Spring Break

Here's the round up of our spring break with Uncle Andrew.

On Monday we drove south down the I-35 and stopped for lunch at Heritage Homestead Farm, just north of Waco.  J and I had visited before, when we came down to see out friends, the Smiths, last September.  This time the temperature wasn't in the 40s(C)/100s(F) so it was much more pleasant to wander in the gardens, see the animals, and visit the different homesteading craft buildings (pottery, woodworking, forge, mill, fibre arts).  We ended our visit at the cafe.  Yum! (Best falafels ever!)

We carried on south to Austin, where Andrew's friend (Stephen) is studying.  Before we unpacked the car, S suggested that we stay in San Marcos where he had access to a family house.  So after a quick pit stop and wandering his campus, we climbed back in the car and headed for dinner on the way.

Dinner.  Well, we weren't underfed!  We visited The Salt Lick, a famous barbecue eatery just out of Austin.  It was the week of SXSW (a music festival) so there were lots of folks out, but even so, you could tell this place was popular.  Think: literally acres of parking; at least 40 minutes to wait until we were seated; enough seating to feed about 500 people per sitting; live music; and then the food...

The tag line on their advertising is "You can smell our pits for miles" and that heady mix of charcoal, sizzling meat and BBQ sauce was definitely enticing.  A and S tackled the all-you-can-eat meal, where as N and I just tackled the mixed plate of brisket, ribs, sausage, potato salad and bread rolls.  Wouldn't want to be permanently vegetarian and come here.  Needless to say, the Lenten fast didn't last this night.  J snacked off our plates, but really drank more of the old-fashioned lemonade than anything else.  It was good.

Tuesday morning we made pancakes for S with a yummy cranberry mix from the Heritage Homestead Mill, and packed up.  We drove through to San Antonio and went directly to the zoo.  It was a bit of an adventure because our Google directions initially took us to the wrong place.  A friendly corner dairy owner pointed us in the right direction, and with one further stop to clarify directions with a passerby, we made it to the zoo, only to be turned aside by traffic police.  We turned into the nearby park to find a way to turn around, and found a carpark within walking distance of the side entrance!  A short wait and we were inside.  Lots of animals, lovely sunshine (enough for a little redness later), reasonably priced lunch, gift store plastic animals as a souvenir, and two tired wee boys.

 After checking in to the hotel, J napped and then we walked to El Mercado or the marketplace stalls, live music and food vendors.  We tried tripas tacos, chicken gorditas, bean and cheese gorditas, and gave A his first taste of funnel cakes.  An episode at the playground as the sun set before we all traipsed back to the hotel to crash.

Wednesday morning we walked to The Alamo, and wandered through the museum exhibits and courtyard.  I was a little distracted by a cranky 2-year-old so I think I'd enjoy it more if I could have taken my time a little more.  So we went on and found an elevator to the river level of the Riverwalk.  Had a beautiful lunch in one of the Tex-Mex eateries and then wandered back to the hotel to pick up the car.  We drove back through San Marcos and visited the outlet stores before heading to S's in Austin for the night.

Had another lovely breakfast with him on Thursday, and then A and I took the boys to the vintage shopping strip (South Congress, south of the bat bridge) while N did some study.  Some of the SXSW bands were doing performances in the eateries along the street so we heard some of the music, saw plenty of musicians and groupies (what is it about indie rockers and scruffy facial hair?) and tried some yummy icecream.  We drove back to Dallas in one hit that afternoon (because both boys slept for most of the trip).  Exhausted, but well-rested in another sense.  Ahhh, Spring Break!