Yippee-Ki-Yo, Austin!

Shortly after returning from Ohio, as in three days after, I took off to Austin, TX for a work conference. I arrived in Austin to 80 degree weather, sun and blue skies. After dumping my stuff at a dump of a hotel, I headed out for a five-mile walk around town.

The best part of the photo above is the guy on the stand-up paddle board. He was just casually paddling along in the sun. The river was calm and quiet and there was no boat traffic. I was oh so jealous.


I took a break along the walk to grab dinner at the Easy Tiger, a suggestion of my friend Jessica, who has recently relocated to Austin. It was perfect. After walking past countless big, dark bars on 6th street, entering the Easy Tiger was like being back in Portland.






I highly enjoyed my beer and pretzel on the patio,
and I recommend the addition of the cheese.

Back across the river on South Congress there was no shortage of art, shops, food & drink. My favorite parts were the signs and murals.

 

For anybody heading to Austin...

 

I caught dinner one night at the Enoteca Vespaio (excellent Nicoise Salad) and breakfast at Magnolia Cafe (crazy busy on a Friday morning but decent food). At the conference I was also able to sample Hey Cupcake! (red velvet) and an IPA from Independence Brewing. Just before I headed back to the airport I stopped in at Stitch, a fabric store on South First Street. I had read about it on Dana's blog and it was only a few blocks from my hotel. It's a cute shop, but definitely geared to the crafter-sewist. They offer a lot of pre-cut fabric swatches for bags and such, but they don't carry much in the way of apparel fabric. They had a great selection of felt though, and their class list looks fun. Lastly, I was able to take the Airport Express bus from the airport to my hotel/downtown, and back again, and it only cost a $1 each way! Forget the rental car if you're sticking close to downtown.