what I can!

And you're right, you've got to have a good/peculiar sense of humor to appreciate some things.

**reddog289** · April-23-09, 12:50 AM

My "Aunt" in northern Michigan could step behind that Bar. Austin is another one of those places that I hope to get to before I start a bucket list.

**MoparDan** · April-23-09, 07:14 PM

Originally Posted by reddog289

My "Aunt" in northern Michigan could step behind that Bar. Austin is another one of those places that I hope to get to before I start a bucket list.

A lot of people try to come down during South by Southwest[[SXSW) & ACL Fest [[Austin City Limits). It can be pretty hectic to say the least.
http://www.sxsw.com/
http://www.aclfestival.com/

My aim is to get to Detroit, Akron, Youngstown, Pittsburgh & the rest of the rust belt to do some exploring & like everyone else, take a multitude of pictures.

**reddog289** · April-24-09, 12:49 AM

I see Austin in alot of the Street Rod magazines, When they have the "Rat Rod" deals. The second state I ever drove in outta Mi was Texas.

**MoparDan** · April-24-09, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by reddog289

I see Austin in alot of the Street Rod magazines, When they have the "Rat Rod" deals. The second state I ever drove in outta Mi was Texas.

Really? I always got the impression that few people in this town were interested in rods, muscle cars or anything of the sort. I used to belong to the Mopar club here but haven't attended a meeting in about 2-3yrs. San Antonio is a completely different story though when it comes to older or customized vehicles. Whenever I see pics in Car Craft or Hot Rod, the guys showing off their rides usually seem to be from the Midwest & Northeast.
Just received an email from Eastwood Company that they're not going to be a vendor at car shows anymore.

**MoparDan** · April-27-09, 08:35 AM

The Porter Davis group that appeared at The Wyldwood was excellent. A good bluesy sound & the harmonica player was OUTSTANDING! You'd think this guy was raised in the Mississippi Delta, but he's actually from Britain.
http://www.myspace.com/porterdavismusic

**rb336** · April-27-09, 08:53 AM

I haven't liked Austin since the demise of the Armadillo World Headquarters

the last headliner at the dillo? AA's own Commander Cody

**DW313512** · April-27-09, 03:10 PM

Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel played that last show too. [[Austin's own)

**rb336** · April-27-09, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by DW313512

Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel played that last show too. [[Austin's own)

my brother invited me down for it, but i couldn't spare the time

**MoparDan** · May-15-09, 01:06 PM

Diane, Sarge,
just a head's up about the next Wyldwood show on the 23rd if y'all can make it. It'll be over Memorial Day Weekend in case you didn't know. I'm planning on going again.

Ack! I guess I should've put this in originally!

http://www.wyldwoodshows.com/

**DW313512** · May-15-09, 01:43 PM

Dan, Thanks I will go to their website.

**sarge** · May-16-09, 10:26 AM

Would love to join you, Dan, but going to be out of town to visit another friend who had to leave the D to find a job.

**jiminnm** · May-16-09, 05:02 PM

Dan, Austin is on our list of places to visit. It's a long day's drive from here north of Abq.

**MoparDan** · May-17-09, 06:48 PM

Originally Posted by jiminnm

Dan, Austin is on our list of places to visit. It's a long day's drive from here north of Abq.

LOL Yeah, it's anywhere from about 700-850 miles depending on which path you take. I'll be in the panhandle area sometime in June on business & plan to take a quick run down Route 66 to Glen Rio on the TX/NM border to snap a few pics; I'll give a wave in your direction.

Then head to Adrian, Vega & finally Amarillo.