Austin, I Love You!
For so long I've always wanted to go to Austin. Many people have constantly encouraged me to visit because of the unique beauty of the city and believed I would enjoy it. And they were right, I loved it! I traveled to Austin, Texas to attend the SXSW Edu conference last week. Though I enjoyed the conference, I can't stop gushing about how awesome Austin is as a city! I tried to see and eat as much as I could of the city during my breaks from the conference, which wasn't a lot, but I tried to cram in enough. My biggest disappointment other than not being able to sight see the city was not having enough time to try Whataburger, especially their breakfast menu, which I heard is better than its regular menu. This means I have to return soon so I can finally have a Whataburger experience, right.
Below are all the things I got into in Austin!
Nearby where I was staying and the conference was the Mexican Arte Museum. I didn't have much time to properly explore the museum, instead I roamed the gift shop where spent way too much money on Frida Kahlo stuff. Thankfully the suitcase I brought with me was small because I would have bought a lot of books, paintings, notebooks, and random stuff that my life doesn’t need at this moment.
I checked out the restaurant Moonshine with my friend Kathryn where we had delicious Moonshine cocktails, snacked on popcorn and ate amazing southern/Mexican food. It was great catching up with Kathryn, discussing our previous and future solo trips and the trial and tribulations that is Tinder. So many great stories, so little time!
I was extremely fortunate to link up with my friend Kathie who knew the city like the back of her hand. We began the evening on Rainey Street, where there are lots of cute bars and tons of food trucks to hop around the entire block. We met at Lucille for drinks, which was a cute old home converted into a bar/patio. For food we ended up at Fare Ground’s Food Hall, which was an upscale food court with several different eateries including Ramen, a cheese bar, an organic hamburger place and a bar with specialties drinks. I built my own burger with bacon, cheese and a fried egg and it was everything I needed that moment. We later linked up with our mutual friend Sarah, drinking and talking about pop culture and how we’re still shocked Dakota Johnson has no charisma or personality yet somehow has a career.
Afterwards, Kathie was gracious enough to show me around South Congress area where they have tons of great restaurants, well known music venues and cute local establishments. It was an adorable area with a great view of the Congress building and Austin’s beautiful skyline.
I had to end the night seeing what the hoopla of Voodoo Doughnuts and it was delicious! Gosh, I love doughnuts so much.
My last night, I spent with my friend Alicia, where we had dinner at Licha's Cantina for some amazing authentic Mexican food. I tried a goat meat tacos and it was splendid! We pre-gamed at a near by bar before attending a Britney Spears dance party at The Volstead. The Britney dance party was to celebrate Britney being able to become a phoenix after her rough year in 2007. Although the DJ could have expanded his playlist a little when it came to Britney’s best dance songs, we still got our entire life singing along to all of her songs and dancing. (I was too busy dancing and taking Snapchat videos to snap an actual photo of Britney party)
I wish I had one or two more days in Austin. It's a city with its own vibe and uniqueness and there's a reason why they say Austin keeps it weird. I cannot wait to head back and explore the weird city a little more.