Travel Diary; Everyone Loves Austin…Except Me
In my travels over the years, I’ve managed to bounce all over Texas. From Amarillo (middle of nowhere), to El Paso (we should give it back to Mexico), to Houston (does anyone know why people move there) to San Antonio (see Houston), to Dallas (best of the bunch, but that’s not saying a lot), I’ve seen much of Texas, but somehow never managed to make to Austin. It seems Austin is the hip hot spot in Texas these days. Just about everyone I’ve met who’s been there just raves about it, so I was actually somewhat excited when business finally called for my first visit.
Everything is bigger in Texas -One thing I’ve learned about Texans is that they seem to have an inferiority complex about their state. Everywhere I turn there are signs and bumper stickers promoting how much bigger, better, etc Texas is along with the state motto ‘Don’t mess with Texas’. One of my co-workers proudly announced that the Texas state capital is bigger than the one in Washington DC. Geez people lighten up, your state’s no California or Florida, but you’re not Iowa either. We get it you’re a big state.
Keep Austin weird -This apparently is the Austin catchphrase, because it’s everywhere. I’m not sure why. Austin is lots of things, but as far as I can tell, it’s not that weird. Seriously if you want to see weird, head out to San Francisco, they’ve got the market cornered on weird.
My kingdom for some decent Mexican food -I’m going to go ahead and admit I’m partial to Arizona’s Mexican cuisine, there are some absolutely amazing restaurants in the greater Phoenix area. However, I’m not naive enough to think that good Mexican food does not exist outside of Arizona. Coyote Cantina in San Diego is one of my favorites. So I was optimistic that Austin would have some good options. I was taken to Guero’s, which was proported to be quite good. Ummm…not so much. It’s no Taco Bell, but it definitely fell flat for me. Granted one restaurant is not a definitive study, so I’m hopeful my next trip will bring better results.
Is this Dallas? This isn’t Dallas -As I mentioned previously, I kind of like Dallas. It’s a big metropolitan city with all the big city stuff that most people would want. Plus it’s kind of pretty in a flat Texas sort of way. Austin reminds me of a smaller Dallas with more rolling hills, so that’s good. Right?
They do have a nice airport -Given that I’m a business traveler, every city I go to gets at least partially judged by it’s airport. While some cities are great, but have crappy airports (see LA, San Diego and New York), some have great airports, but are crappy cities(see Houston). Austin has hands down one of the better airports I’ve been to. Lot’s of unique local restaurants and shops, which are nice when you’re killing time as I am today. Plus it’s clean and well maintained, so it’s got that going for it.
The verdict -I really wanted to like Austin. In the end, it’s just OK for me. That said, I do hope to come back and see more of it before I totally right it off. Maybe next timeI’ll find the weird part.
Until next time…
My Summer Vacation: Home in one piece
When I last left you, we were knee deep into our Chesapeake Bay vacation. Unfortunately, sporadic internet connectivity kept me from keeping you all up on our progress. As I’m sure you’ve been on pins and needles waiting to hear about our trip, here’s some of the highlights.
‘Cap’n we just don’t have the power’ -As you may know we opted for a vacation rental instead of the traditional hotel on this trip, which on the whole was a great choice, but for the 4 hours on Monday night that the power was out…not so much. Fortunately the power kicked back on before the temperature got too hot, but it definitely made for an interesting evening mostly because we had to wait until we got home to catch up on ‘The Mole’…oh the humanity!
The tour that was and the one that wasn’t -Our plan for Tuesday was to venture into DC and tour the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (read the Mint) and then the Holocaust Memorial. Having secured tickets ahead of time for the Holocaust Memorial, we just needed to get our Mint tickets. Turns out the only tickets harder to get than Springsteen tickets are tickets to the Mint tour. On the plus side we did make our tour to the Holocaust Memorial. It’s hard to put into words the effect this memorial has on people. We saw tears, someone get physically ill, and various other reactions. The memorial puts visitors in the shoes (almost literally) of the Jews and others who were tortured and killed under Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ during WWII in a way movies like Band of Brothers, The Pianist, and Saving Private Ryan can’t. It’s truly unforgettable, which I think, is the point. Definitely a must see if you make it to Washington DC.
Thanks for nothing ‘National Treasure’ -One of our other stops was the National Archives, home to original versions of the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Constitution, and of course the Declaration of Independence. Arriving just after opening I was certain, we’d get in and out fairly quickly. I was also fairly wrong. Word from archives employees was that with the popularity of the movie National Treasure, attendance at the archives has skyrocketed. Needless to say we still made it through, but it took well over an hour. No word on if the Declaration of Independence contains a treasure map.
Babies and aquariums, who knew? -While most of our sightseeing on this trip was primarily for Deb, myself, and my son Chad, our final full day took us into Baltimore and the Aquarium. I wasn’t sure if our 16 month old daughter Evie would get anything out of the visit, but it turns out it was a highlight for her. While Deb, Chad, and I had a great time, I think the best part was watching Evie and seeing how much she loved the different types of fish, mammals, and assorted wildlife. The aquarium doesn’t allow strollers, but provides backpacks for the little ones, so Evie had a great view of all the exhibits and clearly loved it, repeating words like fish and shark over and over.
The long voyage home -With our week wrapped up, we did one last drive along the bay and then it was time to head for home. I can honestly say, it’s one of the few vacations where I didn’t want to leave, a feeling echoed by Deb and Chad as well, I even think Evie wouldn’t have minded a few more days. But the Chesapeake isn’t going anywhere and I’m sure we’ll return again in the future. As eventful as our flight to Baltimore was, the return was the opposite. We arrived at the airport plenty early, all bags got where they were supposed to be and with the exception of nasty US Air flight attendants and our flight being an hour late, our return was uneventful. Needless to say we all slept well back in our own beds.
So that wraps up our sumer vacation for this year, thanks for tagging along.
Until next time…
My Summer Vacation; Days 1 & 2
Saturday morning 7am, I’m up and headed to the shower. Our goal was to depart for the airport by 10:30 for our 12:15 flight, time was currently on my side. Showered, coffeeed and breakfasted by 8:30, we were in great shape. We packed suitcases, double, then triplechecked that we had everything, then as we pulled out of the driveway, my 13 year old son remembered he didn’t have his swimsuit….ah the best laid plans.
We made it to the airport in record time, parked, check bags and were at security by 11:15, in short we were doing great, the keyword being ‘were’. As we shuttled through security we realized we’d made one tinsy little mistake; we didn’t check our toiletries and we weren’t caring the <4 oz sizes. No problem, I thought, I’ll run down and check the toiletry bag and we’ll still be fine. So I send the family on to the plane while I head back down to check the remaining bag. It’s now 11:45, in short too late to check my bag. Evidently 30 minutes isn’t enough time for my little bag to make it to the plane. Ok, how about we put the bag on a later flight. No, I was told, ‘you have to travel with your bag’, even though I assured the US Air rep my bag wouldn’t get lonely without it me it was no dice. By this time it’s 12:00 and I’ve got barely 15 mins before my plane leaves, but only 5 until I could lose my seat. I’m flat out sprinting back to security. Once I get there I start throwing out those things bigger than 4oz, so about $40 worth of stuff, when I come to my cologne bottle, it’s definitely too big, but I’m not about to throw it away. What to do? You guessed it I stuffed it my pocket and risked 25 to life in Leavenworth for the $60 cologne. Fortunately for me the TSA guys were much too busy checking size of my toiletry bottles to notice any pocket bulges. Thank God for competent government workers. One last mad dash and I slid into my seat just in time. Why is it always such an adventure.
So we settle in for our 4 1/2 hour flight. We’d purposely kept my 15 month old daughter up in hopes that she’d nap on the flight. Stop laughing, it could have worked, but it didn’t. All things being equal she did great. 2 bottles, various snacks, books, toys, iPods, plus anything else we could think of for the most part kept her entertained. That and 3 different trips to the bathroom. Fortunately the stars aligned and we landed 20 minutes early. Phew!
Once again we divided and conquered, with my wife and kids taking care of the luggage while I went for the rental car. I hooked up with them and we were on our way to our rental place. Then the storm came. Wind, rain and lack of sunlight lead to a much longer trip to our rental than ideal. The good news is our place was amazing! 2 blocks from the ocean, nestled in the trees, quiet, cozy, it’s perfect.
We started Day 2 with a quick trip to the grocery store and of course Starbucks. We then headed out to do some exploring and grab some lunch. Which brings me to my second clue to our destination for Williamson Family Vacation ‘08 or where in the world is Scott and his brood? We stopped by one of my favorite places, Middleton Tavern for crabcake sandwiches and the local brew. If you still can’t figure it out ‘Google’ Middleton Tavern or keep guessing. As for us, life has seldom been better. I was telling my wife how happy I was and she accused me of tearing up, I prefer to think it was the crabcakes.
As Day 2 draws to a close, I’ve got some cold Yeungling in the fridge, my family with me, what more could I ask for?
Tomorrow we’re off to see some sights, stay tuned.
Until next time…
