After spending the last few months cooped up in the library (day after day after day...) preparing for finals, I was so excited when my friend asked me if I wanted to take a road trip to Texas with her. I'd been dying to go to Austin for ages, and it was the perfect escape after all those weeks of hitting the books. We packed up her car and headed out for what we expected to be an insanely long road trip, but we somehow managed to talk the entire way, which made the time fly by. I had the greatest weekend, and as per usual, I ate my way through the entire city.
We had to do some school work while we were there, but we rewarded ourselves with burgers from Hopdoddy afterwards--after being a vegetarian for nearly a decade, I feel like I'm making up for lost time with the amount of burgers I consume these days. I custom-made mine off of their amazing menu and it was delicious.
Lucy's lamb burger was amazing too
Our burger feast was followed by an afternoon of stand-up paddle boarding, which was so fun. Our arms were so sore the next day, but the views of the city from river were gorgeous.
We had dinner at Paul Qui's East Side King establishment, Hole in the Wall. I love Top Chef, so I was crazy excited about this one. The restaurant itself was amazingly grungy, and the Pork Belly Buns and Beet Fries were probably my favorite meal of the trip. All the pictures I snapped are really dark, but I highly recommend a stop here--go with an empty stomach so you can try everything!
After sleeping off a crazy night out on 6th street (which I capped off with Kimchi Fries from Chi'Lantro--remember when I said I ate my way through Austin? I meant that in the most literal sense. But these fries were spicy, and delicious, and I regret NOTHING) I dragged Lucy to the Austin farmers market. I'm a sucker for a good farmers market and this one was amazing--so much delicious and fresh food, lots of people milling around, and sunshine warming our shoulders. It was heavenly.
migas for breakfast.
After our farmers market adventure, we headed off for a day of sight seeing.
While we were cooling off at Barton Springs, I decided that I'm pretty much obsessed with Austin. It meets all my criteria for city love: amazing food everywhere you turn, a good farmer's market, live music & a great art/creative scene, and its a social city--people get out and enjoy the day at parks and cafes. AND its got a river running right through it. What more could a girl ask for?
part II to come!