Eight Day Birthday Celebration!

(waiting for our table at the Gristmill)

As you might know from Cody's last post, a week ago was my birthday and my parents' gift to me was taking a trip out to Austin to visit (and a few new clothes)! I was so excited to see them and it was a great birthday gift. My dad was only able to stay for the weekend, so we packed in as many tourist sites and activities that we could (mostly our favorites). On Saturday we went to breakfast at Kerbey Lane Cafe and gave my parents the grand tour of our terrace level apartment. We showed them the garage, balcony, kitchen, study, library, living room, parlor, dining room, office, guest bedroom, laundry room, master bedroom and master bath. Our apartment is so large it took nearly 10 minutes..... 776 square feet is really too big for us, but sometimes you have to spoil yourself (just a little bit of sarcasm). After the lengthy tour we were up for a much needed break and headed down to the Alamo Draft House. For those of you unfamiliar with the Alamo (we've had some other blog posts about it) it's a popular movie theater in Austin where you can eat food and watch movies. It seems simple enough, but you really have to experience it to have a full understanding of what the Alamo is. It's known for its theme nights, like the "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" all you can eat tiny hamburgers, or the "Babe" vegetarian feast, or the 80's hair band ballad sing along. It is our favorite movie theater for sure. We like to get there early because they play hand-picked clips that have to do with whatever movie you are about to see instead of commercials or lame movie trivia like some of the "other" movie theaters. After the movie we climbed the 100 stairs (literally, I counted) to the top of Austin's highest point (745 ft above sea level), Mt. Bonnell. From there you could see a great view of the city, the river, and all of the ridiculously large and expensive houses on the lake. If you look closely, you can see some of the houses.



Here is a view from the other side of the "mountain" where you can see the city (far far away) in the background.



After Mt. Bonnell we headed over to the famous Salt Lick BBQ out in Driftwood, Texas. This place is famous for their BBQ and we all agreed it lived up to its reputation. It was definitely worth the 45 minute drive. I caught Cody nearly drinking the sauce (when he ran out of meat he just squirted the sauce directly on his bread!). My dad even said it was the best BBQ he has ever had. After dinner we took a much needed walk around Town Lake in downtown Austin toward the Congress Avenue Bridge. Each night at dusk about 1.5 million bats emerge from underneath the bridge and people crowd the area around to watch. It's a strange Austin attraction, but it's definitely something worth seeing. Cody and I have been a couple of times but this was the best bat emerge we had ever seen. We also got some interesting bat facts from the bat enthusiasts that were very eager to share their knowledge--and wanted us to join some bat club or something.


(Cody and Me from Town Lake with a view of downtown)



(My parents still in recovering from culture shock after the bats)


The next day we headed about an hour south of Austin toward the area where Cody was raised. We drove past his old house in Garden Ridge and made a stop by one of the most famous and biggest caves in Texas--Natural Bridge Caverns. It was discovered in the 60s and is privately owned (imagine finding that under your house!). It was pretty incredible, very well-lit and a nice cool temperature. During the tour we traveled 200 ft underground and walked probably about half a mile or so. Luckily we had modern staircases and walk ways and didn't have to crawl through the 11 inch "discovery trail" that the original explorers used.



Of course, the suckers that we are, we bought their one of a kind souvenir picture.



This one looks like it was a green screen--but it was real I promise!


(me and my mom in the cave!)

After the cavern we we headed over to Greune (pronounced green), Texas for some sightseeing. Gruene is a small town that once serviced the cotton fields owned by Mr. Gruene. The town consisted of a general store, feed store, cotton gin, and a dance hall. All the buildings are still in tact, and Gruene Hall (Texas' oldest dance hall) still plays music nightly. We had dinner in the old cotton gin that they turned into the Gristmill restaurant. It was a really good dinner, and we all agreed that its rare that you get good food and good atmosphere in the same place.


(Me and my dad in front of Gruene Hall..... why not dance in the street?)


(eating dinner at the Gristmill overlooking the river)

On my dad's last day he requested that he be taken back to the Alamo Draft House for another movie. I don't know which my he liked better, the movie theater, or the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies they serve. I saw his eyes light up when he ordered the cookies and the waiter said that it would take 20 minutes because they are baked to order! That night we visited one of Cody's favorite Austin destinations...Peter Pan Mini Golf. The course was built in the 1950's and I don't think its ever been updated. It's fun to visit because it's like stepping into a time capsule. We had a great time (unfortunately the picture that the very friendly, but very intoxicated mini golf patron offered to take did not turn out!)

On Tuesday my dad and Cody went back to work, and me and my mom started a shopping marathon. We hit all the good stores (Forever 21, Ikea, DSW, Ross, Marshall's, even Target!) and were able to dedicate an entire day to the Texas-sized outlets in San Marcos. We bought tops, pants, shorts, shoes, sunglasses and even jewelry for an average price per item of under 6 dollars! I had to brag about that because I come from a long line of talented bargain shoppers.

On my Mom's last day she requested that we go to the Texas History Museum. Texans are serious about their history, and this three story museum proved to be too much to take in before my mom's flight. We were able to get a nice picture of us in front of the GIANT Texas star out front of the museum--this place is nuts sometimes.


(Me and my mom in front of a giant star...which strangely seems completely ordinary)