I know this is a bit later than I had originally intended, but sometimes work intervenes and things get put off. Oh well!
Julie and I visited Austin for my Grandmother’s 95th birthday. Although we’ve been back to Texas a few times since we moved out to NC, this was our first trip to Austin in 2 1/2 years. Austin’s a very important place for us. Not only did we meet there while in school at UT, we also lived there for 8 years and have a lot of great memories of the city. We’ve come very close to moving back several times since 2001 when we left, but it was never the right move at the right time. So, it’s always great to get back to Austin whenever we have the chance. I think it’s awesome we got to not only hang out in an amazing city, but also get to see all of my relatives and help my Grandmother celebrate her 95th.
95!! I’m amazed that I’ve been so fortunate to have her around this long. She can’t see perfectly anymore, but she can still get around and have conversations with people. I know it’s selfish, but I hope she stays around a bit longer. I lost 3 of my 4 grandparents back in 2003 so I’m very thankful that she’s still around and in such great shape & spirits.
We left North Carolina after work on Friday, 5/2 and got into Austin around 9. It was a direct flight, so that made us really happy. We got our rental car quickly and checked into the hotel as fast as we could so that we could head out to the Broken Spoke to see my cousin Lisa play with Cornell Hurd’s band.
“Broken Spoke…the last of the True Texas Dance Halls”
waiting for the food
You can’t beat Shiner and Chicken Fried Steak at a Texas Honky Tonk!
The website isn’t lying when it says “serving the best chicken fried steak in Texas”. I *had* to order this masterpiece of food goodness. I’m seriously salivating looking at that picture! It was delicious, esp. with the Shiner Bock and good Texas country music. The band was great and Lisa (drummer, for those of you who don’t know) rocked the house as always. I’d never heard Cornell Hurd before so that was a treat. There were a lot of couples, old and young, out on the dance floor doing their thing. We had a blast.
After the show and food we headed “home” to our hotel on I-35 across the highway from downtown.
view out of the hotel room facing downtown.
Saturday was a fun day. We started off by hitting the Hike and Bike Trail around Town Lake Lady Bird Lake (name change!). It was a perfect morning and it’s always great to walk around the “lake” and see all of the people and dogs and the great scenery.
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s statue along the Hike & Bike Trail
After showering it was about time for lunch so we first headed to Shady Grove for lunch. I should have known that it would be packed. I mean, I expected a wait, but not an hour and a half! Doesn’t surprise me, though. The food and atmosphere is great there. So, us being starving like we were, we headed to another Austin famous eatery, Hula Hut on Lake Austin.
Nice outside view overlooking Lake Austin. The margaritas & food were excellent! After Hula Hut we drove around West Austin for a while, just exploring and seeing where the road would take us.
view of downtown crossing Lamar on 15th
cool castle-house we saw while driving around
While driving around I finally got a hold of my great friend and old drummer, Wiley. We agreed to meet at Double Dave’s with his wife and kids. On our way there Julie and I stopped at the Univiersity Co-op to buy some Longhorn merch (because you can never have too much).
Freakish Bevo they built in the old Co-op parking lot. I love it!
It was great to hang out with Wiley, Lynne, Holland & Drake for a little while, before the kids got too restless and needed to get home. After leaving Double Dave’s, we had the evening to do whatever we felt like doing so we decided to drive out to Mount Bonnell (overlooks the Colorado River & Austin) and catch the sunset.
After the kick ass sunset we slowly made our way back to the hotel (still full from the late lunch) after stopping at Central Market for snacks and drinks.
Sunday morning we once again trekked over to Lady Bird Lake for some morning exercise. I certainly didn’t go there enough when I lived in Austin. I’d go there every day now if I could. While hanging at the Bat-watching area (too early in the day to see them fly out, unfortunately), we watched a pro-pot rally march up Congress Avenue. There was no upcoming voting so I guess they were marching just because they felt like it. We cheered them on while they past us and crossed the river.
After that adventure we drove out to Dripping Springs to my Grandmother’s to see everyone and spend the rest of the day out there. Everyone else was already there so we just hung out for a while at Granny’s before we headed to the DS Senior Citizen’s Center for her party. There were so many members of my family who I hadn’t seen in a while and some who I hadn’t seen since I was 5 or 6 years old (and somehow still remember). It was really great talking with everyone and, as usual, watching Julie provoke our nephew Kyle into doing more mischievous stuff.
After the party was over a lot of our group (Mom & Brother) had to head back to Dallas so Julie and I got to spend the rest of the evening with Granny, Aunt Sandy & Lisa all by ourselves. I’ve really missed them all and except for the night Lisa’s band played in Raleigh last year, I hadn’t seen any of them in 2 1/2 years. It was really, really great to see them all again. That’s one thing I miss about living in Austin, getting to see my family all the time.
Before getting ready for bed Julie and I were looking through old pictures (always fun) and we came across a bunch of my Uncle Bob’s WWII papers and things. REALLY COOL. I didn’t realize that Granny had that stuff there. Certainly a great piece of history.
Monday morning we said goodbye to Granny and drove out to the airport to fly back home. It wasn’t as long as we’d like to stay there, but I’m happy we got to see everyone for as long as we did. I guess it just means we’ll have to plan another Austin trip as soon as possible.
Write a comment