Austin

March 29, 2018

Austin, the capital of the Lone Star State is a booming area known for its music and food scene. Except for driving through Texas and flying in and out of DFW dozens of times, Jenny and I haven’t been here (Billy of course has many times), so we chose Austin as another one of our long weekend, get-to-know-the-US, destinations. Up until the day we arrived, Austin had seen a deluge of rain, up to 5 inches in 24 hours, but the weather had moved on for our arrival. We awoke to bluebird skies, dry air with a slight chill in the air and a steady breeze-our favorite conditions. Our hotel is located on the banks of the Colorado River and Lady Bird Lake, so we walked along the foot trail and crossed the River to the downtown area to go have breakfast at a spot Billy had selected.

The food was fine, nothing to write home about but it filled our hungry that bellies that never had dinner the night before! Billy had read that one of the top bike shops in the US was located in Austin and was just a short jaunt from where we had breakfast, so after paying homage to a statue of Willie Nelson, we made our way to Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop.

Mellow Johnny’s was founded by Lance Armstrong, someone I am no fan of. ts name actually a play on the French words “maillot jaune”, meaning “yellow jersey”; and just an added bit of info the name of the adjoining coffee shop, Juan Pelota, is a play on Spanish words “one ball”. The humor of that is about the only redeeming thing I can say about him! The bike shop was cool, located in a historic warehouse building and Billy and Jenny had fun “shopping”-jenny insisting that Billy buy a jersey instead of a t-shirt. Since we had gone in a completely opposite direction of what I had thought we would do today, I went with it and changed plans. Leaving the bike shop we continued along 6th Avenue, clearly a road meant for those whose sole purpose is to drink the night away bar hopping from one establishment to its neighbor.-not exactly our cup of tea. We arrived at our next destination, Waterloo Records-the best record store in the city. They had a huge selection but most were new, and we were most interested in used. We did manage to pick up a few -Led Zepplin, Bob Marley, Flatt and Scruggs (an old bluegrass duo), a double album of Dick Clark’s classic rock n roll choices and a few other never heard of bands that Jenny bought more for the cover art than any knowledge of the actual music.

We headed out from Waterloo further north and a bit west towards our next destination-Hope Outdoor Gallery. Along the way, we walked through a lovely neighborhood of older elaborate homes on one side and arts and crafts style bungalows on the other. We all said it would be a nice neighborhood to live in if we should ever find ourselves moving to Austin.

Hope Outdoor Gallery is really nothing more now than a tiered graffiti park found on the remnant foundations of a hillside complex of some sort. At one time, it was an actual gallery of murals done by local artists but since the announcement that the walls would be torn down it was left to anybody who has the inclination and the $6.99 to buy a can of spray paint, which by the looks of things appears mandatory to leave it behind when you are done. It was an interesting photo op, and I knew one that both Jenny and Billy would appreciate with their new cameras and for Jenny especially, the Instagram worthy pics!

From the top of the hill, we caught our first glimpse of the capitol building. It looked like quite the edifice from our perch and having heard so much about it, we decided to forgo the plan to Uber back to the hotel to drop off the records which were quite cumbersome and instead walk to the capitol building. We had a nice walk and actually came across our first batch of blue bonnets-so dainty and beautiful. I can only imagine what acres and acres of these azure beauties look like.

The ochre capitol building was really quite a sight, looking something like the nation’s capitol, though actually taller, but with Goddess of Liberty at the apex. We strolled along the grounds, through the park-like setting, admiring the various monuments and statues along the way before deciding it was getting late and we were getting hungry.

A quick review of Trip Advisor and we settled on a restaurant called Eureka, less than a block from the famous Driscoll Hotel. Lunch was quite good, in an industrialized space that seems to be ever popular nowadays. Following lunch, we decided to have dessert at Voodoo Doughnuts (located two doors down). VD is the legend, the shop that pretty much started the donut craze (sort of like the Sprinkles of cupcakes) and a shop Jenny and I have been waiting to try. We entered to find a hefty line but figured we would tough it out. Billy didn’t last long before he headed out the door as the line was about as slow as slow could be and at one point I finally texted Billy and told him to head to the hotel if he wanted and we would meet him there. He assured me he was fine; he was across the street at the Chuggin Monkey having a beer listening to some band killing their version of Dolly Parton’s Jolene-too too funny!

After 25 agonizing minutes, we finally made it to the cashier and ordered four donuts-Mexican chocolate, rainbow sprinkled, Captain Crunch, and the Voodoo Daddy (a donut shaped like a voodoo doll with chocolate frosting and jelly inside with a thin pretzel stick jabbed in its gut-nice!).

The donuts were actually quite good, with the preference going to the simpler of the four we tried. We ranked them third or fourth in our highly scientific, “Best Ever Donut Survey.” After our gluttony almost got the better of us, we went to fetch Billy at the Chuggin Monkey and head to the hotel. The band was ripping when we got there and they were every bit as good as Billy had assured me in his texts.

Of course the walk back included multiple stops for shopping-a very large Patagonia store and a killer Yeti store-with its own bar, were the highlights.

Upon dropping our bags, soothing Jenny’s blistered feet and allowing Billy a nap, we had little time before dinner (yes, another meal!). I left Jenny and Billy to finish their chilaxing and went down to the terrace that overlooks Lady Bird Lake to have a glass of wine and enjoy the absolutely postcard perfect weather Austin was having. After wandering the streets for near to five miles, the time sitting and watching all the kayakers, SUPers, and paddle boaters was enjoyable.

As time was now running short for our 6:15 reservation, we grabbed an electrified six seater golf cart that was out front waiting to take us the mile and a half to the restaurant. We laugh that we haven’t been that ripped off by a taxi since our cab ride in Portugal, and we speak the language-$20 plus tip (the return ride was $7 with Uber)!

Dinner was at a restaurant called Odd Duck, and how did we come up with this place? Well, there’s a story behind it: While waiting in line to buy some water and nuts at one of the kiosks at BWI, a young girl of say 16-18 years had two items. She asked the cashier how much the bag of peanut butter M&Ms were and upon hearing the exorbitant price, she stated she didn’t have enough money and so pushed them aside and paid for the bag of nuts. The gentleman standing in line behind her and in front of me, picked them up and told the cashier he would pay for them for her. The young girl turned and looked at him with an incredulous look, clearly astonished that a total stranger would shell out $8.00 for the snacks and wide-eyed said, “Really? Wow, thank you!” After she walked away I commented to him what a very nice gesture that was, to which he remarked, ”I like helping kids out.” I replied, “It all comes back around one day.” He shook his head and then said, “Yeah, I was poor once too…” When I made my way back to Jenny I told her the story, to which she was in awe I then pointed him out, because as it turned out he was on our flight.

Our numbers for lining up on Southwest were B35 and 36-not great and usually numbers that mean seats together will be found in the very back of the plane. As we boarded and started our way down the aisle, I saw a window and middle seat open at row 15, “Sorry, I’m with my family,” the woman stated. “Uh, yeah, me too,” I thought and refrained from shouting, “That’s not the way it works!” Row 19 the same set up, this time an elderly gentleman says, “This seat is taken for my wife,” pointing towards the door and some not even present on the airplane yet person. Moving along and growing quite irritated to Row 24, a middle and aisle, “My daughter is coming-she’s in the back of the line.” Right, so unfortunately that means she’s behind us and Southwest is an open seating policy…We move on. Row 26, a few from the back, there is the gentleman from earlier, seated on the aisle with the two adjacent seats open. I call to him, acknowledging him aloud to Jenny as, “That nice man that bought the M&Ms for the girl,” and almost imploring I ask, “Are those seats open?” “Of course,” he replies. “That’s twice in one day,” I tell him. “We just got turned down for seats from three other people. It’s gonna come back to you big time!” He was born and raised in Austin, heading home to his family and so I ask him his favorite dining place, “The Odd Duck,” he says, “The menu is a bit out there, but it all works.”

So that is how we end up dining at the Odd Duck and the food? It was delicious our favorites were the jerk quail, redfish ceviche, and the wagyu beef with mushroom croquettes, and the frozen lime margaritas made with mezcal and chiles! So the kind man, I never did get his name, did right by us-twice!

Our first day in Austin was a great success. We only stayed in the downtown area but enjoyed ourselves, as always. We contemplated renting a car tomorrow to go to the hill country but we haven’t even set foot in the ultra hip SoCo neighborhood of Austin, so that’s the plan tomorrow.

March 30, 2018

Today was a very late start-we didn’t make it out the door until 10:30, even though we were all asleep by 9:00 last night. Jenny chose the breakfast spot this morning-Blenders and Bowls, the top spot in Austin to get an Açaí bowl. The bowls were delicious, topped with fresh berries, honey and hemp granola and almost as good as the ones we had for breakfast every morning when we were in LA!

Since the restaurant was on same side of the river that we were on yesterday, and not the side we were exploring today, we decided to take an uber down to the far end of Congress Street and walk back, shopping and eating to our hotel.

Congress Street was hopping by the time we started around 11:30, with people already queued up twenty deep at some of the restaurants. Congress street has a good mix of shops on it, all independent boutiques, many carrying some locally crafted items, and Jenny thought it reminded her of Melrose Ave in Los Angeles but it is nowhere as gritty. I was actually surprised how clean Austin is and how very few homeless people we have seen. Actually, everything about Austin has been surprisingly pleasant. We were all surprised at how green and lush it is. From our ninth floor windows looking out over the verdant rolling hills one could mistake it for New England somewhere. So completely different than the parched landscape of the panhandle, and the area around Dallas.

Upon exiting one of the stores we heard what sounded like a marching band and turned to see two giant bunnies marching down the sidewalk with the band following and a plethora of dogs, many decked out in costumes with coordinated owners. There was a chow dressed as Paddington bear, a bulldog as Slash from Guns N’ Roses, a golden retriever as a lion, a Fench bulldog as Superman and the best of all was the cart with a pair of chihuahuas dressed as WWF wrestlers and their matching owner, oh and miniature horses in costume as well-too funny!

We had planned on having lunch at one of the many food trucks but none of the ones we saw jumped out at us. Then we saw Guero’s Tacos which had been recommended to us but the wait was upwards of half an hour so we settled for lunch at the Standard Cafe (turned out to be more a brunch menu) but was very good nonetheless.

Jenny had read about a donut place that she thought we should go try after lunch so we headed that way. We really enjoyed the walk through this neighborhood west of Congress. The homes were a mixture of arts and crafts bungalows, Victorian, modern, and a few homes that looked like perhaps the same people were still living in them that lived there 50 years ago-a true gem of an area!

The donut place was an old airstream that has been parked in a lot, next to a taco trailer (why didn’t we know about this before?), set up with picnic tables and umbrellas, with lights hanging above-so cute and so Austin. The donut menu was extensive, about 20 to chose from, and all were made to order. So I don’t think I can accurately explain how absolutely sinfully decadent these donuts were, unlike any we have ever had, and they easily knocked Voodoo out of contention for top three and may almost be the best ever-they were that off the charts! I am not even too sure of the ones we ordered but man oh man…heaven on earth!

Of course, we were now stuffed (I was feeling very grateful that I had had a cabbage salad for lunch), but we managed to continue our now slow, waddle back to the hotel.

We stopped at Allen’s boots, one of the most famous booteries in Austin. I just love the smell of leather and wow, was the inventory impressive, as Jenny said, “It certainly blows Allred’s away.”

A few more stops and before we knew it we were back at the hotel. Everyone was ready to take some time off our feet, in some AC, and I had been wrangling with a pounding headache following breakfast, that nothing I took seemed to ease the pain of.

We had been in Texas and had yet to eat Tex-Mex or BBQ, so after some discussion we decided it had to be BBQ for dinner. Franklins has been suggested but they don’t do dinner, so we relied on Trip Advisor to help us out. Black’s BBQ was about half mile away, good solid reviews but didn’t take reservations so figuring we could beat the crowds we headed out but with an initial stop at the Yeti Bar.

Our plan was a good one, but we weren’t the only ones thinking that. When we arrived there was already a queue but since we were there we sent Jenny to grab us a table and we grabbed two beers and waited in line. The restaurant serves cafeteria style, and while the process is a bit slow, it works.

While waiting in line, a younger guy asked Billy if he fishes (I guess the Patagonia fish baseball cap and fly fishing shirt was a bit obvious). One thing led to another and Billy finds out the guy is from Baltimore and of course the inevitable question of where he went to school came up, with the obvious answer of…Gilman. So of course the next logical question to follow was,”Who was your fourth grade teacher?” And while this guy had only attended Gilman for high school, when Billy told him he was Bill Merrick’s son, his response was, “Mr. Merrick is a legend.” I swear we can’t go anywhere without running into someone from Gilman. So much so that when we got to the table finally I said to Jenny, “Guess what just happened?” and her response,”You met someone from Gilman!”

We enjoyed the walk back along the river stopping to pay homage, this time, to Stevie Ray Vaughn. There was a music festival going on riverside so we danced down the trail on our way to our final stop-the Congress Street Bridge.

The Congress Street Bridge is home to one of the world’s great natural spectacles occurring every dusk from March thru October-1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats leaving their roost for the evening. We, and a thousand or so other people, watched in awe as these little guys took flight for the night. After about fifteen minutes we called it quits, even though they were still emerging. It is really quite a sight, akin to the swallows returning to their roost on Great Island in the CT River. There is nothing like nature to put on an incredible show!