WHS Girls in Austin

At our 25-year high school reunion, the girls talked about meeting up in Austin for a girls trip. We actually made it happen and I headed out on Friday night after swim while the girls had already had a day out there to play. They sent me photos and awaited my arrival at the hotel. Unfortunately, I passed out on the plane ride over and had to be examined and given some O2 for the rest of the ride. I also had an embarrassing walk of shame off the plane to meet the EMT waiting for me at the gate.  Too bad I didn’t have a better reason. I hadn’t even had anything to drink yet! I just felt yucky in my seat and passed out on my way to the lavatory.

The next morning, most of the girls went to the spa while Holly and I borrowed the hotel bikes for a little ride into town. We stopped on South Congress Ave to do some shopping and we really did. We had fun browsing the Toms, Warby Parker, and a famous boot store.  Holly got herself a new pair of sunglasses and I picked out a new pair of glasses that should be mailed to me with the prescription I just got from my doctor.

We also stopped for Amy’s Ice Cream and ate outside.

The boot store was a lot of fun and Holly ended up with a cute pair for herself.

The ride back to the hotel was fun but a little scary when a group of young men were riding electric scooters dangerously fast on the downhill in front of us and one hit a bump. Luckily we were able to swerve around him and he somehow recovered without a scratch.

Later in the evening, we had Happy Hour at the hotel and then went to dinner at Odd Duck where the food was really tasty.

We got the fried fish head and many other yummy dishes.

After dinner, we went to a speakeasy called Midnight Cowboy. We had a private room with some of our drinks prepared from a cart. The location used to be a brothel, which made it an interesting little place to visit.

The next morning, I was up early and went downstairs to the lobby for some coffee and reading. Patti was also up and joined me for a morning of peace and quiet.

After breakfast, we went to the Hope Outdoor Gallery to do some spray painting.

It’s a wall that people started tagging and now it’s a popular stop for those who want to leave their mark until someone else comes around and paints over it.

We had fun doing some painting.

What a fun weekend with the girls! Loved that we were all able to get together and catch up. I’ve really missed my Whitney High girls.

Brisket


Jes smoked a whole brisket today and we invited the neighbors over for dinner. They all brought sides and dessert to complete the meal.


Here is the brisket up close. Turned out pretty well but Jes said it could have been better.


While the brisket was smoking, Jes also spent the afternoon mounting the TV to the wall.

Tomato Garden

In early July, I planted some heirloom tomato seeds (two in the back) in the Aerogarden. This is what they looked like on Day 19.


I later moved them into soil outside (two short darker ones in the middle) and they continued to grow. Here they are on Day 59 (8/30/18). I planted basil plants next to each of them (two lighter taller ones).


The plant grew some flowers on top and a few days later (9/3/18),I found my first baby tomato!!


About a month later (10/11/18), I had a ton of green tomato clusters!!


On 10/14/18, I was able to harvest my first batch of tomatoes! Some were already red and the others were picked to ripen on the vine inside the house.


Love these colors!


KK said they were yummy and Peanut (who hates tomatoes) actually tried a couple.


Here’s what they looked like about a week later (10/20/18). So red!

Portland with Holly

This weekend, I took a quick girls trip with Holly to Portland.  The last trip we took together was a big family trip to Hawaii for Yoon’s wedding over 4 years ago. so we were long overdue.  I arrived late on Friday, took the train to the hotel, and met up with Hols who had already checked in.


We had a tapas dinner at Lechon and finished the night with a visit to Voodoo Donuts.

The next morning, the view outside the window was so pretty and we were ready to do some shopping!

We headed out to the Portland Saturday Market, which was blocks and blocks of local street vendors. It was so fun to browse at our leisure for hours without the worry of kids tagging along.

I ended up picking up some jewelry for myself and KK and artwork for the house. I also got a cool handmade leather bag for work.

For lunch, we ate at the market because not only did they have tons of things to buy but had tons of things to eat too! I picked up a gyro wrap and we ate by the waterfront.

Once we were done shopping, eating, and exploring, we headed back to the hotel on the train. It was fun taking out all our goodies and trying them on.

We also both fell asleep and felt refreshed after a long afternoon nap.

For dinner, we went to a Screen Door and feasted on a variety of southern favorites like mac and cheese, fried chicken, biscuits, and gumbo.

Their cocktails were also very good. 😉 What a fun night! Too bad I had to fly back home the next morning.

At the airport, I picked up a few donuts from Blue Star for the family. Yummy!

Thanks to Jes for waching the kids for the weekend!

Austin – Day Three

After a gluttonous morning at Franklin BBQ, we went back to our hotel to take a quick nap and then went for a little dip in the hotel pool.

Unfortunately, it started to rain and then by the time we got back up to our room, it became a giant downpour and flooded the streets for a bit. Once the rain stopped, we headed back out to explore the city one last time. It happened to be Austin’s Pride Weekend and they had a parade down Congress Avenue that evening.

It seems more like a corporate-sponsored parade with every corporation with a presence.  It was still a fun celebration and fun to watch.

Before the end of the night, we went back to SanJac for one more night of live music before heading back to the hotel.

But of course a late night would not be complete without a quick meal off a street cart.

We picked up a couple tacos and ate it on the street.

After a good night’s sleep, we headed back to the airport for an early morning flight back to the Bay Area. What a fun no-kid trip!

Austin – Franklin BBQ

Our morning at Franklin BBQ started early. Unfortunately, I overslept and Jes woke me up by 7:00. My original plan was to get to the line by 7:00 but we got there closer to 7:30.


By the time we arrived, the line was out to the white car in the parking lot and there were two chairs left under the stairs for us to borrow.

Luckily it didn’t rain and the heat in the morning wasn’t bad. Once we got settled, I walked back to the hotel, just one street away, to buy coffee and breakfast.

During our wait, we met two girls who were engineering majors at University of Texas. Next to them was a group of guys from the Sacramento area. There was a bigger group of guys in front of us in line who brought chairs, music, and a cooler of beer. We weren’t nearly as prepared but when the store upstairs opened at 9am, we got to buy beer and wine and use their restroom whenever we needed. It was also nicely air-conditioned in there so I got to cool off a bit each time we needed a refill.


Here’s their Line Manifesto, which is posted out front.

At 11am, the restaurant opened and everyone got up from their chairs and started filling the line inside. We ended up just at the bottom of the ramp and got some shade for the rest of our wait. The buckets of beer continued to follow and the girls joined our little party.

By noon, we were at the front of the door. Woohoo!

Once inside, we got to enjoy the A/C and check out what everyone in front of us had ordered.

Here’s the menu. They only serve beef ribs on Saturdays (main reason we chose to come on this day) and we were one of the last ones in the line who could get some. Earlier in the morning, a guy came around to take our tentative orders so he could predict who would likely get beef ribs. He designated me and my hat as the marker for the last beef ribs so the guy cutting would be able to pace himself.

By the time we got to the counter, there was plenty of beef ribs to go around to the 2-3 groups behind us. The guys in front of us didn’t realize how large they were and cut their order down quite a bit. I’m sure that’s what a lot of people did.

Here’s what we ordered: one beef rib, 1/2 lb brisket, one sausage, potato salad, a key lime tart, and a bourbon pecan tart.

Look at this brisket! I thought yesterday’s was good at la Barbecue but THIS was SO MUCH BETTER!


I didn’t think that was possible but Mr. Aaron Franklin really knows what he’s doing and his brisket is worth the wait!


The look on Jesse’s face this morning was priceless.

Here’s a video of our three groups sitting together to enjoy our meal. Everyone was so happy.

Now for the beef rib. One rib was plenty. The bark was so tasty and the meat was super tender.

Here’s another perfect bite: white bread, brisket with lots of bark, and a pickle on top.

Aaron came out to chat and greet everyone while we were there and was happy to take a photo. Cool dude.

The verdict: If you have the time and another buddy who is just excited for some real Central Texas BBQ, the 5-hour experience of camping out, meeting new people, morning drinking, and happy-halo-over-your-head grubbing on meat is well worth the experience.