Adventures in Austin

Have you ever had one of those weekends that was almost too fun to talk about rationally? Well, our trip to Austin last weekend was one of those. Train travel, a nice hotel, live music, great friends and a beard competition – what could be better?

I think I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. 

We arrived Saturday evening and we all went out for Mexican food. Everyone had had long days of traveling so we called it a night around 10:30. On Friday we all did some shopping and browsing in vintage shops. David and I didn’t buy anything but this hat was tempting:

Little Alex was quite the trooper:

David and I hit the record shops and added to our collection:

Marcus, the birthday boy, found himself a vintage suit and rocked it:

The place we tried to see live music Friday night was sold out so we went to The Continental Club and lucked into what pretty much amounted to a gospel revival in a bar. These guys are from Louisiana and absolutely awesome. 

                         

Friday night was beyond amazing. So much fun! On Saturday we did a little more shopping, ate lunch at the food trucks, went back to get ready and then met up for the main event, the Mohawk’s Beard and Mustache Competition. The line was down the street but fortunately we had all bought tickets in advance. 

Larry and David tried to look as intimidating as the bear but it didn’t last long:

I had no idea what to expect at a beard competition but it was highly entertaining. We will definitely do it again sometime. Here’s our view from the outdoor balcony down toward the stage:

Marcus and David with Captain America:

Our whole crew plus one of the contestants:

These were the finalists. Can you guess who won?:

Part of our crew:

Can you tell we were having a great time? 

After the competition was over we all decided we needed breakfast so we headed to the 24 Diner. The food was spectacular. I had chicken and waffles, a couple had the eggs benedict special, a couple more had sweet potato hash…everyone’s food was really, really good. And the service was outstanding. If you ever find yourself in Austin needing food in the middle of the night, I highly recommend this place. 

But all good things must come to an end so at about 3:30 a.m. we went back to hotel so we could catch at least a little sleep before our train left Sunday morning at 9:30. We both did a lot of yawning and maybe a little snoring on the train home but it was all worth it. One of our group referred to this trip as “the best family vacation ever”. We might not be related but I’m happy to claim them all as family. 

Today I decided we should have a little reunion so we are having the group over this Saturday for games and pizza. One of my goals for this year is to entertain more often even if it means putting aside my perfectionist tendencies regarding a spotless house and serving a home-cooked meal. I still enjoy those types of parties but I know we’ll have more gatherings if I don’t set the bar quite that high every time. This will be my inaugural “easy party” event. I’ll vacuum up the Shiloh hair and make sure there’s toilet paper in the bathroom but otherwise I refuse to work myself into a state of exhaustion before the party. I’ll let you know how it goes.