Texmess Part 2: Dallas and Austin

So, the reason for us planning a last minute trip to Texas came about because we had friends who would be travelling though (and obviously because we've always wanted to go!)

After Salado, we drove up to Dallas to meet Camille and Meagan. Because they had come across from New Mexico, or northern Texas somewhere they had a bit of a drive before getting to Dallas. While we were in Salado a bunch of people told us they didn't like Dallas, but Fort Worth was ok. Always down for travel advice, we visited the Fort Worth Stockyards on the way to Dallas. The stockyards are an area in the city that is all cowboy. They have a huge indoor rink where rodeos are held on the reg. There are also a bunch of bars and shopping areas which are pretty cute, and the worlds largest Honky Tonk. I'm not even sure what that means. Twice a day they also run the longhorns through the street. Just for fun! 

Fitzy is locked up under a southern sorority girl, and protected by longhorns. At Billy Bobs in FW.

You can make them into a chair... or ride them!

In Dallas we tested out AirBnB, which we hadn't done at all before. Basically you are renting out someones house, so you can get a big place for a few people and not pay an absolute fortune. The place we stayed at was pretty awesome. Spa on the rooftop, large kitchen and living area and 3 bedrooms. It's pretty weird being in someone else's house though. 

I took us on a slight mission on the first night for some delicious Mexican food. We didn't want to drive, so we could take full advantage of the margaritas (obviously) so I found a place we could walk to. I always forget that walking around cities you don't know isn't always the best idea, and in this case it was a little shady. Luckily we had no problems and took the highway route on the way home! The next day we had southern soul food for breakfast and we got our first taste of grits. So, grits are basically just ground corn they are sort of cooked up like porridge. For breakfast I had them with garlic, poached eggs, bacon and lots of cheese. It's a strange texture, but they were pretty delicious. We then spent the afternoon touring the JFK museum. This was pretty interesting for us, as none of us knew a lot about what happened. 

Causing trouble in the hot tub. Also, Po Po on segways! YES!

That night we met up with some friends, of our friend's boyfriend. Lost? It was a long connection, but in true southern hospitality, these guys met us out for drinks! It was awesome and super lovely of them to meet us. They also provided the perfect guidance for what we should be doing in Austin.

Ah Austin. The town we'd heard so much about. This city did not let us down. Our hangovers may have thought otherwise, but it really was a good time. Austin's 6th Street, seems to be a never-ending street full of bars and restaurants. We ate the best wings we've ever had there, had many delicious cocktails and pulled out some of our best dance moves. We found a Flick look-a-like, witnessed some questionable co-worker activity and played arcade beer pong. It had everything we needed, and I wish we could have spent more time there.

The Capitol Building. Struggling with life.

So many loves.

On our way back to Houston we stopped at City Market in Luling, for some more BBQ. This place was impressive. There was a huge line to order your food, but this was totally worth it. We may have over ordered, but again we weren't super sad about the situation. I haven't eaten BBQ since getting back to Canada. I'm ready to get back on that horse!

Meat, meat, meat! Say "no" to carbs.

Texmess Part 1: Houston and Salado

Howdy partner! Reporting back from our Texas getaway. We’ve wanted to go to Texas for years. Back in 2008 when we were travelling Europe we stayed with a friend of my Aunty’s. and she told us all about the time she lived in Texas. We were hooked.

Conveniently, we had some friends from home that were planning a bit of a road trip from Vegas to New Orleans. We managed to tag in with that lot and meet them in Dallas and Austin. Now, before that happened O’Hara and I spent 4 nights exploring some other parts of Texas.

Boots and belts everywhere

First night in, we managed to catch up with a new friend that lives in Houston. We only just met him over Christmas at a friends wedding. Perfect timing! He took us for some fabulous tacos and margaritas and then followed it up at a true cowboy bar. This was our first western bar experience, complete with trying to two-step and line dance. We learnt a few moves, all in preparation for when we take up the rodeo circuit.

Nailed it

On Saturday we got lucky, and were taken to a shooting range for some clay pigeon shooting. We had done this once before at a friends farm, and I was rubbish. Don’t think I hit a single one. This time however I bought my A game. O’Hara did not. I absolutely cleaned him up. It’s one of the only times I’ve beaten him in any sort of sport. Poor kid was not impressed.

After a brilliant morning shooting things, we tried to pick up our hire car. Unfortunately for us, it closed at 12. Epic fail. We made a mad dash back to Deavo’s place booked somewhere else, had to call them and ask them to stay open for a few extra minutes and got a car in the nick of time. We were just way to relaxed for our own good, and it was day 1.

We saw a lot of this

After finally getting the car, we drove the 3 hours to Salado, which is a cute little B&B town about an hour north of Austin. We stayed at the Yellow House Inn and couldn’t have asked for a better place (don't even get me started on the breakfast. It was incredible). Salado is a fairly central location, which meant we were able to explore the area easily. We visited the Texas Ranger Museum in Waco. Explored the funny little Homestead Village and ate delicious homemade and homegrown food. Acted like fools at Belton Lake at sunset. Spent hours looking in antique stores in Salado and ate more great food.

Homestead