The drive from Fredericksburg to Austin isn’t long, only an hour and a half or so but we had a lot on our minds. Julie’s family was coming to visit! Her mom and dad (Laura & Dave) were flying in from Rochester, NY and brother Patrick and sister in law Sarah were flying in from New York City. As Bubbles could not accommodate everyone in this group we had booked a house through Airbnb in Austin. Arriving at our new house for the next few days we met the owner of the home. We found out from her that in Texas you cannot buy a property just to rent it out (for Airbnb anyway). Unlike the condo we had rented in San Diego this was her actual home. We thought that was pretty neat and as such the house did feel a lot more like a home than a hotel. After getting settled in the house we drove out to pick up a rental car that we would be driving for the next few days. We figured it would be a bit easier to get in and out of city areas in a car that can actually fit in a parking garage.
As Julie’s parents were not set to arrive until the next day and due to flight delays Patrick & Sarah were not arriving until late Julie and I set out for a little alone time in the city. First on the list was a meet up with an RVing family that we had been following on YouTube for the past few years. After deciding to start this journey of ours back in January 2017 I started searching around on YouTube to find out if there was anyone out there RVing around the country and posting it to YouTube. I found out that a lot of people were doing it. It was information overload. From all of that information though I stumbled upon a family of 5 and a page called “Keep Your Daydream”. They had started out in Phoenix and were currently traveling/blogging and videoing their travels around North America. Not only were the video’s entertaining but they talked about how to set up your RV and all the how to stuff that a new person needs to know. After showing the page to Julie we were both hooked.
The KYD family (Keep Your Daydream) must be doing something right as they have 98K + subscribers to their YouTube page. The last few months they started to have meet ups so they could meet people following them online. As luck would have it they were in Austin this day and were having a meet up at a local brewery. So we were off. We didn’t really know what to expect as it was a bit rainy and we were a little late arriving. When we arrived though our minds were blown. There had to be at least 150 people there. We grabbed some beers and started talking to people around us. What we found out was that people who were their either just loved watching their video’s online, were thinking or preparing to hit the road or like us were currently traveling and just happened to be in Austin at that time. For us it was really neat as generally when you pull into a campground there are not that many younger RVers. Here we met people 25-45 who were interested in, planning or doing exactly what we were doing. We met and exchanged information with a few people on the road and met a great couple (Zach & Cindy) from San Antonio who we made plans with for when we were there. We also met the KYD family and found out that their video’s are so good as for every 1 minute of video it takes 45 min of work. (It gave us a bit of a boost to work harder on our videos). All in all it was an amazing time meeting lots of inspiring people. Check out the KYD Family – www.keepyourdaydream.com.
From the meet up we headed to a local music venue to check out my favorite Austin musician Bob Schneider. We were lucky enough to see Bob play a festival in Houston while we were visiting with Sam & Brian. Tonight however it was just him with a guitar accompanist. Unlike the crowded brewery festival with 500 people this show was a small setting where Bob really let his guitar skills show. Julie and I sat down in some plastic chairs. It was a bit of a quieter show but that didn’t make it any less great. As the show went on the songs seemed to go from beginner level guitar to expert to god like. By the end everyone in the audience was yelling and clapping after every song. It was a great end to a great day.
The next day we woke up ready to go. First on the day was a volleyball tournament. Craig (who we spent time with at NASA in Houston) has a son (Orion) who plays for a highly competitive travel team in Houston and they were in town. We headed a bit north to Round Rock to the sports complex. Walking into the complex we were blown away. Both Julie and I had never seen such a big indoor volleyball complex before. The complex was a little bit bigger than a football field and as you walked in you were on the 2nd floor. There were 12 games going on simultaneously (6 on each side). Also Julie and I are on the taller side 5’8” and 6’ respectively but both of us felt like midgets compared to almost every one of the players walking around us. Needless to say it was a bit overwhelming. We found Craig and settled in to watch. Orion played for their junior or “B” squad so while they were not expected to win they were still very competitive. While they did come close in a few matches they unfortunately did not win but we had a great time watching with Craig nonetheless.
From Round Rock we headed back down to Austin for lunch with Patrick & Sarah. We met in East Austin at an Asian place. It was great to see them as we had not seen them since visiting them in NYC while we had been home in Rochester over our Christmas break. After lunch while in discussion of what to do next it dawned on me that it was Sunday. Sunday is Chicken Shit Bingo day.
Chicken Shit Bingo. I had learned of this funky game two years prior while on my bachelor party. We had gone to a honky tonk called the “Little Longhorn Saloon” and found out that every Sunday they play Chicken Shit Bingo. We didn’t stick around for the actual game that day but its been on my mind ever since. This is how it works. There is a 10’ by 10’ board with squares numbered 1-50 with a cage built over the entire thing. You then go and buy a raffle ticket ( $5 or $10) and receive a number. At 4pm a chicken is put into the cage. If said chicken decides to make his business on your square you win. The bar is also tiny so this was all set up out back. Getting there was a bit of an issue too as this was a much bigger deal than I had thought. After finding close parking 3 blocks away we wandered over, grabbed some $2 Lone Stars and settled in. About 10 minutes before 4 they started selling raffle (bingo) tickets. Patrick & I got in line each getting one. Then at 4 a chicken was put into the cage. People went nuts. There was a huge crowd around the cage, people hooting and hollering trying to scare the chicken once it got close to their number. This chicken wasn’t having any of it though. After about 10 minutes of nothing a 2nd chicken was put into the cage to try to get the process to move on. We didn’t expect this process to take this long and as such our group of 4 went from watching to standing back then to watching again. Then, finally it happened. The chicken shit! People in the back were yelling “What number is it”? It was 5. I must have played my cards right because what number was I holding….oh yes…5!! After all the money was collected and counted I stood on the small stage with the honky tonk country singer being given my winnings of $114. Never in my life did I ever think I’d be getting money because of a chicken’s rear end.
From the Little Longhorn we still had some time to kill before Julie’s parents arrived so we went over to the local Top Golf to hit a few balls. It was a ton of fun with Julie & Sarah even getting in on the action and showing off their golf skills. We then went out for a quick dinner before Patrick & Sarah retired for the night due to the long travel time the day before. Julie and I went to the local grocery store to stock up before picking up Dave & Laura at the Austin airport.
Here are some highlights from our family days in Austin.
Food!
Austin being a metropolitan city has some great food. Here are some of our favorites that we dined at while in Austin.
- Chez Zee American Bistro in the Allendale area was a great first family meal.
- True Food downtown Austin had a great menu in a cosmopolitan setting which is different than what most of Austin has to offer.
- Counter Culture was a great vegetarian restaurant in Austin’s Bouldin neighborhood.
- Het Sey Vietnamese Kitchen was a good, quick but delicious dinner in the Parker Lane neighborhood near where we rented our Airbnb.
- Black’s BBQ in Lockhart is a must for any BBQ lover. While the original location is not in Austin, Lockhart is only a 30-40 min trip.
- The Old German Bakery & Restaurant in Fredericksburg is the best restaurant in town. If you are in Austin for more than a few days Fredericksburg should be on your list for a day trip. Best German restaurant in town hands down.
- Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood is an institution much like Black’s. Salt Lick is not only the biggest BBQ restaurant that I have ever been to but also the biggest restaurant in general. They can seat literally hundreds at a time. The food is great and the atmosphere is even better. Only 30 minutes from Austin.
Austin Neighborhoods & Parks
- Rainey Street – This is a historic area directly next to downtown Austin. Its bungalow style homes have mostly been transformed into upscale bars and restaurants. It’s neat as you have small former homes with oak trees looming above and the next block over a 20-story condo building being built.
- East Austin – One of the most eclectic parts of the city with bars and restaurants. It has something for everyone. This also has new 20 story condo’s being built.
- Downtown Austin – To us this is the most different part of Austin as it looks like it could be in any new city in America. Big glass towers loom with Trader Joe’s and a few restaurants scattered around. This is not saying however that the restaurants are bad by any means. We had a great meal at True Food downtown.
- Zilker Metropolitan Park – One of the jewels in Austin. This 350-acre park borders the Colorado River on one side and Barton Springs on the other. Barton Springs is a natural swimming hole 3 acres big with a natural temperature of 68 to 74 degrees. Truly and amazing thing to have in a downtown area.
- South Congress Avenue – Vibrant, fun street just south of Downtown. Hotels, shopping, food and drink this street has it all. We had a ton of fun walking and shopping on this street.
Day Trips
San Antonio – As Julie’s parents really wanted to see the Alamo we headed south to San Antonio. San Antonio is only 80 miles south of Austin so it’s a quick getaway. The Alamo is in central San Antonio and very easy to find as it is one of the main tourist attractions in the city. The Alamo and the Alamo complex were very neat. We learned that the Alamo was not just a singular building but also an entire complex of buildings. It was neat relearning about how 100 Texans held off a Mexican army, which numbered in the 1500 range for 10 days. In San Antonio we also toured the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. The only way I can describe this place is as if Disney World came to real life. The sunken canal with shops, restaurants, bars and shops lined the sides with tour boats cruising by every now and then. This is a must see if you are going to San Antonio and have not been before.
Fredericksburg – After spending 3 days in Fredericksburg we were convinced that Julie’s parents would love the town too so off we went back. We texted Carl from Pontotoc winery to see if he was home and if we could taste at his winery. Unfortunately he was not however he did give us some of his favorites to try. We made stops at Lewis Winery & Lost Draw Winery both outside of Fredericksburg. Both were charming and their wines delicious. While in Fredericksburg we took Julie’s parents to the Old German Bakery & Restaurant, which we had been to days earlier and loved. We also shopped around the town stores and had a nice stroll on a beautiful central Texas day.
Overall we had a blast with the Roland family. Julie and I have a blast by ourselves but it is always special when family can join us to see how much fun our trip of a lifetime is.
Next Up……We head 80 miles south to fully explore San Antonio!
