So if you haven't heard, we made it back home safe and sound. We got in late on Friday and had a wonderful sleep in our own bed. Hannah's getting back to her 18 hour sleep regiment along with actually eating twice a day.
The rest of the trip was so very fun -
After staying the night at a cheap but very nice Super 8 in Fredricksburg, Tx we headed toward Austin in the morning. We had 80 miles of hill country to get through before Austin, but spotted an eclectic coffee shop on the highway in Johnson City. Turns out Johnson City is the birthplace of our 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson (They changed the town name after he became president). We got tasty lattes/coffees and perused the random iron art that I greatly coveted - sadly we had no room in the car for any such garden mascots.
Bu alas, we drove around the tiny town of Johnson City and spotted the Pecan Street Brewery. It was close enough to lunch time that a stop to taste some beers and down a sammy seemed just about right. Their beers were absolutely fantastic and hit the spot with ever so clever names...(Catcher in the Wheat was my favorite), Their location was right next to an ancient looking jail house, which the bartender informed us had been in use up until this past summer!!! Holy crap!
We slogged through to Austin finally where our first stop was Franklin BBQ- a joint that started off in a food truck, but recently moved into a brick-and-mortar storefront. Anthony helped us scope it out via yelp since we are only equipped with dumb phones and boy are we glad he found it! We waited in a super long line but were rewarded with an amazing sandwich called the Tipsy Texan - chopped beef brisket, slices of sausage, pickles, onion, and coleslaw - SO GOOD. The place was started about two or three years ago and totally rocks Texas BBQ. They open for lunch only from 11-"when they sell out". In fact, someone went through the line to see what we would be ordering to make sure they had enough food for those salivating in line. After us there were about 10 additional lucky diners who got in line right before they put up the "Sold Out" sign on the door - whew! The guy who owns it (Aaron Franklin) also cuts the meat - he asks you what you want, slices it right in front of you, chats you up (he's quite nice) and passes the plate along to his wife who rings you up. Also, I was surprised how young they were...not your typical BBQ joint owners...So very adorable and delicious!
After the BBQ feast we toured the capitol building - purported to be the biggest in US and, as they do it Texas, it was pretty big. We saw the House of Representatives and Senate chambers which was kinda cool (p.s. I think this means Dan and I are of a certain age when we find Capitol Buildings cool). Afterwards we went climbing at South Austin Rock Gym. It was pretty large and had a fun cave that just never ended. Also there was a group of kids doing a "rock climbing camp" of sorts - they totally kicked butt!! It was amazing to see them flash problems that I could never complete. They had so much energy and were so flexible and had no fear!! It was pretty hilarious to see how crazy good they were at their age, only to know that if they kept at it they would be pros before turning 18.
After working an appetite, we headed to downtown Austin to check out 6th street, which is littered with bars featuring live music. After a margarita (Texas and Tequilas go hand in hand) and a crab cake appetizer at the Iron Cactus we decided it wasn't quite our scene (but at least the IC has a rooftop bar and it was in the 70s) and headed to SoCo - which is short for South Congress, a neighborhood south of downtown/Lady Bird Lake. It happened to be First Thursday when the art galleries and most shops stay open late with live music and the community just stays out to have fun. That was super cool to see - food trucks open late serving all sorts of goodies, Dan and I went to Fat Cactus which served up navajo tacos. Which is like a regular taco, only served on Indian fry bread. They fried the dough to order, then topped it with the special of the day - braised pork with simmered greens and black eyed pea salsa - SO GOOD!! We also had a few drinks at hopdoddy - amazing Sangrita and Double Fina Margaritas!! And then called it a night at La Quinta Inn.
The next morning we stopped at the Magnolia Cafe for a late breakfast/early lunch before making the 700+ mile trip home - it was super tasty, Dan got portabello mushroom fajitas and I got the Sonoran Tacos. The Cafe is featured in Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives but we didn't taste any of the items featured because we didn't see the clip until just now!
All in all, a wonderful trip filled with fun, amazing sights, tasty food and drinks, and some great memories caught on camera...
Here are some pics!
xo, time to get back to it tomorrow, it was a lovely vacation while it lasted!!
No comments:
Post a Comment