Having some fun in Austin!

Hi Everyone,

One of my goals this year was to save as much as possible but to live life.  My wife and I have a goal of traveling as much as possible before we have kids.  A few reasons for this:  1. It will be cheaper.  2.  We have more free time/flexibility.  3.  It's simpler.  Therefore, we took a trip to Austin, Texas and had some fun!  Read on to find out how it went...

We left early on Friday morning and came back late Monday night.  It was a quick trip that was packed full of fun and relaxation!  Both of us were starting to be burned out by our jobs and just needed a little bit of a break/recharge of the batteries.  The trip also coincided with Valentines Day and our 6 month wedding anniversary so you can say I killed 2 birds with one stone for this surprise.  My wife's roommate from college also lives down there so she was excited to get to see her.

We got to Austin around 11am Friday and was able to check into the hotel 4 hours before normal check-in which was great.  We went out to South Congress Street for lunch where we had gourmet grilled cheese and walked into all the shops on the street.  There were people everyone and it was a real laid back atmosphere which was great.  From there, we went back to the hotel and had a quick power nap before going out for Mexican food for dinner.  After dinner, we went bar hopping and had a real great time.

Saturday we slept in until 11 went to brunch at 24 diner which was delicious.  The waffles came out looking burnt and was kind of hard to cut through, however they were some of the best waffles I've ever had.  I'm someone who likes a golden brown waffle, not burnt but these were quite the surprise.  I'm not sure of their recipe but the waffles went together quite well with the apple butter on top.  My wife had biscuits and gravy which was also quite good.  From there, we went to a lookout that had views of the entire city and then went to a free outdoor concert.  The weather was gorgeous!  75 degrees and partly sunny.  At home we were receiving 10 inches of snow and the temperature was about 25 degrees.  After the concert, we went on a brewery tour of hops and grain and then out to eat...again.  My wife and I split a haymaker sandwich at the restaurant Haymaker... it was huge!  One sandwich is plenty for 2 people.  We called it a night at around 9pm.

Once again, we slept in until about 11 on Sunday.  My wife and I haven't slept in 2 days in a row in at least 4 months.  Our puppy wakes us up at about 6am every morning so to be able to relax was great!  We went bowling after we woke up and then went down to 6th street in downtown Austin during the day.  The street was a bit dead, but the weather was not ideal.  It was only about 45 degrees and a little rainy, but that did not stop us from having fun.  We bar hopped, played some bar games, listened to live music and drank some beer, not a bad Sunday!  We went to dinner at Hopdoddy's on S. Congress Street and it was the best cheeseburger I have ever had.  If you ever go to Austin, go to Hopdoddy's.

Finally, on Monday we woke up a little earlier around 9.  I went to workout in the fitness room at the hotel while my wife relaxed in the room.  We checked out around noon and drove around the University of Texas and went to look at the most expensive houses in Austin.  The architecture down there is amazing.  The neighborhoods where we went never had a single house that looked the same.  It was great pretending like we were millionaires and lived in these gorgeous homes.  We went to dinner at Stub's which was not very good at all and then we finally went to the airport.

The worst part of our trip was the flight home which was delayed 3 hours and we did not get back to our house until 3am.  Overall I loved the city and my wife and I had a great time.  I would definitely go back just to get a burger from Hopdoddy's and enjoy the laid back atmosphere.

Expenses were kind of thrown out the window but every now and then, it is great to just let loose and have some fun.

Have you ever been to Austin?  How did you like it?