I was sad to be away from my family and home on my favorite holiday of the year, but I couldn't bear to leave Chris in Texas all alone. So, early Thanksgiving morning (thanks for the ride Dad) I jumped a plane, non-stop to Dallas where my Airman was waiting with open arms. As if to keep things in perspective, the plane had a handful of in-uniform soldiers, en route to deploy to Afghanistan. Very sad and somber on Thanksgiving morning...I'm lucky enough to have mine domestic and safe!
The flight was easy, quick (seemed like forever though) and full. We arrived in Dallas 35 min early, even though I was sitting mid-plane I think I was the fastest to baggage claim. At the DFW airport the doors to the baggage claim are big windowed revolving doors. I got stuck in the door behind a family going a snails pace when I could SEE Chris on the other side. Torture, which he thought was funny...
After my giant bag was claimed we jumped in the car to sniff out some post-flight snacks and found a wonderful taco bar. Thanksgiving tacos! We fueled up on tacos and holiday coffee treats from Starbucks next door and hit the road to Austin.
The three hour drive to Austin just cemented the fact that Texas is a strange, backwards place. Luckily, Austin was set to prove that all wrong. Austin is a wonderful little (Tacoma sized) urban oasis. Self-proclaimed as the "music capital of the world" and home of the University of Texas (go Longhorns!) we were in for a fun weekend. After settling into our hotel (a killer steal, on the riverfront - plus an complimentary upgrade to a river view room!) we set out on foot in search of a Thanksgiving dinner. Chris was getting antsy at the thought of no T-day turkey, and the thought of no pumpkin pie was really an urgent concern of mine. Thanks to an article Kyanne sent us, we found a wonderful Thanksgiving buffet at a bar nearby. We were behind the Thanksgiving crowd, so the place was empty. We ordered up a bottle of wine, grabbed our plates and dug in. The buffet was plentiful, a room full of appetizers, every traditional turkey day dish and a table full of desserts. Heaven. The food was actually amazingly delicious. The owner of the place came over to chat with us and explained they are all family recipes, he entertained us with stories of the legendary family jello mold (Texan thing?) and his mom's killer stuffing. Upon finding out we were from out of town he offered to pack us a box of leftovers for the hotel room (we politely declined, there was plenty of eating to be done in Austin) and poured us some terrific dessert wine on the house. We wrapped the dinner up watching the University of Texas and Texas A&M football game before waddling out of there.
yum.
The next morning started with a traditional French crepe breakfast. Texans sure like to eat, and Austin knows how to do it right. There was an overwhelming number of eclectic restaurants to choose from. We certainly did not go hungry that weekend. We went out wandering again. The guy from the tourism desk said the capital and university were too far away to walk too... ha! We had some calorie burning to do from the dinner the night before so we strapped on the walking shoes and out we went! I am still in awe of how rah-rah-Texas people are around here. The Texas lonestar, flag, longhorn - whatever, is slapped on everything here. You don't see the Washington state flag adorning every overpass, sidewalk, building or truck.
A Texas walkway, why not?
We made our way up to the Capitol building. Very cool with lots of history, apparently Texas was a very volatile place for awhile. Crazy thing we learned, Texas (once the Republic of Texas) is the only state in the US with a clause in it's constitution allowing it to withdraw from the union and become an independent nation. I'm surprised they haven't pushed the red button yet...
Texas capitol building
Firefighter monument - for you Scott!
I think it's older than me...
Really cool underground plaza
Gi-normous Texas star
We figured since we were there, we should check out the University of Texas campus. We took a nice long walk through campus and stopped by the UT bookstore. We were amazed. You could get anything, and I mean ANYTHING with the longhorn logo on it. You could easily decorate an entire house in the UT Longhorn theme.
UT garden
Longhorns EVERYWHERE
We took a gander at the women's basketball trophies.
Getting into the Longhorn spirit.
Hook 'em horns!
Longhorn scoreboard - too bad the Texas rivalry game the night before was an away game.
We made the slow wander back to the hotel stopping for lunch on the way back. With intents of going back to the hotel we continued wandering and made it to the flagship Whole Foods (a stop with CB's nuts in mind) and various other shops along the way. After that it was dinner on 6th and out for some live music. Talk about people watching... Texans sure love their tight pants, cowboy boots and RHINESTONES. Wow. This bar we stopped at for live music (and the band was wonderful) was just flat out strange. There was a guy with a shoe polishing chair in the corner. Have a drink, listen to music and get your shoes polished?? Whatever...
Something else we learned on this trip is Texans are complete whimps when it comes to rain and bad weather. We woke up and grabbed a cup of coffee and headed out to catch the Austin Christmas parade. I was thrilled to see the giant balloons
Still a Washingtonian
We eventually began to freeze to death so we jumped inside the cafe that was right behind us to finish watching the parade - and indulge in the this traditional English brekkie!
That afternoon (of course on the windiest day) we signed up for a bike ride around Austin. Austin is known for the colony of over one million bats that live under the Congress Street bridge. However, it was tail end of bat season, so no bats were present (go figure). We did enjoy a wonderful bike ride along the river and a beautiful sunset over the city.
Blurry, but Austin at sunset
The next day we packed up and headed North. One thing is for sure - Texan drivers are scary. But we made it. Sad to leave Austin, a surprisingly hip city in an state of dull, brown boringness.
The Corolla looked like Beastie in it's shadow!
Chris graduates on Friday - next stop - Albuquerque, New Mexico!
