Texas Three Step - Part 1: Austin

Hi friends and readers!

I am writing this post on a lovely Memorial Day Sunday, looking back on another warm trip, to Texas! I'm calling this the Texas Three Step, which is a nod to the three cities we visited while we were there.

Step One: Austin
We headed to Austin first, for a wedding.  I LOVED Austin.  It reminded me of a bigger Asheville, probably not a coincidence since Asheville models themselves off of Austin's set up.  The city is in the midst of expanding, while trying to keep its local spirit, and the evidence of that struggle was all around (and not just in the iconic "Keep Austin Weird" stickers).

Lodging: We stayed two nights with one of Scott's friends and one night in the Stephen F. Austin hotel.  The hotel was very nice, but a little out of our price range normally, particularly without free wi-fi.  That happens to be a pet peeve of mine in today's world of almost ubiquitous internet.

Food: obviously there are clear to-dos for food when you get to Texas: burgers, tex mex, and barbecue.  We tried to hit all the major food groups.  For burgers, we went to Jackalope.  It was a quirky little place, that had Back to the Future playing in the background and people taking shots at noon (Austin REALLY parties).  The burger was great though.

For Tex Mex, we tried this place a little off of the main stretch for Mexican/Pacific fusion food - Hula Hut.  Their gluten free options were not bountiful, but they knew what they were talking about at least.  Not my favorite place, but it was fine.

My favorite meal was Bangers (not the Miley Cyrus tour, thank goodness).  It was a delicious sausage place with a large beer menu and family style tables.  It was on Rainey Street, a street of old houses converted to bars and restaurants -- a bunch of those places are being bought out by apartment complexes so it was cool to visit that before the culture changed too much.

Nightlife: Austin has some great and quirky bars.  We went to Key Bar a few times, on West 6th street.  It was nice to be outside on their porch, since we had left a chilly Philly behind.  We also visited the Tiniest Bar in Texas, which seemed normal-sized to me, but I guess everything IS bigger, there.  My favorite was the container bar, literally built of shipping containers (on Rainey street).  I can imagine that this would be a little stuffy in the heat of summer but for an April evening, it was perfect.

I will post pictures and the rest of the trip soon.