Austin - April 2013 - Day 3

Day 3 - Sunday

This was a pretty uneventful day after the whiskey fueled late night before. We woke up around 11am and Desirae, being half crazy and a triathlete, decided that the best way to cure her hangover was to go for a run. A 6.5 mile run. I just went back to sleep while she got that out of her system.We she came back she informed me that she ran through South Congress (literally South Congress Avenue, but it's a district that runs straight into downtown and eventually the State Capital building. It also provides an unobstructed view of the Capital that it worth seeing) and had apparently fallen in love with all the cafes and shops. So we decided to start the day there. 

I honestly don't know the name of the bar that we went to....we never saw a sign...but it was completely outdoors under a ton of trees and had a band playing that was great to listen to while day drinking. They allow dogs in too and apparently it's the place to be on a Sunday. We sat and chatted with a few different people who were sitting at the picnic table with us. It was a totally relaxed atmosphere, the people were very friendly and a really great way to spend the afternoon.We spent several hours at this spot, then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the night. 

While completely exhausted and still mildly hungover, we decided we had to go out. We started at Friends because I happen to notice that JT Coldfire was playing. He's another great Austin blues musician who is definitely worth seeing play. We hung out for one of his sets before going next door to B.D. Riley's for dinner (quesadillas of course). On Sunday nights B.D.'s has an "Irish Tune Session" so we listened to a couple different musicians play some Irish tunes before deciding that we were ready for an early night. We were back at the hotel by about 11. We took advantage of the early night to get some rest so we could get up early and do a little exploring the next day.

Austin - April 2013 - Day 2

Day 2 - Saturday

We had plans to go out with Andy and Lisa Saturday night. So that left an entire day to go drink...I mean explore...downtown before what would end up being a fantastic gong show of a night. This is the day I fondly refer to as, “The Day Desirae Got Drunk Four Times In One Day”. Girl has wicked metabolism. After having a couple drinks in the room we decided we better get lunch before we drank anymore. Since Desirae had never been to Austin, we went to 6th Street so she could check it out during the day before experiencing it at night. We started at B.D. Riley's. I have a mild love affair with B.D.’s: It was the first bar in Austin I ever went to, it’s an Irish pub (always a plus in my book), they have some great beers on tap, and they have a DIY Quesadilla menu. I know, I know...an Irish pub with a quesadilla menu? Trust me. It’s amazing. And yes, I know what a good quesadilla is...I’m from Arizona. Just try it.

While we were there, we noticed that one of my favorite bands, the Eric Tessmer Band, was scheduled to play there later that night. Not only are they one of my favorite bands, but they’re the first band I ever saw play in Austin, at the first bar I ever went to. At that point I figured we’d probably end the night where we started the day. And we were totally ok with that.

After a couple drinks we moved on to the Blind Pig Pub. Desirae noticed they have a rooftop patio and wanted to check it out. When we got upstairs the first thing we noticed was that they have Giant Jenga. This is always a winning discovery when Desirae and I are out together. Not to brag or anything, but we kind of kick ass at Giant Jenga. After stopping at the bar to get a couple cans of Shiner Bock, we commandeered a Jenga table and pretty soon we had a small crowd watching and actually cheering as we played. That was slightly odd but pretty funny. Eventually a couple of guys who were in town from Seattle asked to join us for a game. We made a “loser buys” bet and spent the rest of our time at the Blind Pig dominating Jenga and therefore drinking for free. The guys were great sports about it. As it was getting closer to the time we needed to head back to the hotel to get ready for the night, Desirae decided she wanted to check out a few more bars. For the sake of time we completed a quick bar hop down 6th, implementing a “one shot” rule for each bar.

A short time later we were back at the hotel with a cab on the way to take us to Pflugerville (about 20-30 minutes north of Downtown) to meet up with Andy and Lisa. Lisa’s sister and brother-in-law joined us for dinner at a great place called PBK Stem & Stein. This place has a wonderful patio and great food. I had the Soup & Sammie. The Soup du Jour was a Tomato Bisque, which made it a perfect combo. And at the waiters recommendation I added some arugula to the sandwich. I really liked this place and would highly recommend it.

We enjoyed a couple drinks and fun conversation before walking around the corner to a bar for some karaoke because, why not? I honestly can’t remember the name of the bar, but we had a blast. Desirae danced, I sang, we all drank. It was good times.

After a couple hours and several pitchers of beer, Andy, Desirae and I started back downtown to catch the end of Eric Tessmer’s set at B.D. Riley’s. We got there with about 45 minutes left in the set, which was just enough time for another round of drinks. Have I mentioned I love this bar? And the band killed it as always. By the time they were done playing it was almost last call, so we walked next door for one last round of shots, which Eric joined us for, before calling it a night. Or so we thought. Before going back to the hotel we opted to stop at a place I call “The Pizza Window” because I have no idea what the name of it actually is. But if you want to check it out, it’s a few doors down from Friends. It has some of the best pizza I’ve ever drunk eaten. And watching Desirae take in the awesome drunken shit show that is 6th Street on a Saturday night was entertaining in of itself. She immediately declared she liked it better at night. Not shocking.

We got back to the hotel and rather than hang out in the room, we grabbed a couple beers and sat on the tailgate of Andy’s truck for awhile...because tailgates are one of my favorite things. No seriously, I actually wrote a poem about tailgates for a high school english class, I’m that fond of them (I got an A on it too!). Pretty soon it was apparent the sun would be coming up soon so it was time to catch a few hours of sleep before the next day’s adventures. This was one of my favorite days I’ve ever spent in Austin. And it was the perfect way to introduce Desirae to the city.

Me & Des on the rooftop at Blind Pig Pub

Desiare dancing at the karaoke bar

Desirae, Lisa and I

                                                      Andy and Lisa singing

                                                Eric Tessmer Band at B.D. Riley's

                                                 Me, Eric & Andy at Friend's

                                                             6th Street

                                                 Sitting on the tailgate

Austin, TX - April 2013 -Day 1

As mentioned in my first post, this trip was a "get-the-hell-out-of-town-and-party-our-asses-of-to-forget-about-all-the-crap-that's-been-going-on" get-a-away. With everything that had been weighing me down the last several months I called Desirae, my go-to girl for blowing off steam, who was also in need of a quick get-away. We made a plan, booked the trip and met up a couple weeks later.

The great thing about Austin is that not only does it have one of, if not the best live music scene of any city, it also has a lot of really great outdoors activities in and around the area. The city is also very conducive to running and cycling, which is always a huge bonus for Desirae, who is a triathlete and gets just as much entertainment out of running and cycling as she does from going out and partying. It should also be noted that while this was Desirae's first trip to Austin, it was my fourth time visiting. So the trip was a mix of showing Desirae what I loved so much about the area and also finding new things to explore for the first time together.

DAY 1 - Friday

We got in to town on a Friday, and because Desirae had to work that day, I got in a few hours before she did. So while I was waiting for her I grabbed the shuttle to the hotel, got checked in and picked up the rental car. I realize you may have just asked yourself why I didn't just get the rental car at the airport. This is probably a good time to introduce "Travel Tips". I'll be throwing those out there occasionally, so here's the first one: I've learned that I can often find substantially lower rates picking up a rental car from a location outside the airport. For example, this trip Enterprise was running a special for it's members with rates as low as $9.99 per day. Standard airport rates were about $33 per day. So one day would've cost as much as the whole weekend. To me that's worth the extra time to take the hotel shuttle and then pick up the car outside the airport. That's extra beer money! Speaking of the Enterprise membership special, I'll throw out another Travel Tip: If an airline, hotel or rental car company has a free membership program, sign up for it BEFORE you book. I've saved a decent amount of money signing up for these. What I do is search sites like Kayak for the best deals, then I go directly to the company website and sign up for the membership. Often times you'll get an additional discount booking through your membership. At worst, you start to accumulate points toward free stays, flights, etc. I also use an alternate email address when I sign up so I don't get bombarded with ads all the time.

By the time I got checked in and picked up the rental car, I had just enough time to swing back by the hotel, grab a quick snack and get ready to go out for the night before heading back to the airport to pick up Desirae. Our plan for the evening was to go straight from the airport out to a cute little town called Wimberley which is about 45 minutes (give or take) south west of Austin. One of Austin's great local blues/rock musicians, Andy Macintyre was playing a really cool little place called Cypress Creek Cafe. It's a really cute cafe in the front with a bar/music venue in the back. I'm also lucky enough to call Andy and his wife Lisa friends, so it was a great way to start the trip. The first thing I did was buy shots of Fireball for Andy and myself (Andy introduced me to Fireball so it's become a must), and after delivering his shot to the stage, Desirae had some appetizers and I had some beers while Andy and his band rocked out, playing the perfect mix of original songs from his latest album "Ruby" (and a few off of his first two albums) as well as some great covers. Desirae really liked the town and we ended up talking to a few locals who gave us ideas on some of what Wimberley had to offer during the day. After talking to them, we decided we'd drive back out during the day at some point over the weekend to do some exploring. A few beers, a couple shots of whiskey and about 3 hours later it was time to call it a night and head back to the hotel.
                                      Me and Desirae on the patio at Cypress Creek Cafe

                                       
                                                    Andy Macintyre playing at Cypress Creek Cafe

                                                         Andy Macintyre playing at Cypress Creek Cafe

Grab a Beer and Go Somewhere

Sometimes life sucks. 
People break your heart, people die, friends come and go, money gets tight, work gets stressful, family can be a pain in the ass...etc, etc, etc. The list goes on. We can always find something to bitch about, to wonder "why me" about, to worry about and over-analyze. 
But here's the thing, if you look...really open your eyes and look...there's always something positive and beautiful to be seen. 

It's in our darkest times that we tend to learn the most about ourselves, as well as who and what in our lives we can always rely on to lift us back up when we feel like we can't be knocked down any harder. Maybe that's a couple of people that happen to come into your life at exactly the right time, a life-long friend that's seen you through your darkest times and never left, a friend that is always exactly the person you need to help you blow off some steam, the unconditional love of a pet, a long drive on dirt road at night, getting lost in a good book or just getting out of town for a weekend. It's important to take a look around and realize what is important and what's around us that makes life not suck. Because those are the things that pull us out of those dark times. 

All of the things mentioned above happened recently, and all within a very short period of time: A life-long family friend died, a guy I was dating completely broke my heart, multiple family members were sick with unknown or terminal illnesses, I could barely breathe at work...it went on and on. 

For me, when life makes me feel like I'm drowning, the way I try and catch my breath is to get out of town for a few days. I love to travel and I love to do it as often as I can afford to. Whether that's just a day hike, a weekend camping trip or hopping on a plane to meet up with friends for a few days. So when I was at the end of what was one of the more difficult times in my recent memory, I planned a trip to meet up with one of my closet friends to spend a few days blowing off steam in one of my favorite places to clear my head: Austin, TX. Just before I left town a friend suggested I start documenting some my escapades. And so that's where this blog comes in. 
Oh yeah, and I also like beer.