I think we took a wrong turn somewhere because the map said we were in Texas, but Austin didn’t feel like any place in Texas we’d been to before. The locals seem to take the city’s motto of “Keep Austin Weird” seriously and we were happy to stress test our livers alongside them at the many local brewhouses. There is some great architecture downtown and the neighborhoods we saw all had a lot of character – they were unique in that they felt safe but had an interesting mix of both sketchy and upscale in the same place. Of the places we’ve visited, Austin is second only to Nashville in quantity of giant holes in the ground with construction cranes near them, waiting for high-rise buildings to rise out of the ground.
There appear to be significant infrastructure challenges due to the rapid growth of the city, particularly in relation to the roadways. A local friend suggested that the unfinished high flyovers that stop abruptly with no sign of ongoing construction were designed by drunk Texas A&M engineering students. It appears many roadways are being converted to highways, which means almost all the roads have both right and left exit signs for the same road. This is wonderful way to elevate your heart rate as you first arrive in the city and have no idea which sign to obey, especially when driving a 42 foot long RV dragging a 16 foot long Jeep behind it.
We didn’t realize it while driving in (and engaging in some domestic discord about whether or not to exit left RIGHT NOW), but Austin has a scourge even worse than any ill-designed off ramp: the long-tail grackle. Imagine if you will, the parking lot of the local grocery store as sundown approaches. Hundreds upon hundreds of birds descend upon the parking lot. The beasts perch ten at a time on top of cars (and use them as their personal toilets while they’re there), stand in the road refusing to yield to shopping cart or pedestrians, and scream sounds that mimic car alarms. Make no mistake, these are not birds, they are an organized crime gang. They are Austin’s unofficial mascot, albeit ones that will try to grab food straight out of your hand.
That being said, you can’t really blame the grackles for trying to get a snack. Austin is an incredible city for foodies. The Rainey Street and South Congress neighborhoods are filled with great bars, restaurants, and food trucks (although the lollipop wings on Rainey Street didn’t match our memories of the tantalizing poultry pops at the long since closed First in NYC). Our first encounter in the trendy SoCo neighborhood was waiting to pickup food at Tatsuya and expecting the young diners waiting for their tables to lecture me on perceived wardrobe crimes. We got to see lots of old RVs converted to food trucks at the many food truck gardens throughout the city.
Sadly, it was too late in the year to view the world’s largest urban population of Mexican Free-Tailed bats. We definitely want to return to Austin in the spring or summer the 1.5 million bats taking off at dusk from the Congress Street Bridge. To paraphrase the Terminator – we’ll be bat!
What We Did:
Trail of lights – A walk through tour of Christmas light displays.
Self guided mural tour – Like Cincinnati, the city curates every corner to be a perfect backdrop for your Instagram feed.
Elvis Costello And Friends at Austin City Limits – A benefit concert for the Musician Treatment Foundation, a healthcare foundation for musicians. The “And Friends” included Roseanne Cash and his high school bandmate, but all of his guests were incredibly talented. The acoustics at the legendary ACL Live were amazing and there truly are no bad seats. The upper balcony might, however, cause some anxiety for attendees who suffer from a fear of heights (or, as I like to call it, “a healthy sense of self-preservation”.)
Wine tasting in the Texas Hill Country – The region is particularly known for Tempranillo and Mourverde, which we partook of at Bell Springs, Hawk’s Shadow, and Duchman Family Winery.
Lady Bird Park to see the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue.
Where We Stayed:
Austonia RV Resort – A newer park that plans to offer luxury accommodations once completed. The sites were awesome, although there are currently no amenities (not even bathrooms). There’s no dog park but they did designate a groomed area where dogs could play off-leash. Biggest downside was lack of water pressure.
What We Ate:
Salt Lick BBQ – This giant supper spot gathers great ratings from both locals and tourists but it was a disappointment to us. Maybe we caught it on an off day but smokey gobs of fat wasn’t as appealing without much meat to supplement it.
Loro – The site of our second launch-iversary celebration.
Sweet Memes – A unique Asian dessert spot with high tech ordering and decor that begs to join your Instagram feed.
Fresh Donuts
First Chinese BBQ
Tommy Want Wingy
Hopdoddy Burger Bar
Bananarchy
DipDipDip Tatsu-ya
Garbo’s Lobster
Wham Bam Bagels
Austin Kolache & Koffee
Salvation Pizza
Lustre Pearl
Güero’s Taco Bar – who also taught us the difference between Mexican food and Tex Mex is the color of the cheese.
La Patisserie
Espadas de Brazil
Salt & Time
Vespaio Restaurant
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse – because celebrating Thanksgiving at a steakhouse is a long standing tradition.
Ramen Tatsu-Ya TSO South Congress
Cru Wine Bar