HAPPY B-DAY LeeAnne!! LeeAnne planned out our entire day today in Austin, TX. We started off at Stubbs BarBQ restaurant. About a block away we came upon several police cars, and were diverted to another street. We thought it must have been a huge accident based on the number of police cars and the crowd of people gathering on the street. We passed a fire house and there were six firemen standing at the curb, looking down the street as well. I rolled down the window and asked if they knew what was going on. They said, “The President is here”. “Our President?” I responded. They smiled, “Yes Mam”. We didn’t see him, but it was exciting that we were so close!
Stubbs restaurant was really great. We were there at lunchtime, so it was quiet compared to what it is at dinner when the restaurant doubles as a concert venue. On Sundays, Stubbs hosts a gospel breakfast. There is no way that you could mistake the fact that we were now in Texas. The “Lone Star” adorns almost every building, and is displayed on many houses in some way. Gotta love the spirit, Texans are pretty proud of their state. Our lunch was awesome – we had ribs, chicken, fries, beans etc.
Next we took a drive around The University of Texas campus. We saw the Longhorn Stadium and some beautiful buildings including the Scottish Rite dormitory and some fraternity houses. We walked a few blocks to browse through some very eclectic and artsy shops. It was fun to see several little trailers that were decorated with Pop Art, selling anything from shaved ice, to Texas BarBQ. LeeAnne was excited to visit the “Hello Cupcake” trailer that she had researched on line to enjoy a B-day cupcake. We spotted it across the street and down a few blocks. It was over 100 degrees and across the street was the sunny side! As luck would have it, we were standing right in front of an ice cream/shaved ice shop, so we stepped in to “cool” off (ha ha ha, you know that we bought ice cream). LeeAnne resisted the cooling off opportunity, and was holding out for her cupcake. Then it was out into the blazing sun, and across the street to the shiny aluminum trailer with the huge pink cupcake on the top, and the open sign illuminating the window. After a few short stops in the shade, we arrived. CLOSED!!!!!!!! So sad L We definitely owe her a B-day cupcake at some point.
We drove to a mural that LeeAnne wanted to see (it was cute), and took pictures at the Capital. Our collection of State Capitol buildings is growing fast! Then it was off to Chuy’s restaurant for a Tex-Mex meal. We all got different kinds of burritos and appetizers. This trip has not been kind to our diets J
The Bat’s emergence from under the Congress Street Bridge was scheduled for around 9pm, so we finished dinner and parked in the garage at the Radisson Hotel. Oops……………What was that crash? “It was the Honda!” yelled Paul. I looked around – “what Honda?” Rich yells “@$%#” We forgot about the carrier on the top of the car!!! We didn’t quite fit under the 6ft3’’ clearance bar. Garage attendants came running to see what happened, and we were afraid to look. We were sure that all of the contents of the cocoon, and cocoon pieces, would be strewn everywhere! Wow! Props to Honda!!!!! Our shell flattened when it needed to, and sprung right back! Luckily it was all soft pillows, sleeping bags, mats etc., so nothing was harmed. We still had to take it off the car and put it and it’s contents into the car so we could continue through the garage to park and eventually, exit.
There were people standing all across the bridge and in boats, Kayaks, and rafts below. I was SO excited! At about 8:45 they began to come out, one by one. By 9, they were swarming right below where we were standing! Erin and I were snapping photos like crazy. It was dark, and looking down with the dark water you couldn’t see anything in the camera viewer. To complicate the pics even more, the bats are FAST! It was so much fun! After taking a combined total of about 150 (no lie) pictures, we actually came up with a few good one’s.
We got the cocoon re-connected, off to Columbus, TX. Long drive again, we pulled in a bit earlier this time, 1:30am.
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