My trip to Austin Texas

My first day consisted of us leaving MSP at about 4:55 and arriving to Austin TX at about 8:30 p.m. We had a slight lay over, but nothing to terrible. When we arrived, the weather was warm in Texas, and I couldn’t wait to start the vacation process. Then, we had to go and get our rental car from ALAMO. The selection of cars was few and far between, as it was late in the day, and only a few were available. We ended up with Nissan Rouge.

Now that we got part done, we just had to find our way to the hotel. I must say the lady at the rental car place gave superb detailed directions. We were able to find the hotel with no problems. I must say that the roads in Texas are quite interesting. They don’t believe in the whole on and off ramps like we have here in MN. They have what I called an express lane. They are located on the right or left hand side of the freeways. You can enter onto the freeway from the express lane just fine, but getting off the free way can be a challenge if you don’t have an exit ramp to get off onto.

We arrive at the hotel late in the evening, and just decide to crash. After a long days work, I was beat, and needed my rest.

The adventures consisted of the following:

Thursday:

• LBJ Museum. The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library holds more than 45 million pages of manuscripts, an extensive audiovisual collection, and oral history. There were so many amazing things in the museum; we were there for several hours.

• Texas State Capitol: The Texas Capitol is an extraordinary example of late 19th century public architecture and is widely recognized as one of the nation's most distinguished state capitols. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 for its "significant contribution to American history." This was an amazing site to see, if ever you’re in Texas, make an effort to go see it.
  
  
• Downtown Austin: We spent the rest of the afternoon traveling down town Austin to see all of the different amazing things there are to see.
  
  
• Dinner with family at the Oasis on Lake Travis: Let me just first start out by saying this place has an amazing view! The OASIS also provides a spectacular view of Lake Travis and the surrounding hill country. It is a must-see for out-of-towners and a reprieve for locals -- the perfect place for groups of up to 500 for parties, weddings, corporate events and any other special occasion you want to celebrate. In 2005 there was lightning that struck The Oasis and the resulting fire claimed 80% of the decks. They then had to re-build their outdoor seating and now there is three stories, more deck space, an innovative convertible indoor/outdoor live music venue. With seating capacity for over 2,000 people, and more indoor space than ever, and is now a top-destination restaurant. Their food is absolutely delish! We had chips and salsa for an appetizer. I tried their Fish Taco’s which were a bit on the spicy side, but good. My Hubby had their Chicken Wrap which was absolutely fabulous, and then we added a few cocktails, good conversation, and family on to the side, on top of a $300.00+ tab for all, we had a perfect meal.

Friday:

• San Antonio: The travel to San Antonio was quite interesting. Paul decided to drive, and I must warn you that he’s an easily frustrated person when driving. He ended up missing the turn onto the off ramp for San Antonio, and then got completely in an uproar about it. Instead of calming down and taken a breath, and getting us on the straight & narrow he got in a tizzy. I was just sitting in the back seat, pretending to sleep, as I didn’t want to be in any part of that discussion. Uggh the fun of traveling in a new town.

• River days: River days took place on Friday, so there was a huge parade going on, which made parking a huge challenge. We ended up having to pay out $20.00 just to get a place to park, but after driving around for over an hour we though, bite the bullet and just pay it, this is insane.

• The Alamo: After all the Alamo is what most people think of when they think of Texas. Originally it was built as a Spanish mission; the Alamo was the site of one of the most infamous battles in North American history. I found it to be interesting, and was glad I had the opportunity to view the site.

• The River Walk: This reminded me of a long strip mall with lots of shops, hotels and eatery places. Down the middle of the road was the river which was a nice touch to add some scenic attractions to the river walk. It was interesting to see all the different things that were located along the river, and what was available to people.

• 6^th Street: The Hubby and I decided that we would take a stroll down to see 6^th street. OMG talk about difficult parking? We had ended up finding a spot to park in a ramp and paid $8.00 to park. Okay, now talk about a challenge. We had the most difficult time trying to get out of the ramp. We went up and down each end of the ramp, and came up empty. We eventually did end up finding our way out, but OMG difficulties! We strolled along the streets, checking out the souvenir shops, and then of course the hubby wanted to go and check out Coyote Ugly. I was up for it, as he bought me a free beer, so I couldn’t really turn it down. Talk about loud! Now I know why I don’t go to clubs anymore.

Saturday:

• The wedding: What more can I say? This day was fabulous. The wedding service took place at the University Christian Church. The service turned out to be lovely, and there were a large amount of folks who were able to celebrate with Tiffany & Tanner. The reception took place at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Austin, and was outstanding. All around good food, conversations, drinking and dancing. The party was a great joy to be at, and I was so blessed to be a part of the day.

Sunday:

• Brunch with the family. Brunch was provided by my uncle & law, and his wife. The whole family was invited to partake and it was a fun way to end the celebration weekend.

• Schlitterban Water Park. My husband insisted that we go and check out Schlitterban Water Park in New Braunfels Falls, TX as it was opening weekend. When we got to the park, the weather was a bit on the chilly side, but we decided that we would go and partake in the water park. Here I thought that the park would be just swamped with folks, but there really weren’t all that many people there. I must say I was fairly pleased with the park. They had a few good water slides, but damn the water was freezing. Talk about a chill up the spine!

• Dinner with family: We went to a small join in Downtown Austin for supper. The food was good, and OMG, we had this amazing dip thing for chips and dip. It was to die for! I have to find out what was in that dip.

Monday:

• Bob Bullock History Museum: We spent most of the day at the Museum. Myself, Brent, Phil, and Paul went to the museum. The Museum is a dynamic educational institution that engages visitors in the exciting Story of Texas through a variety of programs and exhibit experiences in Austin. The museum has a total of 4 levels of history to go through, and it can literally take you all day to get through if you look at each thing in the museum. It truly is something amazing everyone should go and see.

• Lunch/Dinner w/Family: For lunch and dinner, we were able to spend some good quality time with the family. We went to a restaurant in downtown for lunch, which is the same thing we went to on Sunday night, but that’s okay, because they had good food. For supper, we ended up at the Texas Road House. It’s got good food, and yet we have one in Minnesota. Go figure.

Tuesday:

• Last day in Texas. We spent out last day going shopping, seeing the things we wanted to see one more time, and just took it easy. We ended up back at the Capital, 6^th street, and then went and saw the Driskill hotel. We then headed off to the airport for are arrival back to MN. There were a few layovers at the airport but all in all it was a good flight, and we were glad to be back home.

I must say this was a way over due vacation, and I am glad that I had a chance to experience it with my loved ones. This was my first trip in the last year, and consisted of me and my husband without our 2 ½ year old and me taking off 8 days of work. It was well worth the wait, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more than I did. It had plenty of entertainment, exciting, peace and quiet, celebrating and plain overall fun.