Vacationing in the Southwest, Austin to Chicago

What to do in Austin?

We get ¡Texas fever! by visiting the new Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. You know that saying, "everything's bigger in Texas"? Look at the size of this lone star sculpture! For comparison, D is in the left corner of the photo.

The museum is downtown, just a stone’s throw from the capital and the UT Austin campus.

Since we’re here while Congress and the college students are on break, it’s easy to get around and park our rental car, but good luck any other time of the year.

We arrive just in time to catch the movie in the Spirit of Texas theater. It's well worth the extra $3.50, even though it lasts for only 10 minutes.

The exhibits take up three floors, but they get less and less interesting with each flight. I think we spend at least an hour looking at the artifacts on the first floor and about 10 minutes at the top.

Near UT, we stop for breakfast (available 24 hours) at one of my most favorite places in Austin, Kerbey Lane Cafe. Mmmm, the migas plate.

South of the capital, we wander around the hip SoCo neighborhood,
where there’s lots of good food, at tex-mex places like Guero’s, El Soy y La Luna, and the home cooking place we enjoy this time, The Woodman The Woodland (new, no website, great service, great reviews).

There’s also fun little shops, like Uncommon Objects.
See how the cowboy's neon rope twirls in a big circle above his head? It must have been fun to make this sign.



Across the street is Hill Country Weavers, which I would happily call my LYS if I lived in Austin. Friendly staff and all the yarn brands I can think of.


I found this coral Zephyr (50% Chinese Tussah silk, 50% Merino wool), which will make a nice souvenir of our visit in the southwest.
Maybe a Swallowtail Shawl.

We also marvel at the flagship location of Whole Foods market at Sixth and Lamar. I thought we had it pretty good in Chicago, but we don’t have 80,000 square feet of amazing food. The takeout bars are really something. When I called my sisters to ask them if there was anything we should miss in Austin, they both mentioned a stop at this store.

Our schedule permits 2 nights in and around Austin, and then it's time to head south, to see my sister and catch our flight home.

What to do in San Antonio? Mostly we have a great time hanging out with my family and friends.


We also visit the Alamo and the Riverwalk.


D is underwhelmed by both. He says the Alamo is dinky and that the photos he's seen of the riverwalk must be taken from the very best angles. I guess he was expecting something like the Chicago River, but it's more like a wide creek.

That's it, trip's over. I'll edit to add a few more photos, but here's one final shot of D hanging out in my sister's backyard. Doesn't he look better than he did when we started out? I got in trouble for posting his airport photo. See honey, here you are, more like yourself, but with that mellow vacation vibe.