What an experience! An inside joke between Ammon and me for a long time (probably ever since we realized that Texas was the only state that could secede from the union and still be in the US) was that we wanted to move to Texas. Anyone that is from Texas is SO patriotic toward their state. The Texas flag is the only flag that you'll see being flown in other states and the Longhorn symbol is everywhere. We'd heard from people about how nice it is there and how it has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation (right under 4%) and that it has been ranked the number one city to live in numerous times. We were picturing something completely different than what we actually saw.
Matthew and I flew to Austin from Vegas and met Ammon who had flown in from Louisville (August 29th). The airport only went by gate numbers 1-13. Our first surprise. The airport was actually smaller than Louisville's! Our rental car was upgraded for free and the company, Hertz, was the best company we could ask for. I called about four others who "said" they offered military discount with one giving us only $1 off! We ended up getting a good discount (about $80 off!) and the car treated us well for the three days we were there (we left Sept 1st).
We had Austin's freeway system figured out within an hour of arriving (our second surprise of the trip). It wasn't even as complicated as Louisville's, which told us something right there! We drove down 6th Street, their most popular nightlife and live music location in the whole city, and got to see the University of Texas...as liberal as they all were. A hundred people must've been picketing at a downtown church, all wearing "I'M A DEMOCRAT AND PROUD OF IT" or "TEXAS DEMO" shirts. Another surprise. Downtown was definitely a place for college students and not a stop for a small family with a one-year-old. We did get to go to the Whole Foods headquarters that was downtown as well though. It was the BIGGEST Whole Foods ever (yet another surprise)! Four levels of underground parking with the coolest escalators for your cart. We went there at least four times while we were there and we could've spent hours inside since it had so much for us to do.
The best thing about our whole trip was the awesome, amazing, wonderful food we got to enjoy (surprise #5). We'd heard about all the BBQ we could eat and boy, did Austin have BBQ joints. The mall had fast food BBQ, you could see it anywhere you looked. The first night, we got to go to Rudy's BBQ--they call it the worst BBQ in Texas. YEAH RIGHT! Their place was packed and we had to drive around the small parking lot about four times to get a spot. Their brisket and ribs were mouth-watering and the brisket was extra-moist, literally. Their sauce was great too, but the meat was so good, the sauce wasn't even necessary! They had awesome banana pudding and the best butter-soaked new potatoes you could find. We got pretty stuffed.
We have a fascination of giving Matthew food and taking pictures of it (probably because Ammon is his dad and that's all Ammon likes to do is eat). This kid goes to town on anything and loves all meat. It is great! Ammon said he can't wait to one day tell Matthew where meat comes from. I questioned it, wondering what he was talking about, and he told me that he doesn't ever want him thinking that being a vegetarian is a good thing! He wants him to know early that hamburgers are killed cow. WOW! Thanks Dad...
We have a fascination of giving Matthew food and taking pictures of it (probably because Ammon is his dad and that's all Ammon likes to do is eat). This kid goes to town on anything and loves all meat. It is great! Ammon said he can't wait to one day tell Matthew where meat comes from. I questioned it, wondering what he was talking about, and he told me that he doesn't ever want him thinking that being a vegetarian is a good thing! He wants him to know early that hamburgers are killed cow. WOW! Thanks Dad...
Our hotel ended up being a steal for us too since we got to get three nights for the price of two (surprise). We really liked it, and the location. It was about two minutes from church and less than 30 seconds to the I-35. Walmart was about four minutes down the road (after you made a U-turn of course). That was the thing about their freeway though. Their frontage road was literally right next to the 35 and it only went one-way on each side. So if you found something you liked on the other side, you had to go down the road to where you could turn around and drive all the way back to the place you forgot you saw in the first place!
We found the church and were surprised to see the eight missionaries we saw there. Ammon actually remembered his suit this trip (unlike Kirtland) and we got to go to a building that had four wards going to it! The stake must be huge (surprised yet again with all the members Austin has). They are going through a drought right now and the bishop got up and read a letter to the congregation asking them to fast the next Sunday for rain. They said it was the 90-something day in a row with the temperature being over 90 consistently and they hadn't had rain in so many days they couldn't even count them. After church, we decided to let Matthew take a short nap, but ended up waking him up after 3 1/2 hours...a pleasant surprise for us!
That night we found another great BBQ place called the Salt Lick. It took us about 45 minutes to get there from Austin and was literally in the middle of nowhere so it surprised us to see how busy it really was! We ended up getting the all-you-could eat brisket, ribs, sausage meal and this was the very first place that I would actually eat their potato salad and their coleslaw. It was actually potatoes and just cabbage, so it surprised Ammon and me both to know how much I liked them both. They had live music there as well and it was a nice relaxing place after we got so stuffed we could barely walk out of the restaurant.
NO SURPRISE HERE. Matthew loving the rib bones...
MONDAY. We didn't have much planned and figured we'd already seen a lot (which we had). We knew they had a few western wear places (not a surprise) so we went to this one famous place, Allen's Boots. I've never seen so many in my life and it seriously was a cowboy's dream.
(Matthew throws his shoes off whenever he can). We were all wearing Longhorns gear that day.
We wanted him to look like a little cowboy, but since he hates hats more than anything, this didn't turn out quite like we wanted.
We went as far north on the map as we could, as far south, east and west thinking there would be great things for us to do. A few places were closed, so we decided to just look at old buildings. It was exactly what you think about when you think about Texas.
One thing that Austin had was a lot of lakes. Close to downtown, they have a lake called Lady Bird Lake and we went a little way away to a place called Lake Travis. We wanted to get in, walk around...but the place was so barren it reminded me of a movie where there was absolutely no life anywhere. It was dead and rundown, and the water was so low you could practically see the bottom. It wasn't really pretty there, but it was interesting getting to see another part of Austin.
That night, since Austin has about five outlet malls, we went down south to go to the biggest outdoor outlets I've ever seen. We could've been there for days going into all the stores. Our favorite was the Under Armour store (a surprise at what good deals we found let me tell you) and we loved looking at things we'd never buy at places like Coach (even the outlet), Ralph Lauren and Tommy. We ended up eating at Cracker Barrel that night before we headed back to our hotel.
The next day was the day we were set to leave, so we packed up our stuff and headed back up to Lake Travis to go to the amazing Oasis for lunch. That was probably the best thing Austin had to offer. The view was better than we thought it could be and the food was Tex-Mex. We had great service and Matthew fell in love with our waitress. I've never seen him so obsessed with anything before in my life. She would come to the table and he would be so mesmerized by her voice and would watch her leave until he couldn't see her anymore. He actually smiled for her in the picture (another surprise)...something he doesn't even do for Ammon or me (the pill)! I would recommend this place to anyone, especially someone who is looking for a party spot, or a place to have a reception.
Eating his quesadilla...
The view...
We found the church and were surprised to see the eight missionaries we saw there. Ammon actually remembered his suit this trip (unlike Kirtland) and we got to go to a building that had four wards going to it! The stake must be huge (surprised yet again with all the members Austin has). They are going through a drought right now and the bishop got up and read a letter to the congregation asking them to fast the next Sunday for rain. They said it was the 90-something day in a row with the temperature being over 90 consistently and they hadn't had rain in so many days they couldn't even count them. After church, we decided to let Matthew take a short nap, but ended up waking him up after 3 1/2 hours...a pleasant surprise for us!
That night we found another great BBQ place called the Salt Lick. It took us about 45 minutes to get there from Austin and was literally in the middle of nowhere so it surprised us to see how busy it really was! We ended up getting the all-you-could eat brisket, ribs, sausage meal and this was the very first place that I would actually eat their potato salad and their coleslaw. It was actually potatoes and just cabbage, so it surprised Ammon and me both to know how much I liked them both. They had live music there as well and it was a nice relaxing place after we got so stuffed we could barely walk out of the restaurant.
NO SURPRISE HERE. Matthew loving the rib bones...
MONDAY. We didn't have much planned and figured we'd already seen a lot (which we had). We knew they had a few western wear places (not a surprise) so we went to this one famous place, Allen's Boots. I've never seen so many in my life and it seriously was a cowboy's dream.
(Matthew throws his shoes off whenever he can). We were all wearing Longhorns gear that day.
We wanted him to look like a little cowboy, but since he hates hats more than anything, this didn't turn out quite like we wanted.
We went as far north on the map as we could, as far south, east and west thinking there would be great things for us to do. A few places were closed, so we decided to just look at old buildings. It was exactly what you think about when you think about Texas.
One thing that Austin had was a lot of lakes. Close to downtown, they have a lake called Lady Bird Lake and we went a little way away to a place called Lake Travis. We wanted to get in, walk around...but the place was so barren it reminded me of a movie where there was absolutely no life anywhere. It was dead and rundown, and the water was so low you could practically see the bottom. It wasn't really pretty there, but it was interesting getting to see another part of Austin.
That night, since Austin has about five outlet malls, we went down south to go to the biggest outdoor outlets I've ever seen. We could've been there for days going into all the stores. Our favorite was the Under Armour store (a surprise at what good deals we found let me tell you) and we loved looking at things we'd never buy at places like Coach (even the outlet), Ralph Lauren and Tommy. We ended up eating at Cracker Barrel that night before we headed back to our hotel.
The next day was the day we were set to leave, so we packed up our stuff and headed back up to Lake Travis to go to the amazing Oasis for lunch. That was probably the best thing Austin had to offer. The view was better than we thought it could be and the food was Tex-Mex. We had great service and Matthew fell in love with our waitress. I've never seen him so obsessed with anything before in my life. She would come to the table and he would be so mesmerized by her voice and would watch her leave until he couldn't see her anymore. He actually smiled for her in the picture (another surprise)...something he doesn't even do for Ammon or me (the pill)! I would recommend this place to anyone, especially someone who is looking for a party spot, or a place to have a reception.
Eating his quesadilla...
The view...
Over all, we did get surprised about a lot of things, but we are glad we ended up going. Matthew was a very good boy the whole trip and we had fun just being together since we don't get to have a lot of that time. We no longer want to move there, that's for sure, but it was nice visiting. We learned NOT to attend school there, NOT to take a baby to 6th Street, not to expect rain, not to think you can turn around right when you want to when you're driving, not to swim in their lakes, and NOT to walk around Lady Bird lake. After a hostel or two and dozens of panhandlers, we decided we were actually pretty lucky to live where we are now. And when we got off the plane in Louisville, it actually felt like home!
1 comments:
Lots of suprises sounds like!!!!! I love Matthew and thats sad that you feed him rib bones!!! ha ha ha And we have a Salt Lick here! maybe we could go try it out! love you
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