Austin observations

During the middle of my 2 weeks in Dallas, I squeezed in a weekend trip to Austin with my friend Casey.  It was a really fun weekend, much needed!  It helped make my trip to Texas a good one.  Yee-haw!  :)  Here's what I saw:

• Casey and I ventured to Salt Lick, a world famous BBQ place about half an hour outside of Austin.  And it was worth the drive!  I had the sampler that included turkey, ribs, brisket, and sausage, plus sides of potato salad, coleslaw, and beans.  There was also bread and pickles on the table, and we topped it off with a cold Big Red (apparently it's a Texas soda... tasted like candy).

Hungryyyy

Smokin' some meat

Turkey + ribs + potato salad = <3

• On the way to Salt Lick, a few miles out, we drove past a sign for the Wizard Academy.  How awesome!!!  We were driving too fast to get a picture, but next time, I'm taking a detour there!  If there ever was a city in Texas to have a Wizard Academy, it would be Austin!
• We went out Friday night with a bunch of Casey's girlfriends from college (they went to UT in Austin) and had dinner at Uchiko, Paul Qui's restaurant.  He's the winner from the last season of Top Chef: Texas.  YUM!  We also hit up a handful of bars and da club and had a fun night.  My observation here?  Dudes in Austin at the bars all dress the same.  Collared shirts (polo or button-down) in some shade of blue or other pastel are required, with some sort of khaki short.  They all had Texas hair too, which is a little Bieber-ish but sometimes shaggier or preppier.

Uchiko

I tried to be in the front of this pic, since I'm always stuck in the back.  This is what happened.  If only you could see Casey, wrapped around my leg...!

Allison, Mandy, Kinski, Casey, and another Sara(h)

Instant Party Pics!!

• We saw a dead deer on the side of the road, and there were a bunch of vultures eating it.  I guess that isn't just in cartoons!  :(
• There is a quite a bar and nightlife scene.  There are tons of different areas (West 6th, East 6th, Rainey, etc.), all with a different vibe and lots of options.  Most of the places we were were pretty cute, had outdoor space, games, and tasty drinks.  Even a little humor.

Per Casey, Austin had a little rain that week.  Poor Texans.  Loved this!

• Austin seems to be super bike friendly.  We saw lots of people riding around, and even visited Lance Armstrong's bike shop Mellow Johnny's.  It was a pretty cool store, with a coffee shop (Juan Pelote's), Lance's yellow jerseys from the Tours de France he won, and his winning bikes. I picked up a souvenir water bottle for myself to use when I get my new bike.  Makes me want to hop on a bike and ride around Austin!
• There's a place called Czech Stop along the drive from Dallas to Austin.  It's like a truck stop, but with a line practically out the door.  And what are people waiting for?!  Their famous kolaches!  They're little pastries and pockets of meat that are darn tasty.  I tried lemon and cream cheese, blueberry and cream cheese, ham and cheese, and sausage (between our 2 stops at Czech Stop, there and back).  

Who knew?!

Blueberry and cream cheese kolache

• In downtown Austin, there were a few areas that had permanent swings installed, right outside of shops.  Picture walking around downtown Seattle and coming across a swing hanging outside of Niketown, with a kid swinging on it, and another one in front of Macy's.  I thought it was pretty cool!  If we hadn't been on our way to dinner to meet my friend Sean, and if there hadn't already been kids on the ones we saw, I may just have had to stop for a little swing.  :)
• You know how in Washington and on the west coast we have rest stops along the freeway, and they sometimes have a refreshments area with treats for donation, bathrooms, and maybe a couple picnic tables?  In Texas, there are picnic areas along the freeways!  As in, no restrooms, just a huge area with lots of picnic tables and people stopped to eat at them.  Seemed like a good idea... I've just never seen that before!  Makes me want to pack a picnic for long drives...

Overall, Austin is one cool city.  It's definitely not very Texas (it still has tendencies, of course) and I felt very at home there.  It's more alternative than the rest of the state, with so much amazing food to try, things to do, music to listen to, snowcones to eat, and I even saw women with my haircut.  It was a miracle.  :)  I really hope to make it back to Austin for ACL again soon!!!