Thursday June 17, 2010

We took a trip this year to help Anna find a place to live, while she attends graduate school. Anna, Katie and I started our trip to Austin on Thursday, using my United miles. We flew through San Francisco. I expected the flight from Seattle would be movie- and meal-free (that is, lacking in both) and I was correct. What I did not expect was the more-than-3-hour flight to Austin was the same!

We did enjoy an interlude in the Red Carpet Club.



When we got to Austin, it was muggy and raining, to our surprise. We picked up our rental car and drove off to our bed and breakfast. We were told we were put into two separate rooms, each with a shower, rather than the one shared room with a bathtub. The reason was the lack of air conditioning on the top floor. Anna and Kate took the shared room on the main floor, with an outside entrance, and I took the single room on the 2nd floor with the single bed.








We drove about 30 miles outside Austin to the Salt Lick for dinner. We have since seen this restaurant on a famous TV show, describing the open indoor barbecue pit as "illegal in some states". You wait outside, with available picnic tables under some trees, and, our our night, free music, until your buzzer indicates your table is ready. The Salt Lick does not serve alcohol, but it does allow you to bring your own. Connie wondered about the legality of all that. With a possible one hour wait, sitting in the hot shade under a tree, slamming down a six pack, and then driving up to 30 miles? Recipe for a disaster, perhaps? I called it "bring our own booze" and the daughters summed that phrase up with initials. Do that for yourself.

Seating inside is also at picnic tables. We all chose pork ribs, brisket, coleslaw, potato salad, beans, and added on the onion and pickle side. The food was fabulous! And generous! Our waiter was kind enough to capture the moment.








I admired the fence around the parking lot. A picture of a souvenir dusty handprint on our rental Nitro!



















We returned to the B&B and walked along Guadalupe, across from the campus. We passed a church, with this giant Wandering Jew plant. I remember growing these in college, but not so big and not so purple. Beautiful!

Back in my room, we watched the BP hearings; I confessed that, if Anna had not turned that on, I would not have watched it, but did find it fascinating. We checked our email, and Katie found a work issue that had to be solved (while on vacation!). The weather is in the high 90's, and kept me awake until 1 AM.