Evan and I wanted to get away somewhere warm and Zika-free during his spring break. I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about Austin; in fact, the reviews have been off-the-charts positive. It’s a place we’ve been wanting to go to for a while, especially after we visited San Antonio and felt like we might've missed out on a potentially more exciting Texas destination.
We’re also in money-saving mode and we were able to find very reasonable airfare. Originally, we had a VRBO property reserved in downtown Austin but after I reconnected with a middle school friend from Jakarta, she very graciously invited us to stay with her and her family in Round Rock, a northern suburb. Score!
Travel dates: March 4, 2017 - March 8, 2017
Saturday, March 4:
Part of what made our airfare so cheap was that we flew into a less convenient airport - Dallas Love Field. Obviously, this meant that we had to get ourselves to Austin. We arrived early in the day and after renting our car we made a mad dash to Hopdoddy Burger Bar in uptown Dallas. We were starved.
The burgers are good but not exceptional. Their shakes, however, are quite special. My nutella and chocolate pretzel shake is the reason I'd return. Amazing!
The sun decided to make a brief appearance so after a quick snack of ice cream for everyone else (I declined), we made a mural run. Austin's best known for its food trucks, live music, and street art.
Last, but not least, we went to HOPE Outdoor Gallery. Beforehand we stopped somewhere to buy spray paint. That's right, we all unleashed our inner street artists (with permission).
N and her daughter split off at that point and went home. We stayed downtown and because our family is full of Whole Foods nerds, we went to the flagship store. We walked around and had our sole BBQ meal of the trip. It's a huge, beautiful store but not too different from our local WF. Perhaps the biggest departure is that they have a taco bar.
Since we had free parking we left the car and walked several blocks to Gourdough's. I don't think I can put into words how good and decadent their donuts are. I got "the puddin'" while Evan got a more subtle "naughty & nice". I'm still dreaming of Bang Bang in Toronto but this place is pretty up there in terms of fulfilling my dessert dreams.
Monday, March 6
One of the things we learned from our local friends is that Austin traffic is really bad! We heeded their warnings and avoided the road during peak times in the mornings and evenings. As a result, we didn't leave the house until around 10:00am to head out to Hill Country, more specifically, Fredericksburg. It's a cute little town with boutiques, antique shops, and lots of places to eat. We stopped for a late breakfast/lunch at Sunset Grill. It gets a good write-up on yelp but I don't think either of us would go back.
One of the things I had on "my list" while in Austin was to see/photograph bluebonnets. We didn't see any on our two hour drive so as we started to meander back, I told Evan to stop at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. I thought it wouldn't hurt to poke around and see if we could spy any. We didn't but we really enjoyed the peaceful beauty of LBJ's home/ranch. If we hadn't been in a hurry to get to Austin before evening rush hour then we likely would've spent more time touring. You can see his birthplace, church, airplane hangar, the Texas White House, etc.
When we got to Austin we found some street parking near the Capitol building and walked over to check it out. It's a magnificent building with lovely grounds. I could say it's as nice as our Capitol but...I won't. :)
This is what you see when you look up at the dome from the center of the interior floor:
From there we picked up a little dessert in the form of famous Round Rock Donuts. We knew we'd need something to keep us alert on the monotonous drive to Dallas. They're damn good, too.
Since we had plenty of time before our flight we thought we'd visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center in downtown Dallas. W's star is on the rise since the orange subhuman moved into the People's House. W wasn't a good president but I'd venture to say he's a good person. It's probably obvious we didn't go because we're huge fans of W; we went to see Portraits of Courage. Like him or not, it's a worthy cause - honoring and helping wounded warriors.
We were pretty impressed by the close-up portraits. W's got a good handle on facial details but he's kind of weak on perspective and proportion. For instance, there was a portrait of an adult man holding what appeared to be his young daughter and they were the same size. Anyway, a good effort.
...
Overall, we had a nice time. It was cool to visit an old friend and meet her family. We had some good food and enjoyed Austin's sights and sounds.
I will say, and I hate to use a Dumpism, but I think Austin might be "overrated". I've never heard a bad thing about it and I just don't know if that's fair or even accurate. The traffic is terrible, for instance. I guess that would be the argument for staying downtown rather than commuting in. Also, if the weather's not great, what do you do? There's so much emphasis on outdoor activities but what's the alternative? Are Austin's indoor activities commensurate with their outdoor ones? I'm genuinely curious. I don't get the impression that there's a plethora of world-class museums.
For us, Austin suffered from great expectations. Everyone raves so highly about it that we were expecting something more. We like Austin just fine but we're not sure what all the fuss is about.
Travel dates: March 4, 2017 - March 8, 2017
Saturday, March 4:
Part of what made our airfare so cheap was that we flew into a less convenient airport - Dallas Love Field. Obviously, this meant that we had to get ourselves to Austin. We arrived early in the day and after renting our car we made a mad dash to Hopdoddy Burger Bar in uptown Dallas. We were starved.
The burgers are good but not exceptional. Their shakes, however, are quite special. My nutella and chocolate pretzel shake is the reason I'd return. Amazing!
From there we took the most boring three hour drive from Dallas to Round Rock. Good Lord. I cannot remember a drive that felt longer or more torturous. What made it worse is knowing that we'd have to do it again to get home.
When we arrived in Round Rock we were both a little bit nervous because I hadn't seen/spoken to my friend in over twenty years. All worries were quickly extinguished once we walked in the door. We received a warm and welcoming reception and felt good that we had stepped outside our introverted/anti-social comfort zones. My friend, N, is married with a daughter, a son, three dogs, and two lizards. The animal lover in me was particularly tickled because I got to pet both lizards and throughout our multi-day visit we got an innumerable amount of dog kisses. I miss them already!
We had a delicious steak fajita dinner at home with everyone. Honestly, it was one of our favorite meals of the trip. N's husband, E, is a great cook.
Sunday, March 5:
We started the day by having brunch as a big group at Jack Allen's Kitchen. It's served buffet-style, which is typically not my thing. Fortunately, most of the offered food was fresh and hot. There were only a couple items that were disappointing.
Post-brunch, the group split and went in different directions. N, her daughter, A, and Evan and I headed downtown to do some exploring while N's husband and son went to the batting cage.
Our first stop was the 360 Bridge that offers a view of the Austin skyline. It's a bit of a rock scramble to get up there.
From there we paid a visit to Congress Avenue Kayaks. It wasn't the ideal weather for outdoor activity but we had a blast! Something about being on the calm, cool water of Lady Bird Lake put us all in a great mood. We saw ducks and turtles and there were plenty of water-loving dogs taking the plunge. We even saw a few canine boat passengers. As we pulled under the famous Congress Bridge, home to a large bat colony, we could smell them before we could hear their high-pitched squeaking.
Last, but not least, we went to HOPE Outdoor Gallery. Beforehand we stopped somewhere to buy spray paint. That's right, we all unleashed our inner street artists (with permission).
If only Dumpy could read...
N and her daughter split off at that point and went home. We stayed downtown and because our family is full of Whole Foods nerds, we went to the flagship store. We walked around and had our sole BBQ meal of the trip. It's a huge, beautiful store but not too different from our local WF. Perhaps the biggest departure is that they have a taco bar.
Since we had free parking we left the car and walked several blocks to Gourdough's. I don't think I can put into words how good and decadent their donuts are. I got "the puddin'" while Evan got a more subtle "naughty & nice". I'm still dreaming of Bang Bang in Toronto but this place is pretty up there in terms of fulfilling my dessert dreams.
Monday, March 6
One of the things we learned from our local friends is that Austin traffic is really bad! We heeded their warnings and avoided the road during peak times in the mornings and evenings. As a result, we didn't leave the house until around 10:00am to head out to Hill Country, more specifically, Fredericksburg. It's a cute little town with boutiques, antique shops, and lots of places to eat. We stopped for a late breakfast/lunch at Sunset Grill. It gets a good write-up on yelp but I don't think either of us would go back.
One of the things I had on "my list" while in Austin was to see/photograph bluebonnets. We didn't see any on our two hour drive so as we started to meander back, I told Evan to stop at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. I thought it wouldn't hurt to poke around and see if we could spy any. We didn't but we really enjoyed the peaceful beauty of LBJ's home/ranch. If we hadn't been in a hurry to get to Austin before evening rush hour then we likely would've spent more time touring. You can see his birthplace, church, airplane hangar, the Texas White House, etc.
When we got to Austin we found some street parking near the Capitol building and walked over to check it out. It's a magnificent building with lovely grounds. I could say it's as nice as our Capitol but...I won't. :)
This is what you see when you look up at the dome from the center of the interior floor:
N told us to talk to ourselves while standing there and notice how our voices reverberate back to us. It was really cool! My own voice sounded so loud to me but Evan told me he couldn't hear me on the other side of the room.
The couple of evenings we spent in Austin made us feel like we were in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. I told N and her husband that hearing the bird calls made me feel like I was in the jungles of Central America. They don't look exotic but they sound it.
We had an OK pizza dinner at Italic. They don't claim to serve Neapolitan-style pizza but I think they use a brick oven. Either way, not up to my standards. Evan found it more to his liking.
We ended the night at Amy's Ice Creams. I think Dumpy got it wrong when he said Mexico's not sending its best. I got some Mexican vanilla ice cream and I'd say, it's the best vanilla ice cream I've had.
Tuesday, March 7
We had a late but very filling breakfast at local chain, Kerbey Lane Cafe. I enjoyed it but Evan wasn't too impressed. Even though I liked what I got I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to go back there.
From there we ventured downtown, found a spot, and did some meandering and window-shopping along South Congress.
Uncommon Objects was one of our favorite shops to peruse:
A funny anecdote: I asked my brother for food recommendations because he goes to Austin often and likes it a lot. He sent me a link to an Austin blogger he follows and while checking out the site I discovered that the famous "I love you so much" mural was defaced. N, her daughter, and Evan and I all took pictures in front of it on Sunday and apparently, that night someone came along and wrote F*** Austin over top of it. By the time Evan and I got back to that location on Tuesday, they had already fixed it. I still think we're lucky though because the fix doesn't look as nice.
I was starting to think I'd never get any bluebonnets on camera but by pure chance we drove by Oakwood Cemetery in downtown Austin and saw bluebonnets growing around some of the graves. Technically, we'd seen bluebonnets along some of the highway medians but obviously, the location made it difficult to stop and take a picture. Only a cemetery could offer such a convenient, picturesque experience.
We felt like we had run out of things to do downtown so we went to Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for an afternoon showing of Jordan Peele's Get Out. Luckily, it's a chain that's expanded to our area because we arrived too late to benefit from the dining/drinking experience they offer. We really enjoyed the movie, though. It's a thinker.
Before our evening's event we returned to South Congress and had dinner at Torchy's Tacos at my brother's recommendation. It was definitely one of the best meals of the trip. How can you go wrong with Tex Mex?
We ended our evening with a presentation at the Blanton Museum of Art. It was a program co-sponsored by the University of Texas-Austin. The event was called, "A Conversation with David Hare and Deborah E. Lipstadt". I'm so glad I googled Austin's calendar of events before we got into town because I wouldn't have known about this otherwise. There were no musical or comedy acts of interest so this was the extent of our "night life" while in town.
It was very interesting and important, especially in light of the current political climate; though the specific conversation was about Dr. Lipstadt's 1990s court battle against a Holocaust denier. She wrote a book about her experience and David Hare wrote the screenplay for the subsequent movie, Denial.
Wednesday, March 8
We said our goodbyes to N before we turned in the night before. I'm sorry that we didn't get to visit much beyond Sunday but I'm sure we'll see each other again.
I have to admit, I was very bummed to bid adieu to the dogs. I haven't been licked so much or had a dog crawl into my bed in a long time. I miss having a canine in my life. Here are two of the cuties:
Torchy's was such a hit the day before that we decided to have breakfast there before we hit the road to Dallas. Their breakfast tacos are the bomb! I thought my dinner taco was good but no, the breakfast tacos are where it's at.
Since we had plenty of time before our flight we thought we'd visit the George W. Bush Presidential Center in downtown Dallas. W's star is on the rise since the orange subhuman moved into the People's House. W wasn't a good president but I'd venture to say he's a good person. It's probably obvious we didn't go because we're huge fans of W; we went to see Portraits of Courage. Like him or not, it's a worthy cause - honoring and helping wounded warriors.
We were pretty impressed by the close-up portraits. W's got a good handle on facial details but he's kind of weak on perspective and proportion. For instance, there was a portrait of an adult man holding what appeared to be his young daughter and they were the same size. Anyway, a good effort.
...
Overall, we had a nice time. It was cool to visit an old friend and meet her family. We had some good food and enjoyed Austin's sights and sounds.
I will say, and I hate to use a Dumpism, but I think Austin might be "overrated". I've never heard a bad thing about it and I just don't know if that's fair or even accurate. The traffic is terrible, for instance. I guess that would be the argument for staying downtown rather than commuting in. Also, if the weather's not great, what do you do? There's so much emphasis on outdoor activities but what's the alternative? Are Austin's indoor activities commensurate with their outdoor ones? I'm genuinely curious. I don't get the impression that there's a plethora of world-class museums.
For us, Austin suffered from great expectations. Everyone raves so highly about it that we were expecting something more. We like Austin just fine but we're not sure what all the fuss is about.
