A couple of weeks ago Isaac and I headed out to Austin for a quick weekend trip, and it was SO much fun! We were shooting a wedding there on Saturday, and decided to make a little getaway out of it by heading up on Friday and coming back Sunday. I am so glad we decided to do that. It was one of our last trips before baby James arrives, and MUCH needed. I may have suffered from horribly swollen feet the next few days, but it was SO worth it.
This was, believe it or not, my first time to visit Austin. I’ve been there before, but usually just driving through, or to stop for coffee with some friends. So for this trip I had a few things on my list of things to do in the short amount of time we had to explore the city. There is SO MUCH to do in Austin, and I’m already looking forward to another trip down there in the future (with James, of course!) to keep exploring. We barely touched the surface on our quick weekend trip!
Where We Stayed
I don’t know about you but I L-O-V-E Airbnb. Isaac and I have used it for all of our trips since we got married and haven’t had a bad experience yet. The key is to book in advance, read the reviews, and be open to maybe having to do a little driving. And it’s usually 100% worth it.
We found this cute little cabin on Airbnb and I absolutely loved it. I opted to stay in the outskirts of Austin because 1. I am not a huge fan of big cities (been there, done that), and 2. There’s nothing quite like the quiet peacefulness of being out in the “country”. It was about 30 minutes from Austin, but Isaac and I didn’t mind the drive, especially when it meant staying in such a cute little cabin, having our own “space” and soaking in some of the hill country beauty. It was also dog friendly, and let’s just say Lillie thoroughly enjoyed our trip!
What We Did
As I said before, there is SO MUCH to do in Austin. The more we drove around and the more suggestions people gave me, the more I wished we had a few extra days to spend there. But with the limited time we had I think we did pretty well! ; )
The Capitol Building
Visiting the state Capitol building was the number 1 thing to do on my list. I just felt like it was a rite of passage to be considered a “true Texan”. And it was SO impressive! The architecture was gorgeous, and it was neat seeing all the different areas in the building. We could have gone on a guided tour, but Isaac and I opted to just wander around, especially since I needed to rest a few times from walking over a mile to the Capitol in the heat (it’s like every summer my body has to get used to the Texas heat again. Whomp whomp. At least I can blame it on the pregnancy this year).
SFC Farmer’s Market
I’m a sucker for farmer’s markets, so I spent some time looking around for a good one in the downtown area we could visit while we were there looking at the Capitol building. I stumbled upon the Sustainable Food Center Farmer’s Market and saw it had a lot of positive reviews on Yelp and Google, so we gave it a visit. I’m glad we took the time to go, because I feel like we got a little taste of Austin! There were SO many booths selling meat, organic vegetables, beautiful flowers, and everything else from essential oils and natural deodorants to homemade kombucha and authentic empanadas.
The highlight of the farmer’s market was definitely the empanada I convinced Isaac to let me get. I read the description and realized it was exactly like the ones I used to get all the time in Chile. Turns out I was right. It brought back so many memories of Sunday lunches spent sitting around the dining room table eating empanadas with my family. Worth every bite! I wish I could have bought more to bring to my mom, but we all know they wouldn’t have made it back to Bonham before I ate them all. ; )
South Congress Street
On Sunday after church (we visited Park Hills Baptist Church!) I wanted pizza, so we headed to South Congress Street to grab a piece of Home Slice pizza. I am still dreaming about that pizza, guys. But more on that later. ; ) After eating I wanted to get a picture in front of the “I love you so much” mural (#typicalwhitegirl) so we walked the two blocks to Jo’s Coffee for the pictures. It was busy and crowded but oh so worth it for these priceless pictures. Lillie cracks me up!
On our way back to the car (by the way… parking on South Congress is a joke. Prepare for a nice leisurely walk if you plan on driving there), we stumbled upon a fun little art fair that happens every Sunday called the Gibson Street Artisan Market. It was so fun, and I loved looking at all the handmade jewelry and art that people were selling. I left with some suppperrr cute earrings, and Lillie got some treats, so basically we all left happy. ; )
What We Ate
One of my favorite things about traveling is trying out new restaurants. Isaac and I swear by Yelp, and have found some pretty amazing places because of it over the years. And I had very high expectations when it came to what we ate in Austin. Because it ain’t just every day you visit the state capital city that’s known for its food!
Although there were SO many places I would have liked to visit, we only got to go to two before heading home. Oh well… that just means we have to come back again to try more restaurants! ; )
Phoebe’s Diner
Naturally, finding a good breakfast place was one of the main things on my mind after we settled into our Airbnb. After picking through dozens of restaurants on Yelp, I settled on Phoebe’s Diner. I just really wanted some biscuits (even though I knew they would never measure up to the ones at Magnolia Table) and it was one of the few places I found that had amazing reviews, interesting food and biscuits. #priorities
I am so glad we ended up going to Phoebe’s Diner! It was definitely different than your typical breakfast joint, but the food was amazing and the restaurant was fun and hopping. I got an omelet with their smoked sausage and cheddar cheese, with a biscuit on the side, and y’all… Yum!! The biscuit was one of those heavy, dense ones that are oh so good, and it doesn’t get much better than when they’re toasted and smothered in jelly. Definitely not the healthiest meal, but oh so good!
Isaac got the Migas and it looked amazing. It had crispy masa cakes, scrambled eggs with onion, tomato, hatch chile hollandaise and fingerling potatoes, and got two thumbs up from Isaac! I tried the potatoes and wow, they were amazing! So much flavor, and I loved the texture they got from roasting them.
All in all, I’d definitely go back and I totally understand all the rave reviews!
Home Slice Pizza
If you know me, you know how much I love me a good slice of pizza. When Isaac and I first moved to Euless we stumbled upon the most amazing pizza place e.v.e.r. and we ate there quite frequently. But it closed down last year after the owner had a heart attack and we’ve been left yearning for a replacement that was as good as good ‘ole Sal’s pizza.
And we finally found it.
But it’s in Austin.
Over four hours from home.
And apparently they don’t deliver to Euless.
*cue all the hormonal, pizza loving tears*
Home Slice Pizza was, for lack of a better term, amazing. We went with The Classic (pepperoni and mushroom) for two main reasons. 1. It’s my all time fave, and 2. We get this combo at just about every place we go, so Isaac said if we were going to compare pizza accurately, we needed to have some sort of consistency. Y’all. We don’t mess around with pizza.
The other pizzas and topping combos sounded delicious, but I am SO glad we stuck to our go-to pepperoni and mushroom. The meat was flavorful. The cheese was melty and delicious. The crust was crisp and crunchy. And It was, simply put, a solid pizza.
There’s a reason it’s been rated so high by SO many people!
And yes, when we go to Corpus over Memorial Day weekend with some of our best friends, we’ve already decided to stop by Home Slice on our way down for some midnight pizza munching. Because Home Slice is open till 3AM, yo!
All in all our trip to Austin was SO much fun. We enjoyed the time away from home, had a blast at the wedding we shot, and ate some amazing food. I am so glad we took the trip, and it was a fun way to celebrate the weekend between our birthdays. Y’all… being married to my best friend is the best! He makes every adventure (big and small) the best adventure.
Now it’s your turn to talk! Answer one of these questions in the comments below:
Have you ever been to Austin?
What is a city on your bucket list to visit?
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