Austin City Limits

Double Trouble!

Yesterday, as many of you know, Laura and I took a trip to visit our state capital, Austin. While the weather wasn't necessarily cooperating with us in the morning, it certainly turned out to be a gorgeous day. We left the apartment around 7:00 AM, and we arrived in Austin at about 9:30 or so. From there we started at the capital building, which as amazing! The grounds were beautiful, the layout was incredible, and the scenery was spectacular. From there, we went to a restaurant called The Oasis, which sits atop a "mountain", if you will, and had some lunch. The view was absolutely incredible, and can be rivaled only by that of the landscape in Colorado. Lunch was very filling, and the best part of all, it was only about 12:00! So far, we had driven to Austin, visited and toured the capital, visited the information center, eaten lunch at The Oasis, and gotten back into town.
From there, we went to the Texas State Cemetery. Now I know what you're all thinking, but just give me a minute. The reason we went there was because they have a monument to victims of the attacks on 9/11. There are two beams from the WTC Towers that are displayed as a memorial to those who lost their lives. I can only show a picture of what we saw, but I can never describe the feelings that Laura and I had looking at those two mangled beams. It is something that anyone who comes to visit Texas should go see, and I will do my best to take anyone and everyone there.
Moving on, we found out there was some sort of festival happening on 6th St., which is the equivalent of Water Street, only MANY more bars. Basically there is a bar every other door for about 4 blocks on either side of the road. There were little tents set up on the street and people peddling all of their merchandise. Kind of po-dunk to me, only because I never really enjoyed the whole "flea market" scene. But it was neat to see some of what people had to offer, and I know Laura enjoyed it, which is what was important to me. After walking up and down the street, we grabbed a quick drink at on of the bars, The Chuggin' Monkey to be exact, and decided to head home. Now, the trip home wasn't bad from a weather standpoint like the drive in, but we did get a bit lost, I hit a pigeon, and basically turned a 2 1/2 hour trip into about 3 1/2 hours. Oh well, we made it home!
All in all, it was a wonderful trip, a wonderful time with Laura, and hopefully a wonderful birthday for her. It was god to get out and do something different, and rest assured, we will be taking more trips once we find the time. Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I am going to try to get some posted online somewhere so you can actually see what I am talking about a little bit better than just these few!