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
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