Keep Austin Weird

Greetings from Austin.

A four day weekend well spent with friends in the Capital of Texas eating all the food, drinking all the drinks, all while celebrating an engagement and the big 2-5. 

This was my first trip to Austin, so (of course) I created a list pages long full of restaurants, cafes, food trucks, street art, with a few other things to see and do sprinkled in. We hit thirty different spots, many of which were on my list and several we added along the way. Walking around and discovering places undocumented by Instagram, Pinterest, or Yelp are the moments that speak to the unique qualities of a city. Be a wanderer. It's the best way to travel.

With endless neighborhoods to explore, in the city and out, Austin gives the best of both worlds. Hang in the city or go take a dip in the Hamilton Pools. While I would love to go back and explore more of what Austin has to offer outside the city limits, we kept our budget low and filled our time checking out different areas downtown via Uber and Lyft. We booked an Airbnb in Clarksville, a portion of Austin where the houses tell tales of old money and the streets are quiet. While our Airbnb experience was not the best, we were only a short drive from the center of downtown and getting around was a breeze. If you are not keen on ride services, renting a car is a must, as Austin is not the most walkable city.

We made sure to hit one of the main attractions, South Congress, where little shops and a plethora of restaurants line the touristy street. Besides spending much of our time in SoCo eating and drinking, we wandered off Congress to find the 'Greetings from Austin' mural and got a peak into a diverse and changing neighborhood with a healthy mix of old and new architecture.

Day three brought us tacos and doughnuts, food truck style, and some (more) adult beverages on Rainey Street. While hopping from bar to bar, it became clear that in order to be a successful bar in Austin, you must have something that sets you apart from the crowd. Whether it's seesaws and rocking horses or a beer garden along the creek, the bar scene was, as the cool kids say, on point. 

We spent our last day sitting under the trees at Radio Beer and Coffee eating (more) food truck tacos and sipping on ice cold Mexican Cola. Making a pit stop at Live Oak Brewery before boarding our plane, we wrapped up our trip with a relaxing day enjoying the beautiful summer weather before we were forced to head back to the frozen tundra that is Wisconsin.

And then it was back to reality and a much needed break for our livers.


My favorite stops and shops:

Food:

1. Torchy's Tacos

2. 24 Diner

3. Bangers

4. Café No Sé

5. Homeslice

Local brews/watering holes:

1. Blue Owl Brewing

2. Handlebar

3. Guero's Tacos Bar -- live music

4. Lucille

5. Easy Tiger 

Trucks:

1. Juice Austin

2. Gourdoughs

3. Radio Coffee & Beer -- Paperboy and Veracruz food trucks

4. Hey Cupcake

5. Mellizoz

Shopping:

1. Gypsy Wagon

2. Esby

3. Sunroom 

4. Goorin Bros

5. Blackmail

Neighborhoods:

1. South Congress

2. Rainey Street

3. Dirty Sixth

4. Downtown

5. Clarksville