Hook Em’ Horns

Austin, Texas was my favorite stop on our road trip. In fact, we chose our driving route accordingly just so we could stop to see our friend Sangeetha and Liz’s brother Clark. I had never been to Austin and wanted to do everything, but our plans were sidetracked by a looming tropical storm. Luckily, we still covered a lot of ground, but even if we had been stuck indoors all weekend, I would have been happy just cuddling and catching up with Sangeetha 🙂

 

In no particular order, here’s what we were able to fit in during our stop:

• Zilker Park – 351 acres of green space and tons of fun! We walked through parts of Zilker Park, taking a peek at the beautiful Barton Springs Pool, and imagining what it would be like to be in the park during one of its many popular festivals.
• HOPE Outdoor Gallery – This gallery is a community paint park where you can add pieces of your own or simply admire the creativity!
• Austin Central Library – Times named Austin Central Library one of the world’s 100 greatest places to visit in 2018. Home to 500,000 books in total, it also features an art gallery, a rooftop butterfly garden, posh study rooms, and so much more. We enjoyed taking in the beauty on each floor of the library and playing a few board games in one of the study rooms!
• Whole Foods – Austin is home to the original Whole Foods, and it’s pretty impressive. Equipped with its own parking deck, the store welcomes shoppers, visitors, and people looking to take a break from the summer heat inside its bustling cafe.
• UT Austin – Sangeetha moved to Austin over a year ago to study at UT Austin. The campus was beautiful. I love how UT Tower overlooks the state capitol grounds, just four blocks away. It was so much fun to get a tour from Sangeetha, a very seasoned campus tour guide from both her high school and undergrad years, and to see her new stomping grounds.
• White Horse – Unfortunately, we were not in Austin on one of its many Latin Social Dance nights, but that did not stop us from dancing. We visited the very popular White Horse where Clark gave me a crash course in two-stepping!
• Patrizi’s – One of Austin’s many delicious food trucks, Patrizi’s is located outside the Vortex theater and serves housemade pasta in par with old-school Italian standards. It was delicious, and the atmosphere was so fun. I highly recommend a meal here.
• TACOS – The other reason I was so keen to stop in Austin was to dabble in its famous Tex-Mex. I ate as many tacos as I could stomach and while I wish I could have eaten more, I think I’ll use it as an excuse to visit Sangeetha again!