How lovely to arrive in sunny, snow-less Austin.
We arrived a day early and I planned my QuiltCon strategy so that we could fit in some time to visit a little of Austin. Seeing these banners, I thought there might be a cross-stitch conference taking place in Austin also (come on, I know some of you attending QC thought the same!).
South by Southwest is a huge annual event that my son has attended so he was able to provide us some insight on the city. Downtown Austin is very compact and walkable. Our first afternoon in the warmth of Texas was spent in the South Congress Avenue area filled with restaurants and funky shops and sights.
Visiting the Texas State capital complex provided a history refresher of this enormous state that was once a country for a few years.
Did I tell you that it was my husband's idea to go to QuiltCon even though the first day was his birthday? Yes, on his birthday I spent the entire day in an amazing quilt class (more on that in my next post) while he walked around the city checking out book stores, libraries, walking paths, the ginormous Whole Foods store, historical buildings and pet shelters. We did do cocktails on 6th Street after and I had made reservations at Eddie V's for dinner and live music. So, I'm not such an awful wife to completely ignore the day!
Interesting, fun city. True to it's motto "Keep Austin Weird." Renting a car, we drove south to San Antonio for a couple of days. This is a huge city (by Texas or any other measure). Our hotel balcony had a lovely view of the Riverwalk.
San Antonio, at least the Riverwalk area downtown, lives up to its reputation as a great place to visit. We enjoyed the riverboat ride, ate Tex-Mex, drank margaritas, toured the Alamo, took long walks along the side of the river, visited historical churches and watched the Academy Awards from our (free upgrade!) suite.
What a perfect way to end our visit to Texas with amazing live music in the Austin terminal. This is Delaney Gibson and she is terrific!
20 more states to go! Where to next?
Kathy
Looks like a lovely getaway! I love San Antonio and the Riverwalk... I had a work conference there once and my DH came too. He golfed while I worked and then we had a long weekend to explore. They also have a nice zoo (I have a thing for visiting zoos when I travel!). Austin is on my list for when DH retires in 3-4 years.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific birthday--San Antonio looks fabulous! You mean there is someplace where there is not 24" of snow??? Hope you have a great time at Quilt Con hugs, Julierose (green with envy lol)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a fabulous time! It also sounds like my husband and I need to visit San Antonio someday ;-) Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing. Glad you made it to one more state and enjoyed the warmth. Looking forward to your QuiltCon posts.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous trip and oh how I envy you those snow free days:-)
ReplyDeleteDon't you love the adventure of traveling!! Seeing new people and places! Thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteBoth are great cities! Looks like you and hubby had a blast. Cant wait to hear the rest of the happenings from QuiltCon.
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