When we finally got on the road, we heard a "pop" and Mike swerved off the road. Luckily, the traffic had calmed down so we were able to ease onto the shoulder and see this.
If you can't tell, it's completely flat. We called our AAA people and waited....and waited....45 minutes later, a peculiar looking gentleman with only a few teeth helped change our tire. Michael helped by eating the fried chicken we had picked up only a few minutes before the tire blew. He claims he knew it was coming and had planned ahead so that we would have sustenance.
When we finally arrived, it was almost 9:00. Mike was interested in looking for the bar in our hotel, but I was interested in crawling in bed. We both slept hard and woke up in the morning ready to explore. There is a strip of road that has shops and food trucks. I loved the food trucks - they were all very unique and had delicious food!
This one was so neat to me because it looks like someone's house....it's not.
This is where Mike ate - I really wanted him to try the Predator and Prey, but he wasn't interested.
This sign kind of sums up Austin:
That night we got dressed up and went to dinner. Only later did I found out that the place we went to is a chain....This was supposed to be some sort of seafood tower extravaganza....
After dinner, we hit 6th street. We did not hit it hard. In fact, after about 30 minutes of people watching, we decided we are too old for 6th street. They have these handy little bike people who ride around the city looking for suckers like us. People who don't want to catch a cab, but also don't want to walk 4 blocks in heels. I suggested that we get a ride and this guy literally carried us for several blocks with his iPod blaring, "Partly like it's 1999!" It was so much fun until the guy told us we owed him $20!
Our chariot:
The next day, Mike and I took it easy. We had been told about the bats that come to Austin and decided we wanted to see them. Apparently, 1.5 million bats live under a bridge over Lake Travis and all come out at night. On our way, we saw a parade for gay marriage! My first protest/parade! I wanted to join, but we did have a commitment to the bats....
Sorry, there are no pictures of the bats. It was late when they decided to come out, and hard to get them on camera.
The last leg of our trip was spent driving through Texas in search of the Lone Star State's best BBQ. I had seen Salt Lick on "Top Chef" and several people suggested that we try it out. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time just waiting for a table. Live music and a beautiful winery right next door.
There's not to much to say about this place, except it is delicious. They BBQ the meat on hot stones for many, many hours...
This was enough for me, but Mike ordered the all you can eat special. The money was not spent in vain.
One happy boy :-)
I took a nap on the way back, but woke up to this:
Yes, another tire was losing air. I'm not sure what happened there...maybe it was a sign we should have stayed another night.
All in all, we had a great time. Austin is an amazing city and Mike and I had not had vacation on our own since our honeymoon. (2 years.) It was greatly needed! My next expedition was to Toronto, but I will leave that for another post. Hope all is well!
