Week 66: A Trip to Austin
- elenalilamartin
- Apr 7, 2024
- 6 min read
Week 66: March 31st-April 6th, 2024
In celebration of Beyoncé's new album, I made a trip to her home state of Texas. Though I didn't visit Houston, I got to explore Austin with my cousin and his fiancé. They moved to Austin for his job and my aunt and I actually planned this trip long before Cowboy Carter's release, but I like to think the universe aligned beautifully. My aunt planned to go to see the solar eclipse. Of course I listened to Beyoncé on the plane ride.
I've always wanted to visit Austin because it is known for being a weird, fun city. It doesn't scare me like other cities in Texas because it is known for being a blue, liberal place in a sea of conservative red. I love visiting big cities, especially as a young adult, and after this weekend, I get to check Austin off the long list of new cities I have wanted to explore. I got pretty lucky with my flights, but then realized my return flight was so cheap because it was the day of the upcoming solar eclipse, the 8th. I would be leaving Austin before the eclipse even started. While it was a little disappointing to realize I'd miss this special event, I had to get back to San Diego by Monday morning to work.
On my flight, next to an adorable old man who surprised me when he pulled out a Nintendo Switch and started playing Zelda, I started a tally in my notes app for how many cowboy boots and cowboy hats I'd see on my entire trip here. Stepping off the airplane and seeing the decor around the airport, I realized I'd need to specify this to only include how many pairs of cowboy boots on someone's feet and how many hats actually on someone's head I'd see. According to the signs in the airport, the Country Music Awards (CMAs) were also being held in Austin this weekend. The state of Texas expected a whopping 1.5 million people to travel to Austin for the solar eclipse. I wonder if they also factored in the crowds for the CMAs. I incorrectly thought this might skew my data collection for cowboy boots and cowboy hats a bit. As of Sunday evening when I write this, I have only seen 12 people wearing cowboy boots and 4 people wearing cowboy hats. Of the 12 people wearing cowboy boots, 2 of them were also part of the 4 wearing cowboy hats. One of these two people were also carrying a guitar case. I wonder if they were a famous country singer that I had no chance to recognize. The total number of worn cowboy hats and cowboy boots I've seen so far is surprisingly lower than I expected, especially with the CMAs in town. I'll update this tally with a final count after I return to San Diego.
Our activities on Friday, unfortunately, were limited to the evening because all three of us had to work. Shaking my fist at capitalism.
So, after a long day working remotely from their cute place in Zilker, and once the two of them came home from work, we headed out to dinner and began our exploration of Austin!
Picking places to go was a bit hard. Big cities like Austin are amazing because there are so many food options around the city, but selecting one was a daunting obstacle as a first time visitor. The first option we chose for dinnner, a cute Asian-inspired place called Bar Peached that my cousin likes, had a three hour wait time. I guess another obstacle to consider would be the crowds of people who flocked to Austin for the weekend, mainly for the eclipse or the CMA's. So, after realizing our silly mistake, we headed to a bigger spot called Hold Out Brewing. It was a great second option to people-watch during golden hour. And even though it was pretty busy, there was no wait time.
After dinner, we explored the South Congress area and walked around. I loved how lively everything was. There were tons of people in every storefront and every restaurant table seemed filled. We walked past a funny pairing of two bars. One was incredibly rustic, with live music and hanging lights above wooden picnic tables, and the other was ultra modern with all indoor seating, playing pop music through speakers.
We mainly window shopped but did get pulled into a couple of places that were still open and I got a good idea of the vibe of the South Congress area. It was really cool. The famous cowboy boot shop, Allen's Boots, smelled like leather and empty pockets. I definitely need to go back when I have more room in my suitcase (and more money) because a pair of nice, authentic cowboy boots is calling my name.
Of course we needed a little treat on our South Congress adventure, so we got so,e ice cream. Jeni's Ice Cream smelled like waffle cones and air conditioning. The coffee ice cream I got there was pretty good. One sweet treat wasn't enough, and our inner children came out as we went wide-eyed through Big Top Candy Shop. It smelled like sugar and waxed wood flooring. In an effort to stay healthy, I had to restrain myself from buying a ridiculous amount of old school candy, but I'm regretting it now.
The next morning, my aunt arrived in Austin, and after an early airport pickup and some more rest, we got lucky with an Open Table reservation at Bar Peached for brunch. Thankfully, no three hour wait! I ordered a kimchi fried rice dish with steak and eggs, and the others all got avocado toast. The food at Bar Peached was pretty good, and the servers were very attentive. I would definitely return to check out their happy hour specials next time I come to Austin.
After brunch, we played tourist and visited the Lyndon B. Johnson library and museum. Funnily enough, being on the UT Austin campus made me remember that it was once one of my top choice schools when I was applying to college. I wondered how different my life would be if I had gone to school in Texas instead of San Diego. I probably wouldn't be writing this if I had!
Alongside the presidential stuff, there was also a special exhibit called Music America that was decent enough, but it did not mention musicians of color enough. For example, in the 2000s section, there was an entire section dedicated to Taylor Swift, while Beyoncé only got a verrrryyyyy brief mention in a big paragraph.... sounds about white, I mean... right. We are in Texas, after all.
The rest of the museum was full of facts and archives of U.S. presidential history, obviously centering around LBJ. It was interesting. I think the part I liked best was the recreation of Lady Bird's office and the clothes she wore during her time as First Lady. Another cool highlight from the Music America exhibit - Madonna's "Like A Virgin" dress was on display alongside outfits of other iconic musicians like Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, and more.
After our mini field trip through American music and presidential history, we drove through fancy neighborhoods like Tarrytown and North Enfield to see some massive houses. I do love seeing affluent neighborhoods and the crazy houses that are tucked away into the expensive parts of cities. These neighborhoods were just a ten minute drive from downtown Austin. It's really humbling to get a sense of how poor we truly are compared to the people that own the expansive properties and riverfront mansions in Austin. After our tour, we had some luxury of our own and ordered some delicious Thai food for dinner and watched Celebrity Jeopardy for a nice night in.
The next morning, we planned a little better and got on the Yelp waitlist for the very popular Bouldin Creek Cafe.
Bouldin Creekc Cafe was really funky and fun, and I can see why it's so popular. I was happy to see many queer-positive stickers and a Free Palestine sticker on the wall. After a delicious meal, we ventured to Pease Park to see a massive troll sculpture by a famous Danish artist.
Pease Park was an incredible example of accessible green spaces in cities and how important they are. There were hundreds of people using the very well-maintained park, and I loved the different playgrounds and sculptures. After our adventure at Pease Park, I wanted to try the famous Terry Black's BBQ, but the line was way too long. It looked worse than the lines at Disneyland! I guess I'll just have to visit Austin again so I can try it.
After finally visiting, I know I definitely want to return to Austin with my friends and check out what else the city has to offer, including the party scene. Austin seems like a very funky, dog-friendly place and reminds me a lot of Berkeley and Seattle, just with a little bit of a cowboy twist. Like Berkeley and Seattle, Austin is an odd mix of alternative artists, hippies, rich tech folks, musicians, college kids, and business people. It was also really fun to be able visit my cousin and his fiancé. I enjoyed being able to see how they've grown up together after college, and I loved getting a glimpse into their life in Austin. It made me super excited for their wedding this June.
I've had decent flight karma recently, so I hope I can make it back to San Diego before work begins!
See you next week.
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