Texas is a state of mind

It’s also a place and Brian and I spent the rest of the weekend exploring some things Austin has to offer.

After we got the country-living out of our system at the demolition derby, Brian and I decided to class things up a bit. We started Sunday morning with brunch at Fonda San Miguel.

It was a gorgeous building with a lot of authentic Mexican food and delicious mimosas.

The building was beautiful, from the plates to the chandeliers.

We ate in the back room.

The food was served buffet-style, with the chefs standing behind to fill plates and describe the different dishes. They were all very down to earth and it was useful having someone there to tell you what you were eating, even though the waiter had described it all before we got up to get our food.

And what is brunch without dessert?

It was amazing in case there was any question.

After brunch we drove around the Hyde Park area of Austin looking at cool houses. There are a lot of big, old houses that are gorgeous. When we had our fill of nice neighborhoods, we went downtown to check out a charity even happening at a jazz lounge. We were in search of live music, but when we arrived found that the event had a DJ, so we opted for a cafe across the street while we decided something different to do.

We ended up at the Texas State Capitol building.

I take most out-of-towners here because I think it’s such a cool building.

Especially with the careful attention to detail. Even the door hinges are custom made!

After walking around the capitol building (and discovering that Texas had a female governor in the 20’s!), we decided to head home to relax. We got side-tracked, though, when Brian spotted a Tempurpedic store on the way.

Of course we had to stop. We were the only ones in the store, so the saleswoman spent some time helping us find the perfect bed. The next time we have $4000 lying around, I know just what we’ll get. Did you know they make air-conditioned beds?

After the mattress store, it was my turn to pick the detour, so we stopped to get a picture with the Austin, TX mural.

We did eventually make it home, despite all the stops, though we didn’t stay there for long. We hadn’t found our live music yet, so we went out that night to White Horse to see the Urban Achievers Brass Band play. Apparently they’re the usual Sunday night band and they were pretty good. Brian even danced with me! After that we walked a few blocks to get some pizza and barbecue at a food trailer park. We found air conditioning in another bar while we enjoyed our pizza. A win-win in Brian’s book.

The next day was Brian’s last in Austin, so naturally we spent it going to car dealerships and acting like we were going to buy a car. We test drove a Mercedes and then stopped by the Porsche dealership where Brian had the salesman all but convinced he was going to spend $80k on a Panamera. Needless to say, we left for the airport in my 2002 Subaru.

Definitely a great weekend, even if I went home without a new Porsche.