A wonderful weekend!

What a eventful weekend it was!

I had to take a test Friday morning so the past few weeks I have been so stressed. I spent most of the day afterwards running errands and packing. We had plans to spend a weekend over in Austin for a while and were so looking forward to the trip.

Our flight to Austin was Saturday morning. We were VERY excited about this trip. We got to Austin after a short 35 min. flight, checked in our rental car, and off we go. Luckily, we got to check in early at the hotel to drop off our bags and settle in. We were starving at this point so found our way to Guerro's Taco bar. I was told that celebs such as Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConnaughey often visit here. We loved the setting/atmosphere but the food was so-so. There were many artist galleries and unique shops around that area so we looked around a little. Afterwards, we headed to the Capitol. It is a neat historical building with a lot of charactor. We let our camera do most of the talking. One of the cooler activities we did on this trip was after dinner that night. We watched the famous "Bat flight" on Congress Avenue Bridge. These Mexican free-tailed bats migrate to Austin area every year around March/April. Since bats are sensitive to light, they sleep during the day and go out hunting nightly. Well, for some reason, the Congress Ave. Bridge is their perfect hideout spot every year. Thousands of bats fly out from under the bridge at around 8:30pm. People start to show up there as early as 7:30pm in hope to get the best view. It was an amazing sight. The bats swamped out like you wouldn't believe it. It was truly like something shown in a movie. They also smelled (like a zoo)! We capped off our first night there by trying some delicious Amy's ice cream.

A gorgeous view of the Colorado River from atop of Congree Avenue Brdige

Day 2 in Austin. We woke at a decent hour because we wanted to have breakfast at the famous local Kerbey Lane Cafe. A friend of mine told me that we must simply go. Come to find out, he was right! The food was great and we loved the layout of the restaurant! We decided to head out to Wimberly (Hill Country) to visit Tish's friends' ranch. They have purchased a piece of land over looking a cliff a few years back and recently finished their dream home there. The views up there was breath taking. All you can hear and see up there is nature. We got a taste of what "Hill Country Luxury Living" is all about. Basically, if you open up a Pottery Barn or Western Home magazine, that was what we experienced. Maybe one day we can build something similar. We got hungry and stopped at another recommendation - Salt lick BBQ. It is a large barn shape wood building located on the way back to Dallas. You can smell their smoker and food from miles away. This place has been ranked high in national magazines and also been featured many times on Food Network. I had some ribs and brisket and they were both finger licking good!

Told you it was finger licking good!

We had such a good time we didn't want it to end. Everything was near to perfect. Austin is a cultural city with a lot of soul. The people, the arts, the culture make the state's capitol one of Texas' brightest gems. We can't wait to go back! Maybe we will get to stay at Hotel San Jose next time!

"Bye-bye Austin! See ya next time!"