Thursday March 17, 2011

Our last day in Austin! We set our alarm for 7:30 am, the first alarm this trip. We went to the Blue Dahlia for breakfast; it's French and an a transition neighborhood. It was nice enough to eat outside, where I saw a sign next door: Austin-acious!

Off to a hardware store to buy some stuff to fix Anna's sewing machine cabinet. It was broken by her now-former roommate's cat. We left around 3 pm for the airport, where we had a 39 minute flight to Houston. It took longer to check in and sit at the gate. Another 3 hour layover in Houston; since we were flying Continental, we were able to sit in the President's Club. We went out to Einstein Bagel's for dinner - delicious! Anna has one near her apartment.

We were upgraded to First Class (Continental does that for me since United merged). It was Matt's first time - I didn't realize! We were given a cold plate dinner to go with the cold air on the floor, free DirecTV and movies; but, since Matt was flying on drugs, no free liquor for him. Katie said we should have just asked for it to bring home. We landed around midnight. Since it was St. Patrick's Day, we didn't expect Katie to pick us up so we splurged on a taxi.

I leave you with a plaque of Texas.

Wednesday March 16, 2011

The last day of our trip to move Anna here, we had breakfast at Magnolia. I planned to do this same this trip, but we moved it up a day. I should have remembered the huge pancakes we had here last time, and ordered a smaller meal. I decided on a salad; you've probably seen those described as "field greens" but these are more like a "field of greens". It was huge. Matt had a huge sandwich. Anna had a huge pile of fajita filling, but, oddly, only two tortillas. We enjoyed some chips/salsa before our meal, too.

We went to South Congress to shop, and see Matt model the cowboy boots he bought here last time.

We also sat and listened to some actual South By music, and I took a picture of one of the birds that you hear CONSTANTLY in this city.

We took Matt to the TXDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) gift shop so he could get a picture to show off at work.

We saw the building Anna works in, and visited the yarn trees on the UT campus. What a job that must have been - first to knit all of those covers and then to put them on the trees!

Photo op at the COOP:

Since we didn't cook steaks at Anna's, we had appetizers on her balcony, deciding to eat dinner later.

Tonight is trivia night at Mr. Tramps. We picked up a couple of Anna's friends, and met more there. Some were on our team and some were on another. We managed to come in at a respectable 14 out of 17 (at least we weren't last). Matt knows a lot of trivia but not the kind of stuff they were asking!
On the way back to the hotel, we realized we forgot about dinner and decided to go to McDonald's. This was after we dropped Anna off, as we know here aversion to chains. I missed the on ramp and we got lost. Lost = longer drive = cold fries. We stayed up until 12:30, the latest night so far!
We are learning to mis-pronounce street names here: Burnet = burn it and Manor = mane-ore.

Tuesday March 15, 2011

We are trying to visit as many of Anna's favorite restaurants, which she can't drive to or can't afford or just wants to share with us. This morning, we visited Kerbey Lane and ordered what are billed as 1/2 pancakes. So, two should make a whole but two make a giant feast. We enjoyed strawberry and pumpin pancakes.

Time to pick up the U-Haul and move Anna to her new apartment -- two blocks away from the duplex. There is no elevator but she's only on the 2nd floor. Anna wondered why new apartments can't be like the old ones, so she can put stuff away faster, I imagine. She also said that one day we'll see her as she normally lives, not just packing and unpacking. Not counting our trip to look for an apartment, this is our second trip to Austin and both times we've been moving her.

Off to shop for a couch: at places called Room Service, Goodwill, Savers and Top Drawer Thrift. The last one had a couch for $50 Anna had already seen, but it was too big for her living room. A new blue loveseat had just come in, hadn't been priced, but sold to Anna for the same cost. Back to the apartment with her new piece, with time to drop off the rental by 6:30 pm!

We picked up BBQ at Ruby's for a picnic at the Bat Bridge. There were lots of bugs in the air, which might explain why the bats came out earlier than last time. We didn't see the chihuahua (you might remember if you are loyal follower of my Austin blogs). I caught a bit of their flight on video:

And a picture:

We got in the car and Matt said (from the back seat), "This isn't going to work". He was trying to put his t-shirt back on with the seatbelt buckled!

We took a drive toward the Capitol building. During the day, it looks putty in color, but at night it's gray. Matt said it was the light bulbs.

We took Anna to our hotel to watch TV, then back to her new place.

Monday March 14, 2011

On the way to Anna's, I had to stop to get a picture of the rooster outside a restaurant. We never actually ate there; I just liked the rooster. The sign said "Locals eat here!". Anna says if you have to say that on a sign, chances are it isn't true.

Anna was able to pick up her new keys around 9 AM. We visited her new apartment and moved a few items in. She is looking forward to having a place of her own.

We started to San Antonio, our Alamo trip, about noon, stopping at Wing World in San Marcos for lunch. Anna and I walked over to the Hobby Lobby to look for yarn. We didn't buy any as our planned project calls for rug yarn.

The Alamo is downtown and we found a $5 parking lot. Anna put the money in the wrong slot, which already contained a car, so we paid twice. Compared to Seattle parking, $10 is still a bargain. There was a huge line to go inside the church so we visited the Long House.

It was a very hot day so we didn't dawdle in the Long House but did spend $90 worth of time in the souvenier shop (air conditioned). We also spent $3 each on sno cones. Matt used Anna's library mug at that point. You check the mug out, use it somewhere, and post the picture.

While enjoying our sno cones, a family got up on the monument to have a picture taken, but the ranger came right over and asked them to get down.

We continued our day in San Antionio by taking the River Walk. We were told in the Hobby Lobby that it is dyed green for St. Patrick's Day. The walk is very long and there are boats that can be taken. We spotted some rather weird looking roots along the side; we probably would not have seen those if we took the boat. There are shops and restaurants above the river, but we decided to explore away from those.

After the walk, we decided to find somewhere to have a drink off the main drive. We walked a couple of blocks and saw the sign, "Drink", which we took as an invitation. Unfortunately, it only sells drinks. Our server told us to visit Zinc around the corner for food. Great recommendation! We shared hummus, margherita pizza, and a salad.

On the way back to the car, we noticed this shop, with the stock apparently trying to escape. We could not buy a cowboy hat, though, at the Stetson shop as it was closed.

We left San Antonio about 7:15 pm, stopping again in San Marcos at Target. We can't get enough apartment shopping! We picked up a BBQ for Anna, thinking about steaks tomorrow! That didn't actually occur since Anna had a lot to unpack. (Later note: we found out after our trip that BBQ's are illegal in Austin so she can't fire one up, anyway.)

On the drive down, I noticed enclosed bleachers. I thought that it must get very hot if you have to enclose bleachers to watch a football game. Matt suggested it was a dog or horse racing track.

Back in Austin, we visited the Toy Joy, just for fun, and the CVS, for matches.

Sunday March 13, 2011

Before we flew here, we all agreed we would not use alarm clocks. This is our vacation and Anna's break, after all. We woke up around 8:30 am; breakfast is available until 9:30 so we got ready. Matt decided to go with me, although he thought the clock said 10:15. I forgot about the time change! Luckily, the breakfast was still out so we carried cereal, juice, muffins, coffee and juice back to the room. Anna texted that she's up while we were getting ready.



We returned (well, Matt's first time) to Juan in a Million for breakfast. I had delicious choriozo and eggs, and Anna's eggs contained tortilla chips. Since this trip also involves Anna moving, we went to Target, then Ikea in Round Rock. Anna has lots stored in Seattle, but didn't bring much with her to Austin. After shopping, we returned to the hotel to change for the evening.

Off to Phil's Ice House for burger sliders (I didn't notice it was the home of the foot-long corn dog or I might have changed my order) and next door to Amy's for ice cream. I was finally able to take a picture with something that's bigger than I am.

She has very nice pink lipstick, if you look close; not me, the cow! Our plans for the evening included a fashion show put on by BurdaStyle. It was free but Matt declined. He did agree to drive us, though, as this is the week of the South by Southwest Music Festival, an annual event that draws 4000 people. Sixth Street was so crowded - it was a slow drive and a crowded walk. The show was billed to start at 9 pm, and we decided to get there an hour early in case there was a line. There wasn't, so we walked up and down Sixth, having to step out into the street twice since the sidewalks were so crowded. We went into the Dorset Hotel to sit and drink and watch people (as though there weren't enough of those outside). Back to the Venue 222 for the fashion show but we could not get seats. We went upstairs and stood by a balcony railing. It was made of metal so it was cool and very refreshing after the heat outside. The fashion show began, and was very enjoyable, for the 10 minutes it lasted.

We called Matt to pick us up. He had spent his time on South Congress, walking around, listening to music, enjoying a Mango ice and a beer. We dropped Anna off at her duplex, noticing her roommate's light was on, although she is out of town. Matt bravely checked out the duplex, pronouncing it safe, and blaming the light on the cat feeder. While downtown, I was surprised to note the number of pedi-cabs and horse-drawn carriages for rent. I don't know why I thought only Seattle had those.

The South by Southwest Music Festival is known by "the locals" as South By. I think of it as SXSW. I saw a newspaper article after I returned home about a band going from Seattle. Apparently, you can buy a pass to go into a bar or club or concert, so there were plenty of lanyard-wearing fans around. Wherever there is a space (inside or out), there's music. Also in town this week: a Wireless Convention (I don't know why they couldn't do that from home) and a rodeo. We heard so many languages!

Saturday March 12, 2011

We are going to Austin to visit Anna, who is on Spring Break! We woke up at 5 AM to catch the 7:21 flight to Denver. When you use flight miles, sometimes you don't get to choose the time you leave. Katie kindly got up early to drive us to the airport. Matt started the trip a bit peeved, as he thought we would fly through San Francisco, a shorter flight from Seattle. He is anxious about flying and prefers the shorter ones. He actually went to the doctor to get air-sickness and anti-anxiety pills, which came with the advice to not take them together. I told him I didn't care if he slept on the plane; as long as I didn't have to carry him off and, if there is free food, I get his. We had about 1/2 hour in the Red Carpet Club (time to take two anti-anxiety pills). The flight, which took 2 hours 8 minutes, provided us with TV shows to watch and snack boxes to buy; no sleep for either of us. Three hour layover in Denver (see note about using flight miles)! We visited the Red Carpet Club again, mainly for the free food. They were just swapping out breakfast for lunch snacks so we had both.

Off we went to Heidi's Brooklyn Deli for lunch. Anna introduced it to Katie and me on our past trip. It's a bit hard to find; closer to the gates the smaller planes use. The sandwiches are great and HUGE! This trip, even 1/2 sandwich was too big to eat. Nothing to do with the food we ate in the Club, I wager.


The plane to Austin is small - 2 x 2 seat arrangement. It seems like we spent the same time in the air but there was no food and no entertainment. So, we slept. We landed early in Austin, so had to wait for another plane to leave our gate. I kept the secret from Matt that Anna was meeting us at baggage claim! She surprised him just as he was reaching for our suitcase.


We dropped our stuff off at the hotel (Marriott points!) and went to the Eastside Cafe for a great dinner, including cherry cobbler. Apparently, I was the only one eating at the time this picture was taken, as the salad and rolls are by me. Note where the beers are.