Austin Day 2: Plenty To Do, As It Turns Out

We woke up at 9:30 on Sunday and headed over to Central Market for breakfast. Kim had told us about it in Houston, so we were looking forward to visiting in Austin. It is like Whole Foods times 100. They had 12 or so different kinds of apples and a wine section bigger than some wine stores I know in DC. We picked up some snacks, including fruit and Texas Super Mix (nuts and dried fruit mix), and ate them in the car as we drove to Zilker Park for Melanie's Crazy/Extreeeeeeme Morning Swim at Barton Springs Pool. Barton Springs is a natural pool that maintains a constant 68 degrees all year -- nice when it's 90 outside, I say, but when it's only 65 out like today, I take a pass on swimming. Melanie swam 3 laps in the natural pool, and I read and ate Texas Super Mix. Many swimmers were in wetsuits, but not Melanie. I was (and am) impressed. After her swim (which, she told me, was awesome), we went to the botanical gardens in Zilker Park and walked around. They have a Cactus and Succulent Garden, a rose garden, a prehistoric garden (complete with a dinosaur statue) and a beautiful Oriental garden with a waterfall and koi pond. It was really nice to walk around. There were lots of trees with beautiful purple flowers on them that smelled heavenly. It was a great time!

After the botanical garden, we drove over to the UT campus and walked around there. Campus was deserted, so we think the students must be on spring break. We got into the main building (the very, very tall tower in the middle of campus), but we couldn't figure out how to get to the top. We walked over to their football stadium, which is immense. The buildings on campus are mostly in Spanish Mission style, so lots of arches and tiled roofs. It was pretty, but we both wished there had been more students there. Colleges with no students out and about are sort of unsettling.

We went back to Central Market for lunch and made a terrific meal out of grilled chicken breast from their meat counter, warm tortillas made fresh that day, and a few dips from their salsa bar. We had guacamole, corn salsa, creole mustard, and something called "love dip" that is cream cheese with tomatoes and spices. We sat out on the Central Market patio at the tables provided there and had dips for lunch. Delicious, and so good for us. During lunch, it was revealed that I have never been to the Melting Pot (I know! It is bizarre!), so we decided to go there sometime when we get back home.

After lunch, we drove down to South Congress ("SoCo"), which the books told us is the epicenter of "Weird Austin." Guess what? It was. The first shop we visited was called "Uncommon Objects," and it was simulaneously awesome and totally creepy. It was full of truly bizarre things, like old photos of people, old road signs, vintage jewelry (including big belt buckles, a Texas staple), Elvis lamps, Shriner fezzes, old maps, souvenir drinking glasses, and jars filled with wasp nests. It was the most entertaining shop I have ever visited. We went to several other such curiosity shops afterward, but this first one was the best by far. After we shopped, we got ice cream from Amy's on South Congress. Amy's is an Austin chain that has full-fat ice cream. As you might predict, it is spectacular.

We went back across the river to the 6th St neighborhood and walked on a trail by the river, waiting for sunset. At around 7:15, a light rain started, but it stopped in plenty of time for us to see the big attraction: The bats of Austin. The Congress Ave bridge is home to more than half a million bats in the summer, and they all swarm out at dusk. This early in the season, there were very few bats, but we did see a lot of them flying around. A few got pretty close to us! It was cool, but I am sure it is even more awesome in the late summer when all of the bats are there.

After the bats, we went to Cru, a wine bar on 2nd St. 2nd St is really cute -- the trees all have twinkle lights in them, and there are new stores opening all along it. We got a good spot right by the window at Cru and ordered some wines. Melanie had never done real wine tasting before, so I was able to share some of the knowledge I've gotten over the years. We tried 3 whites and 3 reds, and then since their bottles were 30% off, we got a bottle of viognier (her favorite from the tastings). We had a terrific time lounging around and chatting with wine. The important thing about wine, I think, is to have fun and enjoy the deliciousness.

After Cru, we were in high spirits and decided to stay out a little longer. We walked up to 6th St and looked for a good bar to hang out in. Oddly, this was easier said than done. Even though the streets were pretty busy, the bars were almost empty. Ugh! There were lots of people in Buffalo Billiards, but the guy at the booth told us it was a 45-minute wait for shuffleboard. The hell? We ended up at a place called the Dizzy Rooster, which was marginally busy. As soon as we walked in, we met some guys from San Francisco who were in town for the SXSW festival and playing Golden Tee. The conversation was fun, but we could not help but be pulled in by a deer-hunting game that was very much like a beloved game at a beloved sports bar back at home. It was not as good because there was no option to shoot bison, but beggars can't be choosers. We played a best-of-three tournament against each other, but as of this writing, neither of us can quite recall who won. Therefore, since I'm the one telling the story, I proclaim proud victory for me. Me!

After hunting, we went to the back of the bar to listen to the band. We had a great time dancing and bopping around...until we noticed that we were the only girls dancing. Really?!?! I can't believe we were those girls. Clearly, Sunday night is not the hoppin'-est time in Austin. We headed back to the hotel and collapsed into bed at an unreasonable hour. I feel like we really saw a lot of Austin in the 2 days we had. It was a great time!