The only time I'd ever been to Austin was way back in my track days at Ole Miss when we competed at the Texas Relays. I can't really remember much from my stay 10 years ago, and since Clark had never been, we planned a short getaway to Austin with the Chad Tobler family.
This is Buc-ee's. The massive convenience store/gas station on the way to Austin. Chad calls it the Wal-Mart of convenience stores. This is no lie. Whatever you need, you'll probably find it at Buc-ee's. But not at Wal-Mart low prices. Just sayin'. They were not giving away those cake balls I kept eying.
The beaver statue got a lot of love.
A welcome sign.... at the entrance to the bathrooms, which were huge I suppose in large part to accommodate the large Texan population here and also because it's Texas so THE BIGGER THE BETTER.
Janet and the girls getting a little grocery shopping done at Buc-ee's. We all left with drinks, as well as some other items that we didn't know we had to have until we entered.
In-N-Out stop #1 in Austin. Thank goodness a few cities in Texas have this chain. Ahhhh, it's always a delicious reunion.
I had booked hotel rooms on priceline, and the Springhill Suites was definitely a winner! Benicio, as a true Texan wearing cowboy boots, was able to get some work done at the hotel room office desk. A little George W in the making?
The best part about the hotel was the buffet breakfast, complete with a Texas-shaped waffle maker!
After breakfast we headed down town to walk along the Colorado river.
Paddle boarders and kayakers were out in abundance, taking advantage of the great weather.
Lucia was rocking the Florida cheer-leading outfit.
Was Clark already thinking, "I'm underwhelmed with Austin," by this point? Just kidding....kind of. If you want to hear our overall thoughts on the city, we'd love to share them with you. We're not hating on Austin, but we're definitely more neutral that we thought we'd be.
Shortly after our very brief walk along the Colorado, we met up with my college roommate from Ole Miss who now live in Austin. We met at the Botanical gardens and walked around there for a bit. A childhood friend of hers was also visiting her, so don't mind pictures in which strangers appear.
Violet got nervous on these stepping stones, so Uncle Clark assisted her along the path.
Then Uncle Clark kept Benicio safe and from falling on rocks/into water.
We ate lunch at a hip little food truck stop.
The truck where Clark got his lunch...
Then after lunch we checked out the Barton Springs pool, a natural spring that remains a chilly 68-70 degrees all year long. It's so neat that this spring is right in the city, but it would be even better if the water was like 10 degrees warmer.
No, we did not go swimming.
Chad and Janet left after the kids burned off some energy at a park near the Barton Springs, so Clark and I took the opportunity to tour the Capitol and the University of Texas campus, and watch the bats that come out at night under the Congress Street Bridge.
Here Clark is testing a public water fountain on the Capitol grounds. Apparently back in the day there used to be metal communal cups attached by a chain to the fountain. So gross. Glad that's been done away with!
Fun Texas themed murals by the university.
A fountain and the university clock tower on campus.
Burnt orange longhorns everywhere.
The name of this store seems right up our ally.
After walking around we drove down the the Congress Street Bridge to watch bats emerge at dusk. I guess there's like 1.5 million bats that live under this bridge and come out every night. Pretty awesome, but it did not trump the huge fruit bats we saw flying around the botanical gardens at dusk in Sydney, Australia. Now that was a sight to behold.
And then #2 stop at In-N-Out happened. Whoops. It's just too good to resist.
We spent the second night in Austin at my old roommate Danielle's home in an Austin suburb. The next day she invited us to come along with them to a brewery out in the middle of nowhere, as well as a well known bbq joint also in the middle of nowhere.
We couldn't resist getting a picture with this cute gate at the brewery.
The Salt Lick BBQ establishment a ways outside of Austin. I defeated all urges to get a meat platter and I actually ordered a meal of side dishes--all vegetarian. I did try Clark's ribs and yes, they were delicious!
Mmmmmmmmm, so much meat!
Old roomies!
We had a great time in Austin, with Chad, Janet and the kids, and with Danielle and her family/friends. It was so good to see Danielle; it's actually been almost 10 years. She's from California so the last time I saw her was when she came to see me run at an outdoor nationals track & field championship in Sacramento in 2005. She now has two adorable children and a hilarious husband. I'm so happy for her and that we were able to catch up! Thanks so much for letting us stay in your beautiful home and for being willing to hang out with us!
