Austin is just…UNIQUE. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a city like it. And I dig it. There is great food everywhere, tons of cool neighborhoods, and the mural art is out of this world. Even the graffiti I saw was positive.
I arrived in Austin on a Saturday afternoon, March 18, 2023 and invaded the home of my niece Maddie. Maddie is pursuing her PhD at the University of Texas in Austin and lives in an apartment in the Hyde Park neighborhood near campus. She and her chill cat Orion were kind enough to take me in, and I was excited to have a guide to this town I'd heard so much about.
First, a word about my amazing niece: She is brilliant and a world-changer - and her world is plant biology - specifically the mechanisms that regulate flowering, the genetics of microbiology, molecular genetics, the affects of climate change on flowering plants....um - I may not have gotten that all correct...but somewhere in there is the essence of what she does. It's way over my head. Beyond her brilliance, she embodies kindness, runs marathons, has a sly sense of humor, keeps of a very unique bookshelf, and practices guerrilla goodness with a sense of social justice that gives me hope for the future. I'm definitely gonna try to be like her when I grow up.
Maddie had called me while I was on the road and went through a checklist of possible activities for my time in Austin. After the 20th question, I asked her if she was working from an Excel spreadsheet. But she said it was just a list of questions she'd been keeping in her head. I knew I was in good hands.
A brief overview of all we accomplished in my 48 hours in Austin:
1) a comfy bed and hot shower (also dishes, laundry, electricity - not to be taken for granted!)
2) peacock sanctuary
3) climbed Mount Bonnell for bird's eye view of Austin
4) Saturday night = fried chicken at Tumble 22 - yum!
5) Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - Botanic Garden of Texas (bluebonnets are everywhere!)
6) Tyson's Tacos for lunch - yum!
7) Walked around Hyde Park looking at all the cool. homes
8) Trivia Night with Maddie's friends at Black Star Co-op Pub and Brewery - came in 6th out of 22 teams!
9) Snuggles with Orion the cat
10) Book review of the weirdest book of all time: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
I also took time to write while she graded papers (did I mention she's also a teaching assistant for a class of 100 students?) and did yoga while she went for a run. In other words, living with Maddie helped me reach my own goals.
I took my leave Monday morning with recommendations for books, podcasts, local used and independent bookstores, and natural landmarks to check out as I headed west. I found a book I'd been looking for, as well as a ton of funky murals, a record store, and a walking path by a river for a morning walk.
Austin is weird in the very best way. I briefly walked downtown and was struck by the creative murals, community gardens and unique businesses. On a typical street one can see organic cold-pressed juice trucks next to mortgage companies, southwestern saloons advertising duck gumbo next to gyms, art and design studios next to world headquarters. I browsed a record store in one block, an independent bookstore in another. Atop a building labeled "Modern beauty, thyroid and wellness" there were gigantic statues of a fish, a chicken and a chunk of cheese. I still don't know why. The radio stations were awesome, the traffic was busy but flowing, the food scene out of this world (or rather - you can get anything from around this world.) I still don't like cities, but as cities go, I wouldn't mind being stuck in this one.
Thanks, Maddie-cakes!
(For photos of our time in Austin - go to the Views page of the website)
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