Austin

Austin, TX

As I’m writing this, I am in the JFK airport waiting for my flight to London (although I won’t be posting it until I get the internet and pictures will come later). The last 5 days have been awesome and I really enjoyed Austin and am sad to leave with so many things left to do.

Saturday

Saturday got off to an early start. Our amazing friend Valerie picked me and Hillary up at 6:30am to take us to the airport. We got there in plenty of time and met up with Christy. The flights were quick and by 12:30, we were in Austin. Unfortunately for me, my phone was not. Somehow between Dallas and Austin I lost my phone. Luckily, I don’t have one of the fancy smartphones so it is not as big of a loss, but I won’t be able to deal with it until I get back at the end of the month.

After getting our rental car, we found the hotel (Embassy Suites Downtown/Town Lake). It was awesome and one of the best hotel experience’s I’ve had. The hotel had a free cook-to-order breakfast with omelettes, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, oatmeal etc. It also had a free happy hour each evening (yes, free food & alcoholic drinks). The staff was super friendly, especially the bus boy for the morning breakfast who got to know each of us as we came down separately (different morning schedules), giving us suggestions on things to do or asking about my bike ride, and finally putting the three of us together our last day. We had some random requests for the front desk & they made our life much easier. It was awesome getting all that for the employee rate, but I would definitely stay there in the future even if I had to pay full price.

After checking out the hotel, we went exploring and got some lunch at Halcyon, described by Frommer (my new bff) as having an ex-hippie vibe. After that we walked to the State Capital, and then I went to the bike shop to pick up my bike.

Once I got my bike and found out that store was going to be cancelled Sunday for Easter, I called Mellow Johnny’s (Lance Armstrong’s bike shop) to see if the ride I had planned on doing was still happening. It wasn’t. I then called another location for the bike shop I was renting from & asked if their ride was still happening despite the store being closed. It was 5pm and then guy’s response to my question was “whoooooa, I never even thought about that. That’s a good question. I’ve never had to deal with our Sunday ride conflicting with easter before” and then he proceeded to tell me it was doubtful.

So basically what that left me with was a rented bike but no group to ride with. I debated the rest of the evening if I should try to do a ride on my own and tried to figure out a backup plan.

Meanwhile, after enjoying the hotel’s complimentary happy hour (yes, free food & alcoholic drinks), we headed out for the evening, attempted to see a bunch of bats wake up & flee the bridge next to the hotel, and ended up at Chuggy Monkey’s which had live music & ESPN. We had fun chatting with some Australian’s on a tour of Europe and then called it an early night.

Sunday

I had a ton of trouble sleeping Saturday night because I kept trying to decide to ride or not. The final decision came after re-reading the initial e-mail I had received regarding the rides from the bike shops. The roadie (Daniel) had not only given me a link to a map of the stores ride, but he gave me turn by turn directions. After realizing it was really 4 turns, I decided to head out on my own. I was SO GLAD that I did. I went a bit north of downtown & was greeted with some AMAZING views. The route was super hilly, but the hills were long without being too steep. I didn’t have any issue getting up them & I saw about 50 other cyclists along the way so I never felt alone. I love that with the experience of bike and build behind me, I was able to explore a new area on my own & didn’t let fear hold me back. Don’t worry – I grabbed Christy’s phone so I could call them if I had any issues.

The rest of Sunday was spent exploring UT Austin & getting some awesome ice cream at Amy’s – a coldstone like shop with family appeal & cool tricks. We went to Oasis for dinner (out near where I biked) for some drinks & an amazing view of the sunset and then made it an early night.

Monday

Monday I woke up early (a continuing theme on my trip as I could never sleep until my alarm), and went for a run around Town Lake which was right next to the hotel. It was great seeing the early morning sun against the Austin skyline & I really enjoyed the run. My legs were killing me from all the biking/walking/running though.

After the run, we headed to San Antonio to see the Alamo & river walk. While I will always remember the Alamo, I wasn’t too impressed with San Antonio. I was happy to head back to Austin.

That night, we hit up Antone’s, a blue’s joint that is supposed to be the epitome of the Austin music scene. I have to say, I was completely in my happy place and this, plus the bike ride, was the highlight of my trip. It was open-mic night & it was basically a giant jam session. I actually really enjoy blues music & it was great seeing people so obviously passionate about it. I could have stayed there all night. You can tell a place is all about the music when it has been in business for years & only has folding chairs.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning I woke up early (again) & checked out Lance Armstrong’s bike shop/coffee joint. I really liked the vibe of the place, although the coffee was overpriced (shocking, I know). Then Christy & I attempted a hike while Hillary hit up the outlet’s. We got lost going to and on the hike but still enjoyed nature. Then we hit up Barton Springs, a natural pool that is constantly 67 degrees. Hillary and Christy didn’t bring their swimsuits & decided to walk around instead, but I swam for about 10 minutes, and then dipped my sore ankles in the pool while reading.

Tuesday night we hit up Rudy’s, a bbq joint in a gas station, for some Texas bbq. I can’t say I loved the food but we really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a great way to end our trip. Rather than heading out again due to the early wake up, we got blue-bell ice cream and wine for our room.

Overall Thoughts

Overall, I am sad to leave Austin. I feel like there is so much more to explore there and I definitely want to go back. I can’t say I loved the surrounding area (I hated the drive to San Antonio because it was just ugly & busy), but I definitely got a taste of the athletic & music scenes I have always heard such great things about. Honestly, I’d love to go back for a week & just bike/run/hike in various combinations each day. There were also several other music places we wanted to try.

I realized this trip that my ideal vacation is an active one. I loved getting up early & doing something active. I didn’t go on a bike ride because I felt I HAD to for training, I went because I wanted to and it’s my favorite way to explore a new place. Plus, the active parts of my day allowed me to enjoy the eating/drinking parts even more. The next vacation I plan will be full of adventure and I can’t wait to see what it is.

For now, my next non-vacation adventure will be working in London. Let’s hope I can fit in some biking/running for fun during my stay.