I started CrossFit in October 2016. I had (and still have) a love/hate relationship with the sport but one of my favorite things about my journey with CrossFit is all the amazing people it’s brought into my life. I met my friend Alex at the gym. We had fun together during classes but didn’t know each other outside of the gym. We started to spend more time together doing non-CrossFit things and in early 2019 Alex texted me one day and said “I know this is random but would you want to go to Austin with me at the end of May?”. Austin had been a place on my bucket list for a while but Jarrett and I had just booked our trip to California (see Pacific Coast Highway, California – 2019 post) and I wasn’t sure if I could swing going on another trip so soon after a week long vacation. Opportunities like that don’t often fall in your lap though, so I said “Let’s do it!”. Alex was going for a work conference so I would fly down separately to meet her when the conference ended and we’d have the weekend to explore. This was the first time I’d be flying solo and I was nervous, but it ended up working out great.
I left early on a Friday morning and arrived in Austin around noon. Alex and I decided to start our trip with a workout so we dropped in at CrossFit 2024. The owners were so friendly and nice, plus they had dogs there, which always makes me happy. After our workout we grabbed some tacos at a small restaurant near the gym and then headed to our AirBnB. We stayed in a condo-type building called Corazon that sat in between East 6th and East 5th streets. The location was awesome and the room itself was nice. The condo building was a little confusing to navigate but after a few times in and out of the building, we figured it out. I loved how walkable Austin was too. It was very hot, I think I pretty much wore black shirts every day to hide my sweat, but it was still nice being able to walk most places.
We started our exploration in the East end. Our first stop was WeatherUp, a cocktail bar, but unfortunately the weekend we went was their last weekend opened. After, we went to get dinner at La Barbecue – the brisket was fantastic. We had some time to kill before we were going to meet up with some of Alex’s co-workers so we popped in at a really cute bar called Stay Gold. I think this bar has also closed since we were there but we loved it. They had a really cool jazz/blues type band playing inside and outside they had a great patio area. Once we left there, we went to meet Alex’s co-worker Katie at Whisler’s, a hipster bar with a special bar section dedicated just to Mezcal cocktails.
We popped over to Lazarus Brewing Co. next, which I loved! They had a big indoor area and outside there was a stage where a band was playing. I think it was here that I started to fall in love with Austin. Throughout the city there was music everywhere. Every place we went was so laidback and most were dog friendly. Even though I had never been to the city before, I felt so comfortable. The next stop was The Grackle, a classic dive bar. The three of us went there and met up with another coworker, Ryan. We moved on to The Hotel Vegas/Volstead Lounge and sat outside. There was a huge outdoor area with some food trucks. It was pretty crowded but a cool place to hang out. The four of us went to Revelry Kitchen & Bar to meet up with the rest of their co-workers. We were here for a while and got some food too, which I think was pretty good but to be honest, I don’t remember it all too well 🙃 Our last stop of the night was Latchkey. We were only here for a quick drink before we all went our separate ways. It was a great start to the weekend and an introduction to Austin’s fun nightlife.
Right next to our AirBnB was a fantastic coffee and breakfast joint, Wright Bros. Brew & Brew. We went there for coffee every morning and breakfast one day. It was so cute and convenient. There was also a small kitchen nearby serving breakfast tacos so before we started our second day of exploring, we grabbed food there. I don’t remember the name of it and I’m unsure if it’s even still there but it was attached to a small music venue. The tacos were so good though, so I hope they’re still around. We grabbed a Lyft and headed to the southern part of the city. Our first stop on South 1st Street was Gourdough’s to get one of their big fat donuts! They’re made fresh and served piping hot. I got a maple bacon donut, which was delicious and incredibly sweet. We had a few destinations to hit on South 1st Street, the next being Art for the People, an adorable art gallery and store. We loved this place, I definitely recommend checking it out! While in that area we also had to get pictures with the well known mural “Greetings from Austin”.
After getting pictures of the mural, we crossed over to South Congress Street. We stopped by June’s All Day for champagne and French fries. We headed north on South Congress, popping into a variety of different stores. We of course had to check out the famous Allens Boots store. Alex tried on some hats and we admired the boots but ultimately didn’t buy anything. Our next stop was the oak garden at Guero’s Taco Bar. I could’ve sat there all day drinking margaritas and listening to music under the giant oak tree. We hopped over next door to Perla’s Seafood to meet up with Alex’s coworker Ryan again. I got a watermelon mezcal margarita there that was to die for! We finished up South Congress street at the Yeti flagship store and bar. The seats at the bar were Yeti coolers with cushions on them and they served canned beer in Yeti coozies, which I thought was pretty cool! We went back to our AirBnB to freshen up but we made plans to meet up with Ryan later on after dinner.
For our second night we decided to check out 6th Street to the west of our AirBnB nicknamed “The Dirty Sixth”, famous for the live music, bars and debauchery! We got dinner at Eureka. They had great burgers and our bartender was a lot of fun. Ryan meet us there and then we went over to Prohibition Pig to check out their rooftop bar. It was very loud but a cool location. The next stop was the Museum of the Weird…which was obviously very weird. I had heard about it when I researched the trip and since one of Austin’s slogans is “Keep Austin Weird” I thought it was something we needed to do. Honestly, it was pretty funny and strange, but not sure if it’s really a must do if you visit. I’m not sure I’d go again.
After that, we went to Voodoo Donuts to get a snack. We walked east through Dirty Sixth, which was quite an experience. The street was mostly shut down so people could walk freely from bar to bar. There were long lines to get into pretty much every place and dueling music pouring out from every bar. It was chaotic. We ended up at Easy Tiger (their previous location – they’ve since moved further down East 6th St.) which was a really cool place. They had a great drink selection and a nice outdoor space. Afterwards, Alex and I were hungry so we said goodbye to Ryan and ventured further east. We came across a little village of food trucks. We got some Brazilian food – to be honest, I don’t remember what I even ate, but the guys running the truck were so nice!
Day three was the day I was looking the most forward to. We were going to hit up Rainey Street for Sunday Funday. Rainey Street is a historic street in Austin. I also like to describe it as adult Disneyland. The whole street is lined with bars with great outdoor spaces and lots of music. On Sundays a lot of them had specials on mimosas, so we were going to take full advantage of that! The first bar of the day was Bungalow. Something I loved about Austin was the fact that so many of the bars and restaurants that had outdoor seating also had outdoor misting fans. We sat right by a misting fan drinking mimosas and it was fantastic!
We went to Container Bar next, which is made up completely of storage containers. It was really cool and I’m glad we went because I was so intrigued when I first read about it. We popped next door to Clive, another cute bar with a great outdoor area. Ryan met up with us again and we went to Parlor Room. Again, we sat outside, drank super cheap mimosas and played games.
We were starting to get hungry so we stopped in at Banger’s Sausage House and Garden. I loved this place so much. They have a drink called the ManMosa – it’s a full bottle of champagne and some orange juice in an over sized mug – it was the best. Their beer garden is unreal. The day we went they had an amazing brass band playing. They walked around with their instruments and even played Spice Girls “Wannabe” at one point. We got food from their outside smokehouse, which was excellent. Even though I’ve only been there once, I still miss it to this day. After Bangers we went to Icenhaurs. At the time, one of the cocktails they had there was called The Susan, so of course I wanted to go try it. They also had a great outdoor space and a band playing too. Ryan’s flight was soon so we went to one last bar with him before he went to the airport. We stopped at Lucille’s for margaritas and played Hungry Hungry Hippos because we are mature adults!
After Ryan left, we went to Craft Pride. There was an amazing blues singer there. They also had a food truck, Via 313 Pizzeria, so we got a pizza to take back to our AirBnB…however, it never made it there, we ended up sitting on the curb outside the bar devouring it. Hands down the best pizza of my life! We went to bed somewhat early because we were very tired and buzzed from drinking all day.
I was so sad to leave Austin the next morning. I had such a strong connection to the city. When I got back to New Hampshire I told people that if you took my personality and turned it into a city, it would be Austin. I haven’t stopped thinking about this trip and I need to go back! I wish I was a millionaire so I could buy a second home there and visit all the time. There are also so many places outside the city that I want to go back and explore too. I can’t recommend visiting Austin enough. For a city that I’ve never lived in, it feels so much like home. Also, Alex and I traveled so well together, she is one of the best travel buddies and I’m so glad I got to experience this city with her!
Have you ever been to Austin? If so, what was your favorite part? Let me know below!
📍I acknowledge the lands mentioned in this post are the ancestral lands of the Jumanos, Coahuiltecan, Numunuu Sookobitu (Comanche), Ndé Kónitsaaíí Gokíyaa (Lipan Apache), Sana and Tonkawa people.
The Adventures of Suze 
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