We drove into Austin in search of a cheap and cheerful motel in the heart of things, as advised by our trusty Lonely Planet guide we pulled into the Austin Motel which seemed to fit the bill. But it seemed the receptionist had pulled on his grumpy pants that morning (or more likely he never takes them off – maybe there too tight?) and took an instant dislike to us as we parked in the wrong spot to run in and ask for room rates.
So after scoring yet another amazing deal at the Hampton Inn & Suites we took full advantage of our plush beds and got stuck into some serious TV action where Hayley got her first taste of “True Blood“! The next night we tried to meet up with a mutual friend of Hayley’s, but he had his folks in town for the weekend so he gave us the numbers of his band mates to show us around instead! So we ventured off to Beauty Bar to meet the lead singer of Scorpion Child Aryn who was working there that night. We had a few drinks with Aryn’s friends from another band Castle – Tyler and Hutch and still damaged from New Orleans had an early night.
The next day Aryn took us to Barton Springs which is a natural spring in the city that is a much needed cool down from the Texas heat and then we all headed to the Jackalope for some food and a very big cocktail thanks to the owner Jason!
We then headed to Parish to watch a band, meet Tyler and dance the night away!
The next day was our first 4th July experience, we were a bit slow getting out the door to watch the fireworks on the river so we settled for watching them through the buildings instead. Same diff?!
The next morning we were due to check out of our lap of luxury, but upon being woken up by drilling with an epic hangover Josie proceeded to call management and demand a free night for the inconvenience. Mission accomplished we used it to the fullest and had another bed bound day! But even by the next day Austin had our hearts and we were not ready to leave just yet so we decided to find somewhere to camp and headed out of town to Lake Travis, but when we got there we quickly realized camping is not such a savory option around Austin and after visiting a few options (including Hippy Hollow, a nudist part of the lake that yet again involved nude unattractive men with sensible shoes) booked ourselves into an Extended Stay apartment for another week. We spent our days exploring the city, buying up big at the thrift and vintage stores and discovering the delights of Mighty Cone (a delicious slaw, fried chicken and coated fried avocado combo):
The evenings were spent meeting the rest of the band members. We went on a Bloody Mary trail with Shaun
Went to a Castle gig and hung out back stage with Tyler, Mingy and Hutch
Did karaoke with Chris and Aryn from Scorpion Child
And then there was the night we decided to get tattoo’s…
We tried to leave Austin several times, but it kept drawing us back for another hour, another day, another week! But after a 2 week stay we kissed it goodbye and hit the road again…
