Well, part 2 of our Texas travels last month is finally done! After a lovely weekend in Dallas, Hubby’s parents and the two of us rented a minivan (our first, ha!) and drove to Austin to Hubby’s uncle’s house. We spent two and a half days seeing Austin through the eyes of locals, and it was awesome!

Sunday evening, we had a nice meal at their home, in a surprisingly hilly neighborhood. Austin apparently has a less-than-flat terrain, and the next morning, after some breakfast tacos (here’s looking at you, Tacodeli!) we took a hike in a nearby park, called the “hill of life”, that led us to a stream. It just so happens that Austin has been getting an unusual amount of rain, and so the stream was more like a river. I still did a little wading!

Monday afternoon, we had a late lunch at Hopdoddy Burger Bar. I can’t say enough how creative and delicious that place was! They had great beers on tap (Hubby and I drank local beers) and awesome, creative burgers. They also had truffle fries (WOW!) that rounded off a big fat lunch quite nicely. It was really fun, delicious, and also good that we had a late lunch… Peak meal times are usually SLAMMED.

That evening, we headed downtown. First, we explored and had pre-dinner drinks at the Driskill, an historic hotel (1886!) and bar in downtown Austin. It was beautiful, authentically furnished, and made you feel transported in time. Everything was leather or cowhide, with a big Texas “lonestar” all over it!

We had dinner at Cantina Loredo, where delicious, modern Mexican food and creative, strong margaritas reigned. After dinner, we went bar hopping again with our cousins, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, seeing their usual places and meeting a few of their friends.

On our last half a day, we had breakfast at Texas Honey Ham – the baked potato hash was to die for – followed by a little exercise. We happened to pass Stevie Ray Vaughn on our way.

(As a point of interest, Austin had been getting so much rain, and continued to get it, that the next week, we received a picture of Stevie, up to his hips in water.)

We went back to the house, packed up and prepared for the airport, and had a last lunch at County Line on the Hill BBQ. I had heard of but never tried Texas BBQ, and I was not disappointed! I ate way more than I should have, but it was delicious, and had a gorgeous view to boot. It was the perfect last meal!

Overall, we had an amazing time in Austin with our sweet family, and I even came home with a perfect pair of boots. (Thanks, Cavender’s!)