Marissa and I can convince each other to do anything really. When we lived together after college, if one of us didn't want to go to the gym, we could easily convince the other it was a terrible idea. If one wanted to get take out, we would both get take out. This has continued even from states away.
Marissa: "Please! Let's go to Austin over Memorial Day"
Me: "Ok duh, I'm in."
Doesn't everyone need a twin?
With having some travel-loving partners, who are also easily convinced by us, I foresee many trips together in the future. But it's pretty rare for us to get a good group trip together. (thanks Sam and Dee for our winter ski trip!)
After talking briefly to each other in a group chat about wanting to go to Texas (see previous paragraph), we booked flights. Almost immediately Steve said "I'm in" and BJ booked his flights quickly after. Wow, we were stoked! That made 7 of us flying to Austin, Texas, including John, Adam, and Karron.
What I Learned About My New Travel Mates
Ok so group travel is certainly a relationship tester when it comes to your friends. 7 people in one house, in a new city, with many opinions can be tough. But I wasn't worried. We are adaptable and flexible people. We all like mostly the same food and love a good time, which is the best combo you could ask for!
Here's what I learned about everyone (besides my travel buddy hubby):
Marissa: Likes to share all meals. Tough reviewer of drunk late night pizza. Likes s'mores.
Adam: Down for anything. Easily convinced to share all meals. Loves a good Manhattan.
Steve: Needs constant shade. Loves to try any bar. May not make sense at end of night.
BJ: Naps a lot. Does not drink a lot before travel days. Likes queso mole and spiked slushies.
Karron: Rookie traveler. Tries new things. Very good at bag toss. Goes with flow.
Back to Austin
So normally you might think of San Antonio, Dallas or Houston when you think of Texas. But, the state capital is really having a moment with it's food, culture, music and city scene. Known for live music, food trucks, and open spring pools, there is an incredible amount of stuff to do in Austin. It's been a city we have been really interested in seeing. I love any major city that you can stay downtown and walk or uber to absolutely anything and Austin has that.
Before our short weekend trip, I read an article about how it was ok to eat queso for every meal in Austin. I took that as a challenge and accepted it. There is no shortage of amazing restaurants in Austin and you mostly don't need a reservation as the walk up food trucks and shacks are all over. We didn't make a single reservation and had no trouble trying some of Austin's most well known places such as Torchy's for some breakfast tacos and Stubb's for some famous BBQ.
What I Learned About Austin
Really Great Cocktails - I was seriously impressed with every bar's list of cocktails. And they were all SO different. From a soccer bar with cocktails all containing champagne, to HandleBar with cocktails all named after famous mustached men.
Detailed Bars - One bar is made up of shipping containers. Like the bar is legit shipping containers stacked on each other. Another bar turned into an espresso spiked cafe at night. Expect every bar you step into to be unique.
No cover! We rarely saw cover at any bars which is basically the only excuse you need.
Hopefully at this point I've convinced you to go and you're booking your flight as you're finishing this. Below is just a few tips that we learned along the way... Also. It's Hot.
What To Do in Austin
Find a hometown friend (Jake) and have them show you around! Best tour guide you can have.
Go to Rainey Street! - It's so fun with some great patios and lawns to play yard games and drink all morning, afternoon and night.
Go to Barton Springs Pool - It's this really massive nature spring pool in Zilker Park. It's less than $10 to get in and a great place to hang all afternoon. You can't drink unless you sneak in beverages, but the water is so refreshing it's probably unnecessary. Don't let the long line deter you!
Rent an Airbnb with a pool - When I rented the Airbnb, I paid no attention to the pool. It turned out to be a lifesaver on both afternoons after walking around. Austin is HOT.
What Not To Do in Austin
Don't waste your time waiting for the bats at Congress Avenue bridge. Austin is known for this bridge where each night, thousands of bats fly out from at sunset. It's supposed to be neat. But it's not. Unless you go in August when the mamas have their babies and they have doubled in number. We didn't see the big swarm of bats like we imagined and we wasted about 2 hours waiting for just shadows of bats at night.
Don't bother making reservations. There are some really great places you can walk right into, especially food trucks on every block and at tons of bars.
Don't waste time seeing Allen's Boots unless you are serious about buying $500 cowboy boots. I wouldn't buy $5 cowboy boots so why was this on my list? IDK
Don't go to a bar late at night and expect to see live music! We basically missed every band playing as they were packing their stuff up, because we stopped into every bar too late. Go early like 5 -10 otherwise you'll miss out on the music capital's greatest draw. Rookie mistake.
Stay weird, Austin!
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