by K. Marie Black

Perhaps a lesser known Austin institution is the KwikWash on West Lynn in Clarksville. With more intrigues than a Louisiana Senate House, this speed-o-mat is a-wash with activity. It helps combats those wash-day blues by providing an atmosphere as rich in character as the proverbial full-bodied coffee. At any given time, one might see:

• the occasional shady deal involving grown men, their dogs, and narcotics of some sort;
• the intellectual, as deep in books and thought as he is in laundry;
• yuppie designer hangers;
• regular folk, invoking CIA-type covert activity to find the dryer that has broken the shackles that bound it to capitalism and now offers itself up for quarter-free use;
• the pinball machine, clinging and dinging its way onto our nerves;
• the money changer, releasing from its bowels quarters so warm they feel just baked;
• washer leakages so large and vile they give new meaning to the phrase "avoiding the wet spot";
• the local drunk, complete with ever standing-by beer, staring far too longingly at my dirty underwear.

But more than just a stage with its appropriate players, the KwikWash is a true microcosm of one of Austin's most diverse neighborhoods, Clarksville. Clarksville runs the gambit of housing some of the most prestigious homes in the city, to playing host to some of our dingiest crack dens. And it's in this little three block stretch, from 9 1/2 Street to 12th that Clarksville lays down all its glory for the local folk. Take a walk with us and see.

From the KwikWash, look out across West Lynn to see the local antique shop, its objects d'art gracefully and expensively dipping and curving their way into our purchasing hearts. Contrast this with the rugged lines of the lattice-backed chairs of El Interior, all lined-up also waxing coy for to be purchased. Down the street is Nau's Drugstore, one of the only places in town with a drug-store counter at the back, serving food so greasy, meat-driven, and delicious it makes you weep. (Try the club sandwich with a malt!!) And as every point has its counter point, there's the West Lynn Café, serving food so grease-free, decidedly unmeat driven, and also delectable. (Try the mushroom enchiladas!) Move back down West Lynn to find the Quix convenience store. Quix acts as supplier extraordinaire to the KwikWashers, where said neighborhood drunk buys his beer; where kids buy the candy that will later hurl them into an sugar-induced orbit; and where even the yuppy-esque folk find themselves partaking in the occasional bag o' beer to help while away that long hour that passes between dirty and clean. All of these are landmarks familiar enough, but perhaps more than any of these, the KwikWash acts as community center for all those washer/dryer-challenged in the hood, a kind of utilitarian melting pot, where children, adults and dogs alike ebb and flow in and out like the water in the washing machines themselves. The Coin Operated Laundromat: where everybody comes out to the wash...