Austin Overnight

Last weekend, we headed up to Austin to enjoy a quick overnight trip in my former home-away-from-home. I was excited to take H around my former stomping grounds and show him all the wonderful things of our nearby, neighbor city.



We started off with lunch at the Austin institution, Stubbs BBQ. They are in downtown Austin & are famous for their live music, as is the Austin tradition. They have a stage indoors, and a giant concert area outside. There were already people waiting to get into that evening's concert, but we just enjoyed the yummy BBQ.



Our next stop was actually at the LBJ Library, but that will get it's own post. After spending a few hours indoors & after the car ride, I was ready for some fresh air. I took H to one of my favorite tourist stops, Mt. Bonnell. It's right in town & offers great views all around town.



I've been up to this area several times and seen some weddings. Although this tourist look-out is fenced, most of the area is accessible cliff that makes a perfect spot for a picnic.



You can see downtown, although much better when wildfires in the area don't cover the entire hill-country with a thick haze. I was AMAZED at all the new condos and buildings going up downtown. I was in Austin during the dot-com bust, when many buildings and luxury projects had been abandoned.



Mt. Bonnell over looks Lake Austin, the middle of the 3 lakes in the area that are formed by the Colorado River. Town Lake, recently rename Lake Lady Bird, is the most central downtown with great jogging trails and no motor boats. Lake Travis is the largest lake with lots of weekend boaters and fancy homes.



We found a quiet spot to sit and enjoy the view, although H was very worried about me climbing in a skirt and flip-flops. Being very clumsy, I make him very nervous around cliffs!



There are some amazing houses both on the waterfront and in the hills high above the lake. It's easy to kill a few hours sitting there enjoying the weather and daydreaming.



All that "hiking" made us thirsty and we had to stop into another Austin establishment, Baby A's!



They are famous for their purple (everclear) margaritas, and there is a 2 drink *limit*! I had one, but H was sorry that he went for 2! :)



I really wanted to go on a sunset cruise on Town Lake and show H the bats, but they were all sold out. Instead, we grabbed dinner at a neat restaurant in the warehouse district and then headed out on the town for some fun.



We watched a live band for a while at the landmark Cedar Street which had a live band in their courtyard, and then headed over to a cool little club called Speakeasy. It was popular when I was there 7 years ago, but it had changed some since then. The rooftop terrace was still a great place to enjoy a DJ and a great view of downtown Austin at night.


GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Ordered a canvas from our Cozumel trip to go over our bed!