Michelle's Travel Adventures

Austin

There really isn’t anything quite like starting a trip absolutely exhausted. Well, Stephen was exhausted, I was a little less exhausted but we were definitely not super chipper that’s for sure. Stephen had meetings in Toronto the week leading up to our trip to Austin. He landed home on Thursday night around midnight, then on Friday after work we hosted his family at our home to celebrate his mom’s 86th birthday. After everyone left and we’d cleaned up from the party we had a speed packing session and then hit the hay…for a few hours because we had the 5:30AM flight out of Charlottetown to Toronto in the morning. God I hate that early flight time sooooo much!

Austin Day 1 (Saturday May 27)

The flight from Toronto to Austin was fun, since this was a work trip for Stephen the flight was probably half Richardson employees from his company. We arrived at the W Hotel and enjoyed a nice complimentary Prosecco while we checked in. We quickly learned that we were staying during US Memorial Weekend and the hotel was pretty busy (with bachelor and bachelorette parties). We decided to go for a walk around the area and grab a bite to eat. We found a restaurant around the corner from our hotel….called Corner hahaha. I had a great salad and a margarita. After lunch we could barely keep our eyes open so we decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap before dinner.

Feeling fresh after our little nap we decided to try out Terry Black’s Barbecue for dinner. We decided to walk there from our hotel, we saw the sunset as we crossed over the bridge, but we did not see the bats (not sure if I’m disappointed or relieved about that!).

When we got to Terry Black’s the line up was insane. It was out the door, through the outdoor dining area, around the side of the building, out into the back of the parking lot. But the best part of the line up was that they had bar stations set up along the way so you could order drinks while you were waiting in line. Genius!

So we finally get inside, and it’s so crazy busy, but the smell is out of this world good.  We make it up the the “Sides” area where the staff grab a paper lined tray and yell at you.  Like seriously yell “WHAT SIDES DO YOU WANT!?!?!”  I’ve never felt so much pressure because up until this point I couldn’t even see the sides menu, so we basically panic ordered .  We did not think it through at all.  We got 2 orders of Mexican rice, green beans, baked beans, and cream corn.  Then you get to the meat station and the guy (a little bit more relaxed then the sides lady) says what do you want? And we have decision paralysis, and we like uhhhhh….ribs? And he goes “How many?” so were’ like uhhhhh 4 and some brisket.  So he starts slicing off some brisket and then he says “Is that it?”  And it felt more like an accusation than a question.  Like is that all we can eat, so we asked for more ribs.  And again he goes “is that it?” And we’re like, ummmm add some more brisket too.  Lol I’ve never felt so challenged before about how much meat I can eat in one sitting!  But we’ve got our meat and sides so off we go to find a table out side and enjoy our Texas Barbecue.  I’m not kidding when I tell you the ribs were THE BEST ribs I have ever tasted.  Like I will no compare every rib to this ribs and I’m sure no other rib will ever taste as good.  Good lord!  And the green beans and sweet corn were also so delicious.  The rice, was just a basic seasoned side rice, but the beans and corn were definitely something I’d get again and again.  We had so much fun that we actually shut the place down.  Literally. They shut off all the lights and basically said you guys gotta go. Hahaha

We had back to our hotel and go the the lobby bar for a drink. This bar was ODD. It was completely lit up in red lights, the people there were a mix bag of people ranging form older, very drunk people, to young club crowd. It was weird. So we had our Margarita and headed up to bed.

Austin Day 2 (Sunday May 28)

We started our day by hitting the gym.  The W Hotel Austin has an incredible fitness facility.  They had 3 Peloton bikes, so I finally got to try one and instantly fell in love with it!  (But sad face because they don’t ship to Canada).  After our work out we went directly to the outdoor pool, which was lovely because we were the only people there, so Stephen ran down to Starbucks side the hotel to get us a coffee and egg bites while we enjoyed the peace and quiet (and heat!!!) of the morning.  But by 11 am they pool was ramping up the party vibes, blasting music so loud we could no longer even talk to each other (hahaha yes we’re old!) so we went up to shower and then out to explore South Congress

South Congress Avenue is a pretty long section of interesting shops, cool bars and eateries, with lots of funky art murals to line up and get your picture in front of. But you guys it was seriously HOT!!! Like I was dripping in sweat after 10 minutes of being outside. I really just had to embrace the sweat (easier said then done cause I HATE being hot and sweaty). It was impossible for me to even attempt a cute pic in front of the murals. After 2 mural attempts we decided no more poses for the day

For lunch we got a local recomendation to try Aba Restaurant, which ended up being one of my favourite places in the city. It’s a beautiful, Mediterranean style restaurant and the food was really delicious. It’s a must visit if you are in Austin. We started with cocktails (it was for medicinal purposes! We had to cool down!) Stephen ordered the Mediterranean Mule which had a herb infused vodka, almond, Galliano, ginger and lime. My cocktail was Rhubarb Rose G&T, which had Hendrick’s flora adore gin, rhubarb, honey lime and tonic. Both were yummy!

We ordered to share: the hummus with spicy lamb ragu (so unbelievably delicious!), Greek salad, and lamb and beef kofta kebabs.  The hummus won the show, but everything was really good.  We left feeling very happy and with full bellies.

We continued down South Congress, catching live bands performing street side and at out door venues which was a pretty cool experience.

We checked out the famous Allens Boots store, a long running western wear store that sells every kind of cowboy boot imaginable as well as hats and belts.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the flagship Yeti store, which had a licensed bar serving cocktails on the veranda.  Lots of cool things to check out and I ended up getting an Austin logo Yet.

Tonight was a cocktail social at the hotel.  The theme of the conference was Keep Austin Weird so lots of fun and unusual outfits tonight

Austin Day 3 (Monday May 29)

Stephen officially started his first day of the conference so Kelly and I decided to go SHOPPING!!! We walked South Congress again, stopping at Reformation where I got a cute denim maxi skirt, and we continued bobbing in and out of stores along the avenue until lunch time. We decided to go to Aba again, and it was just as good as the first time lol We continued to shop until we had to call it a day and ubered back to the hotel to get ready for the evening events

That evening we had the Canadian Tuxedo Event outside the city at Star Hill Ranch. It’s located in the Texas Hill Country and it’s a reconstructed re-creation of a Texas Hill Country community typical of the 1900’s. It’s basically like a Texas version to our Avonlea Village in Cavendish. We had another Texan Barbecue (not nearly as good as Terry Black’s) and then headed back to the hotel for the night.

Austin Day 4 (Tuesday May 30)

Kelly and I did some more shopping this morning. We decided we both wanted to get a pair of cowboy boots so we went directly to Tecovas. It’s a really cute boot shop. I must have tried at least a dozen different pairs. I went in thinking I wanted a mid high black pair but ended up purchasing high cream coloured boots. It was a fun shopping experience. The heat was unreal and it was still mid morning so we decided to take our boots and head back to the hotel and relax by the pool. The pool was quiet, all the party goers from Memorial Day weekend had all checked out so it was very chill. However the pool looked like swamp water and was badly needing a good dose of chemicals so we opted not to go in the water but had our lunch and a refreshing margarita pool side.

Tonight we had a steak dinner at III Forks And then walked to 6th Street (6th street is the bar district and it is crazy!) to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar, where we had lots of fun, lots of singing and dancing as well as lots of drinking lol. A big night and a big finish to our time in Austin.

Austin Day 5 (Wednesday May 31)

I woke up probably still drunk from the night before. Downed some electrolytes and we went for a quick walk along the river before heading to the airport. It was a long full day of travel, made even better by being hungover and breaking in my new cowboy boots because they didn’t fit in my luggage! Cheers Austin!