One of the perks of having a sometimes-traveling-for-work husband is that now that I don’t have a job of my own (outside of the home), I’m available to travel with him!
Which makes Tim’s travel a little more stressful but it also makes my life more fun!
This past week he had to be in Austin for a day, so Clara and I tagged along and we made a long weekend out of it.
To be honest, I did not fall in love with Austin.
Maybe my expectations were too high, because I really thought I was going to love Austin and I’ve been wanting to go there forever!
I’m not sure if we picked the wrong time of year, or if the rainy weather just made everything worse, or if we picked mostly wrong restaurants or if being a vegetarian there was insurmountable or if we just didn’t know the right things to do… either way, I can see how Austin can be a wonderful city (especially if you have the chance to experience the nightlife!), but we weren’t overly impressed. I guess it didn’t help that we had such a great time in Portland a few months ago, which can be attributed to knowing people there who took us to all of the very best places.
We did have some highlights, though!
- Eating at the Easy Tiger was memorable. I loved the ambiance!
- Seeing the University of Texas campus.
- Torchy Tacos and all of the other food trucks. I wish Chicago had more food trucks, especially in the summer!
- The Texas Capitol building is gorgeous and so are the grounds around it. It’s a lovely place to stop and chat for a while.
- Walking around SoCo (South Congress).
- Shopping at Book People, because you know I can’t turn down a book store, especially one with an awesome cafe inside.
- Perusing boutiques on 2nd Street. (I made it out without buying anything, but it took a lot of self-restraint).
- Our mini-road trip to San Antonio. On the way we stopped at the LBJ Ranch.
- Walking along the riverwalk in San Antonio, and seeing the Alamo, of course.
- Being outside with our little family in drastically warmer temperatures than Chicago! I thought it was great to be able to stroll Clara around outside, since it’s been quite a few weeks since we had the opportunity to do that!
We ended up having a really good weekend, but I was glad we took a trip to San Antonio (which was originally not in our itinerary) because we could see more of the Hill Country and the Alamo and the riverwalk… all good things! If you’re thinking of visiting Austin my advice would be this: You probably only need two days in Austin. Also, spring seems like the time to go! A lot of outdoor activities are limited in the winter.
Have you ever visited somewhere that didn’t meet your expectations?
