I headed to Texas this past weekend along with my friend Faith to attend our friend Suzannah's wedding in Wimberley, just outside of Austin. I had never been to Texas before, other than passing through the Houston airport and thus, was very excited. Plus, I had heard so many Texas stories from Suzannah while I've known her that I was ready to experience it myself. Yeehaw!
I loved the terrain of desert-y, scrubby underbrush. Road runners and petite white-tailed deer roam the land. SUVs and trucks obviously have no problem being sold in Texas as everyone – including us in a rental – drove one. Properties in the country must span acres and acres – you would see gates off the main road but not see the house no matter how hard you looked. Sixty-five miles an hour was too slow for everyone. Wikipedia says Austin is a humid subtropical climate but holy crap, it was 18 degrees one morning and while it did warm up to 69 degrees it was still chilly. Palm trees and chilly. Weird.
You may think you would never be the type to wear cowboy boots but you start hankerin' for a pair after a few hours in Texas.
The wedding took place at outside on the Red Corral Ranch while regular peacocks and white peacocks scurried around. Our friend Kara sang a great rendition of Bob Dylan's "To Make You Feel My Love"and I had to hide behind the guest in front of me so she wouldn't see me cry and start crying herself (Faith went all celeb on me and wore sunglasses so no one could see her crying). Then the wedding party took a hayride to the barn for the reception of BBQ from Salt Lick BBQ and dancing with a great honky-tonk band, The Texas Sapphires (they're on iTunes! Buy their albums!). The BBQ was different than NC BBQ – it was all ribs and beef brisket with a tangy sauce to ladle on top. It was different and delish and I ate way too much. When I knew Suzannah in NYC, she would always bring back Shiner Bock beer on her visits home and I love that beer. I used to be able to get in it NC, but it's no where to be found in the north. At the reception they served Shiner Bock Holiday Cheer and I started computing how much I could toss from my suitcase in order to bring a supply home. In the end, I was too chicken to check a suitcase of beer. I will petition the brewery right away to send some up here.
I only had Frito pie once and am still dreaming about it. You can make your own (bowl, Fritos, chili, cheese, if you're not with a pregnant woman and don't need to impress anyone for three to five days, add onions on top and proceed to stuff yer face).
On our way back to the airport we went to Austin. We visited the headquarters of Whole Foods and I figure if they opened a hotel on top of it, people will stay there. It was gorgeous and expensive and it's where people hang out, from the looks of it on a Sunday. We also went to Travis Heights, a funky area of shops and cafes. I resisted the call of cowboy boots. We disappointedly did not see Matthew McConaughey playing the bongos anywhere. I would've like to see the bats that migrate to a certain bridge in Austin, but they've already left for winter. I also would've liked to leave the airport in Dallas and go to Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum but that didn't happen either.
For a small collection of pics, head over to my Texas Yeehaw photos. And yeehaw!
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