Saturday June 19, 2010

Anna and I attended the Juneteenth parade, celebrating when the slaves found out about the Emancipation Proclamation announcement. Katie chose to watch it on TV. She found out Texas was already a state then. There were lots of people there, with candy-throwing floats and cars, water bottles and fans passed out (thankfully! It was hot!). I saw a little boy dancing on the lawn across the street and another one on the same lawn throwing a frisbee (well, trying to). One entry in the parade was a hair styling salon, with rainbow hair on parade! Anna laughed at the times I tried to help the children find pieces of candy in the street. I was just too lazy to get up and get it myself. I forgot to apply sunblock to my block, so I developed a nice u-shaped burn above my tank top. We spent about 1 1/2 hours at the parade and left before it was finished, to pick Katie up. I had to stop to take a shot of this oddly-decorated yard.

When Anna looked at the B&B online, she had an image of us enjoying drinks on the porch. We only took time to take a picture on our last day.

We drove over to Lamar to find "Chinatown", with no success. We went back to P. Terry's, a hamburger restaurant recommended by Melodie. We all had cheeseburgers, skinny fries and a drink for less than $5 each. The restaurant was busy and noisy, and the food was delicious!

We drove out to Barton Springs to check out the pool. It cost $3 to park and we had to walk down a long hill to get to the pool, where we discovered it cost another $3 to get to the pool. There was a long line so we chose to watch the people who paid to get in. We noticed fake ducks around the diving boards, which were next to the "sitters". The "floaters" could be seen on either end. It is a huge, outdoor pool.



Off to South Congress for shopping. We visited Uncommon Objects, Maya Clothing. We then drove back over the bridge to 2nd for shopping at a jewelry store. Off to the Austin History Museum, to get a picture of the star.



Anna had an appointment to view a duplex and meet a potential roommate, Meagan. Katie and I went back to the Co-op to get a souvenir for Matt, but it was closed. We ended up at the CVS, and then back to the B&B to wait for Anna. She called and we arranged to meet at Madame Mam's Thai restaurant for dinner. Katie and I drove; Anna walked from a block away from Guadalupe on 32nd to 38th (way too hot to do that!) to meet us. We decided the food was merely "edible".

To attempt to compare the Allison apartment to the Meagan duplex, we drove back out to Allison's to look for the bus stop (1/2 mile from the apartment) or Car2Go (like FlexCar), which was behind the complex. The distance to grocery/shopping was too far to walk. There is a pool at the complex, which is a plus. Comparing the walk Anna took to the Thai restaurant to the distance to the bus stop told her how hot she would be every day.

Back to Meagan's which is a block from the bus stop, two blocks from a grocery (the Wheatsville Co-op; we looked for Cheetos but the closest was Doritos), and close to other restaurants and shops. It is more expensive, but is not on a lease so she can move anytime. Katie and I gave Anna our opinions of each; Anna consulted with Kristen, and decided on Meagan's duplex.