After spending New Year’s in New Orleans, Shae, Truffles and I started making our way west to New Mexico. We stopped off along the way in Houston, then made our way on to Austin where we stayed 11 nights.
We’d already spent some time in Austin in the first year of our road trip, but it was nice to revisit as we got to stay downtown this time rather than on the outskirts (we stayed in Round Rock to the north last time as that was the best value hotel option we had).
Time spent working and COVID limited what we were able to do, but here’s a quick recap of everything we did during this recent visit to Austin.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the Hyatt House Austin Downtown as we got a great deal there by taking advantage of Hyatt’s Best Rate Guarantee policy. Thanks to a Chase Offer on a couple of our Chase Hyatt credit cards, our net cost came to just under $70 per night including tax for a suite with a full kitchen.
Here’s a complete review of our stay, along with information about how we managed to get such a low rate.
Where We Ate
About 20% of our January budget was spent on eating out, with much of that happening in Austin. The expense was worth it though as we got to eat some great food during our time there.
From BBQ to vegan food to wine to donuts to Asian food and more, it was all delicious. Check out 8 Great Places To Eat & Drink In & Around Austin, TX for full details about everywhere we ordered food from.
What We Did
Our hotel was only a couple of blocks from the State Capitol building, so we wandered all around there one day soon after we arrived. We gave it a miss after that though as it was leading up to the inauguration of President Biden and so we were concerned that what happened in D.C. on January 6 might kick off in Texas too. Thankfully nothing happened as there was a heavily armed police/military presence around the Capitol. The building itself was closed for several days either side of inauguration day.
Thankfully it reopened just before we left Austin as that meant Shae was able to visit the Texas Capitol Visitors Center for her online virtual field trip classes as the Visitors Center contains a museum featuring all kinds of information about Texas. The Visitors Center itself isn’t in the Capitol building, but it’s next to it and so had previously been closed off as well for security.
Although we gave the area around the Texas Capitol building a miss for much of our stay, we did enjoy wandering the city. Due to COVID, downtown was much quieter than it was when we visited back in October 2018, so it was easier to physically distance than we’d imagined.
Austin has all kinds of electric scooter and bike options, so one day Shae and I rented some Jump bikes to buzz around the city. Austin is more hilly than you might expect, so it was nice to get the electric boost to help you uphill in addition to your own pedal power.
With Austin having so many hills, it’s worth taking a trip up to Covert Park at Mount Bonnell. This provides some great views of Austin and the Colorado River below.
Shae and I enjoyed the views; Truffles enjoyed trying to get the attention of all the people walking by.
Shae met up with a couple of people she knows online – one time while I worked and another while I slept in. The two of us also met up with a few other people we know, with one of them being one of Shae’s fellow Outschool teachers and two of her kids. We had lunch outside at Crepe Crazy, then went on to Milton Reimers Ranch Park in Dripping Springs.
Our plan had been to do a bit of hiking while there, but when getting down to the Pedernales River we all decided to chill down there for the afternoon as it was so lovely. Even though the water was cold due to it being January, we still enjoyed paddling around in the water a little.
One evening we met up with our friends Drew and Carrie from Travel is Free; Carrie and I both work part-time for Frequent Miler, so we’re colleagues now as well, so it was good to see them in person again.
Another afternoon we met up with Amy and Tim Rutherford of GoWithLess in Round Rock and who are fellow full-time travelers. We then met up with them again in Georgetown on our way out of Austin.
Finally, the pièce de résistance. One of the Christmas gifts I ordered for Shae was delayed which meant it didn’t arrive in Virginia until after we left. It finally arrived, so Shae’s mom forwarded it to us while we were in Austin.
And here it is – Truffles on a blanket!
I ordered it from Crown & Paw; you upload a photo of your pet and they superimpose it on to a piece of artwork of your choosing (they have a wide selection of art to choose from) and there are all kinds of products you can get the finished image on too.
Seeing as we travel full-time, we try to minimize what we cart around with us in our car. I therefore wanted to order something that would also have practical use, hence a giant blanket which is surprisingly cozy.
[…] February came and went particularly quickly. I guess that’s to be expected seeing as it’s the shortest month, but it doesn’t feel like that long ago that we were in Austin, TX. […]