I hopped off the plane in ATX with my dreams and my cardigan...
If you remember from last year, Mike and I took the most spontaneous trip I'd ever done to Las Vegas in December since we had some extra leave time at work to burn. It seems that end-of-year trips work out well for us, personally and work-wise, so we looked for another city to travel to this year. Austin was appealing for a short weekend trip since it had direct flights from DC on Southwest, and it wouldn't be too chilly there in December. We arrived Friday afternoon and left Monday morning, so just a weekend trip.
I was actually born in Austin, and grew up in a suburb of it until we moved to Maryland when I was 7. The thing I remember most about Texas were the flowers: bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes. Each year there the elementary school hosted a bluebonnet stomp where we planted bluebonnet seeds into the ground and then "stomped" on the dirt to pack them in. We had a sea of bluebonnets that spring!
Here's a look at a few of the attractions and restaurants we spent time at in ATX! Where should we go next year?
Where to Stay?
We picked a bright and airy studio apartment from Airbnb located in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood of South Austin. South Austin has a more cozy, quiet, and authentic feel to it than downtown Austin, so we thought this was perfect the perfect location for for waking up, getting breakfast, and getting before dinner drinks on South Congress Street (SoCo). Downtown bars were a short Uber ride away.
Austin Eats
Austin is known for it's Tex-Mex and BBQ. We focused heavily on the Tex-Mex portion of this, but slid some BBQ in there for lunch on Saturday.
We grabbed tacos for dinner all three nights - no judgement! Guero's Taco Bar was a cantina style restaurant in SoCo, that came recommended by lots of locals. They also had live music in the courtyard which we spent most of the night at. We also ate at Torchy's Tacos in SoCo. Torchy's was my favorite since you could mix and match tacos, but more on the fast-food side. Downtown, we ate at Lavaca St Bar which had more of a sports bar atmosphere.
We ate BBQ for lunch at Hoover's Cooking, which was near UT Austin where we spent Saturday morning. It was good, but if we had another day, we may have rented a car and done a day trip to The Salt Lick in Texas Hill Country, since almost everyone we talked to in Austin recommended it!
To fill in the gaps, we had appetizers and margaritas at South Congress Cafe, ate brunch at Magnolia Cafe, got coffee at Seventh Flag Coffee, and sweets at VooDoo Doughnut. And no vacation is complete without ice cream to top it off - we got ours from a late night food truck called Manolis Ice Cream. There are a ton of little food truck lots off of South Congress Ave and South 1st Street that looked great!
Austin Night Life
We spent Saturday night downtown on what locals call Dirty Sixth. It's one of Austin's most iconic streets and the meat and bones of the "Live Music Capital of the World." We stopped by several bars, whichever had the best music coming out of it, although you can't go wrong. I think we ended up stopping by The Dizzy Rooster, Maggie Maes, and The Bat Bar.
Finding hidden bars and speakeasies was one of the most alluring parts of nightlife in Austin. I did a bit of research before the trip, and found a few to seek out, but I won't spoil their names here, so you can do your own research! We stopped by a cocktail bar hidden under a parking garage so I could try their famous Indian Paintbrush cocktail, named after those beautiful Texas flowers I mentioned earlier! We also found another secret bar behind a bookshelf in a hostel. Don't judge a bookshelf by its cover!
Rainey Street is a lively neighborhood where bungalows have been converted into bars. We stopped in Bar Ilegal, The Drafting Room, Javelina, and a few others I can't remember the name of on Sunday night! Each bungalow-turned-bar had its own charm.
Texas Capitol
We took a free Capitol Tour Saturday morning to learn about Texas history, legislature, and the building itself! The building is truly stunning. It's the largest state capitol, taller than the National Capitol in DC, and you can hear whispers echoing in the buildings rotunda. But best of all, the Capitol exterior is built with PINK granite! You've got to see this!
LBJ Presidential Library
After touring the Capitol, we walked through The University of Texas at Austin campus to the LBJ Presidential Library. There are over 54,000 objects donated by the President and First Lady. On the 10th Floor of the LBJ Library is a replica of the Oval Office during President Johnson's Presidency. I was especially humbled to be here since my great grandmother's brother (my great grand uncle?!) actually helped build the replica.
DIY Walking Tours
Mt. Bonnell is considered the highest point in Austin and provides sweeping views of Austin and the Colorado River below. On Sunday, we took an Uber to the base of Covert Park and then climbed to the top. It was only about 100 stair steps to the top, so not a sweat-inducing activity.
We also walked along Lady Bird Lake, a section of the Colorado River reservoir named after LBJ's First Lady. We started at Congress Avenue Bridge, which is where Austin's bat population calls home. Unfortunately, we were too late in the year to see the bats, but we still got beautiful views of the lake and skyline. We saw the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue and then walked east towards Zilker Park and saw the Barton Springs Pool, where you can swim in natural springs.
Murals & Window Shopping
I loved the murals in Austin - they reminded me of the murals in Nashville, which I went to earlier this year on a girls' trip. My favorite was the "You're My Butter Half" mural, which we walked to after visiting the LBJ Presidential Library. The rest pictured here are in SoCo where our Airbnb was located.
There's also some great window shopping in SoCo, including Allens Boots, where you could try on cowboy boots and hats. Mike and I had a blast picking out hats and walking up and down the boot aisles. All of the shops on South Congress were charming or quirky, so definitely pop into a few on your afternoon walks. I ended up buying a few gifts at Parts and Labour and some jewelry at Mi Casa. Of course, there are some chain stores that are fun to browse as well, like Kendra Scott and TOMS. Check out this cool website that lets you see the SoCo shops and restaurants.
Comments