Keep Austin Stellar

I broke the cardinal rule of everything, and I went to Austin, TX with the highest of hopes. Thankfully, I was far from disappointed. Granted, I thought the hipsters would be a little more abundant, but as we are currently living in a time where being unconventional is conventional, I didn't really notice any more than any other city. What Austin lacks in overt hipsterdom, it makes up for in true to the core culture. Every restaurant, every store, every area is its own entity, not to be confused with the guy next door.

WHERE I STAYED: Omni Hotel by Southpark. The hotel was nice enough, but it wasn't where I would have chosen to stay if work wasn't paying for it. It was clean, the pool was amazing, and the pillows were the stuff of legend. I was about 10 minutes from downtown and South Congress, but next time, I want to stay at either Austin Motel or the Hotel San Jose

WHAT I DID: As this was my first time in this mystical city, my list of what I wanted to do was vast, and I only grazed the surface. The first thing I did after landing was trek to Mount Bonnell, which offers a fresh view of the city, as well as the Lake Austin part of the Colorado River. 

I had drinks with my friend AJ at Spider House one night. 

We also decided to go play mini golf at Peter Pan Mini Golf, which also happens to be BYOB. To me, it was the epitome of the spirit of Austin: unconventional, non-judgmental, and just plain bizarre. Of course, I packed a cooler with local brews and we putted our way through the first 18 holes, (which only cost us $6, by the way). I will conquer the remaining holes on my next trip. And if you were wondering who won, we all did, because we forgot to keep score.

            

Though I did not get to experience 6th Street, I did manage to explore South Congress by night and by day. I bought random pictures of strangers from Uncommon Objects, (which may just be the most interesting store I've ever been in), and browsed all of the other shops on both sides of the streets.

 

We also went to Rainey Street, which is a thing I am going to need Memphis to copy. I've seen a similar street in Phoenix, and it's just the coolest concept: It's all of these houses they've converted into bars, complete with awesome porches. If you don't know my thoughts on porch/patio drinking, let me tell you a thing: IT'S MY FAVORITE. After hitting up the food truck haven, we popped into Craft Pride, where they only sell local beers. And from what I could tell, they were all draft as well. Color me in love. I had a Cedar Creek Dankosaurus. Yes, it's a local, dino-themed IPA on draft that contains the word dank. I'd consider moving to Texas just for the beer.

I also managed to do something boring and historical and visited the Texas Capitol. What? It's so gorgeous and so large and so Texas.

WHAT I ATE: I had the pleasure of experiencing Trudy's the first night, which also happened to be top shelf Tuesday, so that was a win-win. The next night we had the intention of going to Hopdoddy's, but the line was around the building, so we made the mistake of going to the super pretentious and only some-what filling Perla's. For dessert after our lack-luster dinner, we made the excellent call of going to Amy's Ice Creams. I tried the Mexican Vanilla, but ended up getting the Dark Chocolate. Both are good choices. Thursday night I had a gyro from a food truck on Rainey Street. It was scrumptious, as is all Greek food from a truck. I ended my trip with two slices from Home Slice Pizza and half of a chocolate covered S'more from Big Top Candy Shop. I honestly didn't have enough meals to experience the food explosion of Austin, but when I return, I plan on tasting Hopdoddy's and this grilled cheese truck I saw on South Congress.

TRIP THEME: Unconventional IS Conventional

TRIP SONG: "Weigh of Love"--Black Keys

FAVORITE MOMENT: Walking down Rainey Street Thursday night. Nothing of significance happened, but it was the first moment I really felt like I was experiencing Austin.

WHAT I DRANK: Ceder Creek Dankosaurus; Austin Beerworks' Fire Eagle, Black Thunder and Pearl-Snap; and Thirsty Planet's Thirsty Goat and Buckethead IPA.

So, despite its aura of coolness, Austin does have its flaws. It's approximately the temperature of Satan's armpits, the traffic is just completely ignorant, and there is no professional basketball team there. If it weren't for these small issues, I could really see myself in this city, but alas I will have to settle for visiting. Often.

That's it, but I'll be back in Texas after a weekend at home. See you in a few, Dallas.

Wander On,
Melanie