Austin, Tx

Josh and I took some time between Christmas and New Years to visit Austin, Tx. We are so thankful to my parents for watching Bowie so we could travel just the two of us. The time together was relaxing and restorative. You can see above that we left Minneapolis in the midst of a polar vortex or a snow bomb or whatever it's called. The bad news is that Austin wasn't much warmer but 45 seemed pretty warm in comparison.

The first thing we did when we arrived was to walk to Vera Cruz for tacos and aqua fresca. Austin has the BEST food trucks and also has a lot of them. We anticipated a lot of eating and drinking on this trip but were surprised to find all the super healthy options available to us. Instead of alcohol we drank a lot of coffee, kombucha and fresh juice. And also alcohol. I have a thing for beverages and Austin did not disappoint. Also Topo Chico is superior to La Croix and anything in a glass bottle has a place in my heart.

I didn't get any photos of our airbnb but it had an adorable backyard oasis with a hot tub and a pool. You can look at it here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/16881707 and you should definitely stay there if you want an amazing host and this back yard. We went in the hot tub as much as possible. We were walking distance from all of the amazing food on Cesar Chavez and from Rainy Street, which is a portion of the city where all the homes had been gutted and turned into bars and restaurants. It was so fun to walk down a city block and know that we could go inside each house for a different surprise.

We loved breakfast (and salty dog kombucha) from Cenote, which was walking distance from our airbnb.

We also loved the Japanese/Texan fusion at Ramen Tatsu-ya. Brisket ramen. Um yes. Topo Chico whisky high ball. Yes and yes. Chili cheese takoyaki. Definitely.

Were were able to hit up graffiti hill on a warm day- which was truly so cool and fun. It's open to anybody who wants to graffiti and there were a ton of people making new additions. The place was littered with bottles of spray paint and color and music blasting. It was so fun. From there we also walked to Book People and I got about a million new book suggestions and bought "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" by Neil Gaiman and it's outrageously good.

We ended up on gross South Congress, which everybody suggested but I do not suggest. It was very touristy and expensive and felt a little like a hipper Wisconsin Dells. Torcy's Tacos were gross and we got locked out of our bank account so it felt a little sad.

We rebounded by renting bikes and visiting Barton Springs, a year round gorgeous cold spring/swimming pool in Zilker Park. I wish it has been warm enough to swim (although plenty of people were swimming). We still dipped our toes.

We also had the opportunity to see a show at Electric Church. I'm so happy my husband salmons me to the best local music at the best venues whenever we travel. The bands were fun and the venue was even better. During the shows they have a dude creating live visuals on the screen behind the band of found film clips and oil and paint mixtures. Very trippy and a great addition. I mainly enjoyed talking to people around the bonfire out back. Everybody was really nice and welcoming and I just love Austin.

So I definitely didn't take the best photos of this vacay but in sum Austin is a fantastic city. We managed to make a lot of friends (a.k.a. every mystical person or parent of young children within 10 feet of wherever we were). Austin is growing so rapidly that I worry it won't have the same local charm in a couple of years as it gets too expensive and expansive. I was struck that we didn't see a single chain store while we were there. Every business is small and independent and cool and I hope that never changes. I'd love to go back again when it's hot and we can see more music but for now I think we did everything we wanted AND managed to take naps and hot tubs. We missed Bowie a lot and were glad to get back to him and I'm really excited to begin planning our next travels to include him.