Weekend Recap: Eric's 30th in Austin!

I want to kick off this post with a HUGE thank you for all the London/Europe tips, advice, comments, etc. I'm so very grateful. Grateful doesn't even begin to describe really. I'm only there for a week and want to maximize everything I can, so I just thank you guys so much.

Now to talk about a trip closer to home, but still somewhere neither Eric nor I had ever been-Austin, TX! We had an absolutely blast this past weekend for his big three-oh!

So, without further adieu, here's Eric's bday weekend in Austin! His birthday was on Thursday, so that's when we flew in. This is gonna be long (sorry), but it's his birthday post, so I want to capture it all... Plus, we crammed a lot into a single weekend and you know I had to capture it all on film...

view from our room at the Hilton off 4th street

Eric really wanted to stand up paddle board...and while I was excited and intrigued, I have the balance of a drunk monkey, so I was also a little worried. It was actually really easy and super fun! We SUP'd all the way down Lady Bird Lake to Barton Springs Pool and back... :)

We both seriously now want our own. Not even being a teensy bit overdramatic.

After getting a glimpse of Barton Springs from the paddle boards, we opted to head over and take a dip in the technical "pool" part. Fed by underground springs, the pool stays a crisp 68 degrees year-round. Pretty sure my legs went slightly numb from the chill at first, but it was a cool experience and the water was clear and beautiful.

If I'd gone to college in Austin, I would have tried to lifeguard here. I'm just saying. 

After thawing out a little, we opted to head up to The Oasis restaurant on Lake Travis, famous for it's breathtaking views (but not so much for its food). We took friends' advice and skipped the meal, but went straight for a drink to overlook the gorgeous lake.

Oh annnnnd it was The Oasis' 30th birthday, too! (I may have taken our plastic cups that said "30 years." I mean.. I think you were allowed to, but I didn't really ask, so there's that.)

Got back and changed for Eric's bday dinner at La Condesa! Some of you had recommended it (thank you!!) so I googled and found many, MANY more excellent reviews. All the recommendations were spot on. Excellent food, out-of-this-world cocktails.. yeah... two thumbs up for La Condesa!

Happy Birthday to Eric!

We took our first pedicab ride... (I'm really sorry to this lovely lady whose booty is now on my blog. Just wanted to capture the moment).

Had an after dinner drink at a rooftop bar on 4th where we were legitimately too full to even finish our drinks. Seriously, my stomach HURT it was so full... but it was so worth it.

Saturday, we started the day with a food tour by Austin Eats Food Tours. I'd found them on a food critic's blog and decided to give 'em a whirl. One thing you should know about Eric and me is that we love to try local food. And Eric is moderately obsessed with food trucks. Seriously. And Austin is the food truck capital of the world, so this food tour sounded right up our alley. 

From 10:00-1:30, we enjoyed a fabulous walking tour of downtown Austin's best little local gems, starting with the farmers' market and taking us to Sandra Bullock's bakery/restaurant, a local pub, a BBQ place, a cupcake place, Whole Foods flagship store, an Austin landmark hamburger restaurant, and more. We kicked off the day with breakfast tacos from a food truck. Can't.go.wrong.

Finished the day with our choice of local beer or local root beer. Having full bellies, we both opted for the root beer. Uh.mazing. 

Overall an awesome experience and I'm so glad we did it. They have a lot of different tours so if you're ever visiting Austin, check them out! They also get a lot of locals so even if you call Austin home, you should go!

Later that day, two Oklahoma football fans found themselves in a sea of burnt orange. Neither of us had been to the stadium, so we found some tickets on the cheap and decided why not.

College football is almost a religion in our part of the country. 

We stayed through halftime, then headed to get a drink on the rumored-to-be-more-calm-than-6th Rainey Street. We both decided this is where we'd frequently get drinks if we lived in Austin. Loved it. Old homes turned into bars, lots of seating, bands playing...fabulous.

Grabbed a drink at the Lustre Pearl on Rainey Street

And then...we hadn't eaten since the food tour and were finally hungry! Our guide had recommended an Indian food truck, the G'raj Mahal. People bring their own adult beverages and enjoy Indian food at this quirky, cool little truck/cafe. I was floored when I saw how elaborate it is...

A little three man jazz band provided the soundtrack our meal. And in case you were wondering, it beat any Indian food I've had. Period.

We headed back today, but not before stuffing ourselves one last time at brunch at Moonshine's. Two rooms FULL of a brunch buffet. Dear Gawd if I'd gone to college in Austin, I would have surpassed any silly little "freshman 15" and gone straight to the freshman one hundred.

Glad we paddle boarded on day one because I'm pretty sure I would have looked like I had a food baby if we'd waited til today to do it. Either that or I would have sank to the bottom of Barton Springs.

All in all, a fabulous weekend! Eric says he had a great time ringing in his 30s there which makes me happy. :) I don't wanna get too cheesy here, but I really dig that guy and I feel so lucky and blessed to get to celebrate awesome milestones like this together. We have so much fun together, especially when traveling. He made my 30th so special, so I hope he had even half the fun he showed me when I turned 30.

Okay, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go run on a treadmill and eat lots of celery... ;)