Austin, TX

State Capitol Building

I flew into Austin on the 17th for a 6 day, 4 city tour of Texas. 3 of the cities - Austin, San Antonio and Houston - I'd never been to before, so it was a new adventure.

Downtown Austin -

Impressive structure

Looking south towards Congress Ave.

Austin skyline

Carriage house in disrepair

Burger joint on 6th St.

Lakes and parks -

Lake Austin, above the dam

The dam

Pillars under the 1st St. bridge

Bridges over Lady Bird Lake

Stevie Ray

Nymphs and satyrs

University of Texas - Austin campus -

Infamous clock tower

Darrell K. Royal Stadium

Statue of Earl Campbell - the most devastating RB I've ever witnessed

Longhorns practice

Dinner -

Dinner at Whole Foods - 1/2 lb. of brisket, 1/2 lb. of pulled pork, mug o' root beer

San Antonio, TX

The Alamo

Friday morning, I did a quick day trip down to San Antonio to see The Alamo and River Walk. They're both right in the heart of downtown. To be honest, there's not much to The Alamo and I was much more impressed by River Walk. Call me crazy.


The Alamo - The historic, Texas shrine where the likes of Bill Travis, Davey Crockett, and Jim Bowie died fighting the Mexican army, led by Santa Anna, during the Texas Revolution.

























River Walk - The San Antonio River flows through downtown and is lined with walkways, restaurants, shops, bars and fountains. I loved it. Placid, calm, soothing and relaxing.












































The Main Plaza - immediately west of the San Antonio River and River Walk

Bexar County Courthouse

San Fernando Cathedral

Inside the cathedral

Remains of commanders at The Alamo

Fountain on Main Plaza

View of Courthouse while dropping down into the River Walk

Plano, TX

Czech bakery in West, TX

On Saturday morning, I made the journey from Austin to Plano to visit my friends, Dave and Kathryn. There were two stops along the way.

The first stop was in West, TX where Kathryn suggested I stop at a Czech bakery and pick up some kolaches - it's a type of fruit danish thingy. The bakery was right off I-35 and it was hopping. I got a dozen, consisting of cherry, apple, pineapple and peach.

Busy morning

Kolache menu

The 2nd stop was in Arlington, TX and the Bluegrass Heritage WinterJam. Dave and Kathryn own their own video production company and they were shooting footage for a bluegrass documentary. They allowed me to tag along and watch them in action. Great time and some great music. The documentary is on the future of bluegrass and focuses on a 16 year old guitarist named Lucas.

Location of the Bluegrass Heritage WinterJam

Lucas on stage

A bass mandolin

Bonus "Behind the Scenes" Footage - Lucas jams with Bluefield Express



Sunday in Plano - This is where it gets kind of fuzzy. I went with Dave and Kathryn to a local pub for Sunday Brunch. The Bloody Marys started about 10:30 a.m. We were joined by a group of their friends who I will now refer to as the Plano Posse. After a couple hours at the pub, someone(Kathryn) had the idea to go next door to a roof-top bar called 32º. 7 hours later, we finally left after many drinks and quite a bit of food. The Plano Posse put a whoopin' on me. No other way to describe it.