Laura's Austin Trip Report
Feb 16th, 2009, 01:04 PM
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Laura's Austin Trip Report
Thanks to so many of you, we had a wonderful time in Austin this past week (despite a few rather uncooperative weather days)! I want to post a trip report before time gets away from me...and due to problems in past, am going to put it all in one post, so apologies in advance for length!
We arrived SUN. EVENING, settled into our vrbo in Travis Heights (151746 on vrbo, a very lovely place with only a few minor complaints), took a quick ride up SoCo and into town just to drive around a little and get our bearings, and then came back to "our neighborhood" to have a late dinner at Magnolia Cafe, which we very much enjoyed, and shop for breakfast items, etc. at a nearby HEB.
MONDAY it was pouring rain in the morning, so we just hung out...by early afternoon it was just clouds and very light drizzle so we headed out to Whole Foods for lunch and gawking, Waterloo Records, Book People, and just wandering the area a little. Thoroughly enjoyed all! Evening found us at Momo's where we enjoyed 2 bands and even stayed for a few songs of a third. Went down to Katz's for a very late dinner, never had a knish with gravy before, it was good!
TUESDAY was cloudy and very windy and they were threatening bad storms all day, so we made it an indoor day once again. We had lunch at the Eastside Cafe and toured the large garden afterward (turned out it didn't storm til evening) from which they get the lettuce, herbs, etc. that they use. Oh, and must mention the buttermilk chess pie with strawberries there was one of the best desserts we've ever had! Then we went to the LBJ museum, actually meant to go to the Bob Bullock State History museum but found ourselves at LBJ and it was already 3:30, so just decided it was meant to be, and didn't regret it. Once out we just wandered around the UT campus, as we enjoy seeing different campuses. By then the nasty cold I'd picked up on the plane ride was being really annoying and dh had eaten a large sour apple on an empty stomach that wasn't feeling so good either, so we just called it a day.
WEDNESDAY we woke to sunshine and warmth, yay!! Had breakfast at a place near us called Bouldin Creek, we found our food to be ok, not great. Then headed for our day trip to San Antonio,where we stopped at the town of Gruene for a bit on the way down, explored the Alamo, and enjoyed the River Walk. We stayed long enough to see the River Walk just past dark, but headed back up to Austin for barbeque at IronWorks (dh was not going to go one more day without bbq!). Boy was that good! Then we went to the Continental in "our" neightborhood to hear some good music. Embarrassing to admit, but since the music was starting an hour later than we'd thought, we wandered down the road a little and managed to fit in an Amy's Ice Cream too. Actually we weren't that impressed, maybe after many years with the dairy cows of New England, and now of Lancaster County, PA, we're just way spoiled...or maybe we just had no business eating ice cream after barbeque and were just too full to appreciate!
THURSDAY the weather was still good, so we enjoyed breakfast on the lovely back patio of the place we were staying at and took a nice outdoor hot tub soak there as well. Then my young second cousin and her new husband, who moved to Austin a year ago, took us to Mt. Bonnell, the 360 Bridge, and the Oasis for drink, dinner, and gorgeous sunset. When we left there, we wandered on E. 6th St.; it was early enough still not to be too crazy (and it wasn't a weekend) and we just wanted to get a feel of what it was like. We went into the Driskill Hotel to see the lobby, lovely splendor, and walking back to where the live pianist was playing there felt a bit like walking back in time.
OK, maybe I'll do a part II after all, as this is already so long...
We arrived SUN. EVENING, settled into our vrbo in Travis Heights (151746 on vrbo, a very lovely place with only a few minor complaints), took a quick ride up SoCo and into town just to drive around a little and get our bearings, and then came back to "our neighborhood" to have a late dinner at Magnolia Cafe, which we very much enjoyed, and shop for breakfast items, etc. at a nearby HEB.
MONDAY it was pouring rain in the morning, so we just hung out...by early afternoon it was just clouds and very light drizzle so we headed out to Whole Foods for lunch and gawking, Waterloo Records, Book People, and just wandering the area a little. Thoroughly enjoyed all! Evening found us at Momo's where we enjoyed 2 bands and even stayed for a few songs of a third. Went down to Katz's for a very late dinner, never had a knish with gravy before, it was good!
TUESDAY was cloudy and very windy and they were threatening bad storms all day, so we made it an indoor day once again. We had lunch at the Eastside Cafe and toured the large garden afterward (turned out it didn't storm til evening) from which they get the lettuce, herbs, etc. that they use. Oh, and must mention the buttermilk chess pie with strawberries there was one of the best desserts we've ever had! Then we went to the LBJ museum, actually meant to go to the Bob Bullock State History museum but found ourselves at LBJ and it was already 3:30, so just decided it was meant to be, and didn't regret it. Once out we just wandered around the UT campus, as we enjoy seeing different campuses. By then the nasty cold I'd picked up on the plane ride was being really annoying and dh had eaten a large sour apple on an empty stomach that wasn't feeling so good either, so we just called it a day.
WEDNESDAY we woke to sunshine and warmth, yay!! Had breakfast at a place near us called Bouldin Creek, we found our food to be ok, not great. Then headed for our day trip to San Antonio,where we stopped at the town of Gruene for a bit on the way down, explored the Alamo, and enjoyed the River Walk. We stayed long enough to see the River Walk just past dark, but headed back up to Austin for barbeque at IronWorks (dh was not going to go one more day without bbq!). Boy was that good! Then we went to the Continental in "our" neightborhood to hear some good music. Embarrassing to admit, but since the music was starting an hour later than we'd thought, we wandered down the road a little and managed to fit in an Amy's Ice Cream too. Actually we weren't that impressed, maybe after many years with the dairy cows of New England, and now of Lancaster County, PA, we're just way spoiled...or maybe we just had no business eating ice cream after barbeque and were just too full to appreciate!
THURSDAY the weather was still good, so we enjoyed breakfast on the lovely back patio of the place we were staying at and took a nice outdoor hot tub soak there as well. Then my young second cousin and her new husband, who moved to Austin a year ago, took us to Mt. Bonnell, the 360 Bridge, and the Oasis for drink, dinner, and gorgeous sunset. When we left there, we wandered on E. 6th St.; it was early enough still not to be too crazy (and it wasn't a weekend) and we just wanted to get a feel of what it was like. We went into the Driskill Hotel to see the lobby, lovely splendor, and walking back to where the live pianist was playing there felt a bit like walking back in time.
OK, maybe I'll do a part II after all, as this is already so long...
Feb 16th, 2009, 02:02 PM
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FRIDAY, third day of good weather! And finally my cold felt better...ahhh. We seem to get going late on vacations no matter what the weather, tho', so the day started with us walking over to SoCo for brunch at noon back at Magnolia (we'd planned to go to Habanero's but neither of us was in the mood for Mexican food that day, oh well, next trip!). We then just browsed the places on SoCo, shared a cupcake infused with whipped cream at Hey Cupcake, walked over to 1st St. and browsed places along there as well. My favorite spot was probably a wonderful plant place called Happiness, where I couldn't buy a plant to bring all the way back to Philly, but did buy a bracelet made by a local artist. And the owners there were very friendly and made a couple recommendations we used the next night...
In the evening we heard Alejandro Escovedo at the Cactus Cafe, who imho seems to be a generous spirit in addition to being very musically talented, who cares about his connection with his audience. Who knows, maybe locals know some other side of him, but I always enjoy hearing him.
We thought we'd have time to get some food while in line but that didn't work out, so after the concert we stopped at Home Slice pizza at midnight - we are pizza snobs who love certain pizza in New Haven and Bridgeport CT as well as NYC, and those slices were better than we've found in the Philly area anywhere. Who would've thunk! And must say, all this eating our dinners late, late at night helped us feel we were truly away and on vacation, as we are early eaters at home. It's fun to do things differently sometimes!
SATURDAY it was rather cold and cloudy again, but no actual rainfall, so we stuck to our plan of some outdoor activities. We stopped at a trailer, I think it was calle Izzo's? for a taco lunch, and then headed to Zilker Park - what beautiful botanical and oriental gardens, even off season! We went over and took a look at Barton Springs, too, very impressive. We needed to do a quick Waterloo stop again to pick up a couple cd's of some locals we'd heard on the radio during the trip, and then we went back to the Continental again to hear Red Volkaert play (one of the performers recommended to us by one of the folks at Happiness - and a good recommendation!). Turned out we heard some live music coming from Jo's Coffee too, so when we came out from hearing Red we crossed the street; alas, the music just ended, but we enjoyed some hot coffee on what was still a fairly cool day, and dh found an inexpensive owl necklace from a crafter just by.
Back to our place for a brief rest, and then went out to Artz for barbeque...we thought it was very good, and were disappointed to hear it might be closing. We heard a few songs there that we enjoyed, but this time were on a timeline, as I really wanted to get to the Broken Spoke in time for a dance lesson, and knew if we beginners missed anything at the beginning we might truly live to regret it, lol! So we headed over there, what a blast! Would not have missed that classic Texas dance hall experience (Dale Watson was the performer that night) for anything, even dh agreed, and he dances for the most part only to please me. And, small world, we sat with a couple where the woman was born in Allentown PA (not far from Philly where I was born and raised and now live again), and grew up in West Hartford, CT, where I'd lived for nine years (and in that area for 27). But she is now an Austinite, as was her partner, and it made for fun talking all the way around...
Unfortunately, after that it was time to go back and pack to go back to the airport the next morning...
A couple other overall observations...Austin was much more spacious and spread out than we'd imagined, AND we were very impressed that no matter where we went, be it a supermarket, odds and ends shop, restaurant, whatever...the taste in music was always good! I realize that is extremely subjective, and I do have a pretty open mind about music, but I have never felt that way anywhere else I've been!
We did feel we were really just getting to know Austin toward the end of the trip...so we will certainly have to return someday, to take advantage of that feeling of comfort.
If anyone made it all the way to the end of this trip report, thanks again to all those who answered my questions in planning (we of course didn't make it everywhere folks suggested, but that's just reason to return someday), and I hope this helps someone else somehow, in their planning.
In the evening we heard Alejandro Escovedo at the Cactus Cafe, who imho seems to be a generous spirit in addition to being very musically talented, who cares about his connection with his audience. Who knows, maybe locals know some other side of him, but I always enjoy hearing him.
We thought we'd have time to get some food while in line but that didn't work out, so after the concert we stopped at Home Slice pizza at midnight - we are pizza snobs who love certain pizza in New Haven and Bridgeport CT as well as NYC, and those slices were better than we've found in the Philly area anywhere. Who would've thunk! And must say, all this eating our dinners late, late at night helped us feel we were truly away and on vacation, as we are early eaters at home. It's fun to do things differently sometimes!
SATURDAY it was rather cold and cloudy again, but no actual rainfall, so we stuck to our plan of some outdoor activities. We stopped at a trailer, I think it was calle Izzo's? for a taco lunch, and then headed to Zilker Park - what beautiful botanical and oriental gardens, even off season! We went over and took a look at Barton Springs, too, very impressive. We needed to do a quick Waterloo stop again to pick up a couple cd's of some locals we'd heard on the radio during the trip, and then we went back to the Continental again to hear Red Volkaert play (one of the performers recommended to us by one of the folks at Happiness - and a good recommendation!). Turned out we heard some live music coming from Jo's Coffee too, so when we came out from hearing Red we crossed the street; alas, the music just ended, but we enjoyed some hot coffee on what was still a fairly cool day, and dh found an inexpensive owl necklace from a crafter just by.
Back to our place for a brief rest, and then went out to Artz for barbeque...we thought it was very good, and were disappointed to hear it might be closing. We heard a few songs there that we enjoyed, but this time were on a timeline, as I really wanted to get to the Broken Spoke in time for a dance lesson, and knew if we beginners missed anything at the beginning we might truly live to regret it, lol! So we headed over there, what a blast! Would not have missed that classic Texas dance hall experience (Dale Watson was the performer that night) for anything, even dh agreed, and he dances for the most part only to please me. And, small world, we sat with a couple where the woman was born in Allentown PA (not far from Philly where I was born and raised and now live again), and grew up in West Hartford, CT, where I'd lived for nine years (and in that area for 27). But she is now an Austinite, as was her partner, and it made for fun talking all the way around...
Unfortunately, after that it was time to go back and pack to go back to the airport the next morning...
A couple other overall observations...Austin was much more spacious and spread out than we'd imagined, AND we were very impressed that no matter where we went, be it a supermarket, odds and ends shop, restaurant, whatever...the taste in music was always good! I realize that is extremely subjective, and I do have a pretty open mind about music, but I have never felt that way anywhere else I've been!
We did feel we were really just getting to know Austin toward the end of the trip...so we will certainly have to return someday, to take advantage of that feeling of comfort.
If anyone made it all the way to the end of this trip report, thanks again to all those who answered my questions in planning (we of course didn't make it everywhere folks suggested, but that's just reason to return someday), and I hope this helps someone else somehow, in their planning.
Feb 18th, 2009, 04:57 AM
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Enjoyed your report- you did get a pretty good taste of Austin. Magnolia Cafe is a fave with us. Never a bad meal, and its realllly interesting at about 2 AM...We are planning to go to Home Slice this weekend. LOVE that place.
I think you described Alejandro very well. What a treat to see him! You know, he was very, very ill with Hep C years ago, and has made quite a recovery. Many thought he wouldn't pull through. I think his wonderful attitude is because of that brush.Dale Watson is always good too. Glad you got a taste of the AUstin music scene. SoCo is a wonderul place to set up base in Austin. Hope you come back soon.
I think you described Alejandro very well. What a treat to see him! You know, he was very, very ill with Hep C years ago, and has made quite a recovery. Many thought he wouldn't pull through. I think his wonderful attitude is because of that brush.Dale Watson is always good too. Glad you got a taste of the AUstin music scene. SoCo is a wonderul place to set up base in Austin. Hope you come back soon.
Feb 19th, 2009, 04:25 PM
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I'm so glad a number of you read and enjoyed the trip report! And thank you for taking the time to tell me, since as I was writing I was wondering if it was worth it...my last trip report didn't get much response. And I think I did one some years ago on a trip to Rome, on a different site, that got no response at all. My faith in fellow travelers, and Fodors, is restored 
Feb 20th, 2009, 06:46 AM
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Your report was great and I think even more people would have responded had the forum format not been changed. Laura, you should email your thread to Katie and have it tagged as a Trip Report. It'll be a great resource to future Austin travelers.
Feb 20th, 2009, 07:34 PM
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Thanks, Laurie for sharing your trip details. Some day I am going with Hershey to SXSW so we will have to bookmark this.
I saw Alejandro twice last year in Philly. He's a great performer and he did seem to care if everyone was having a good time.
I saw Alejandro twice last year in Philly. He's a great performer and he did seem to care if everyone was having a good time.
Feb 22nd, 2009, 07:43 AM
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Suki, Philly is where I too have seen Alejandro the last few times before Austin, as I live in Media. Do you go to World Cafe Live, Tin Angel, etc.? (I'd email you this separately but I haven't figured out if with Fodor's there's a way to do that)
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