an austin adventure

here are some shots from my long weekend trip to austin, texas. i flew out early friday morning and was in by 10am - i honestly feel like i could have stayed there another week! there's so much to do and austin is such a vibrant place, i basically fell in love with the city. my cousin is interning there for the semester and so graciously invited me to come visit. and what an awesome choice it was!

friday

7am flight, woohoo! i grabbed lunch at diner 24 (holy yum), stopped by the baylor art wall, and then to the top of mt. bonnell for a fabulous view and mayfield nature preserve for peacocks! we then ventured to south austin to my cousin's apartment. that night, we went to firehouse bar for a delicious cheese plate, and then hung out and listened to some live music at guerro's before heading to dinner at south congress cafe (warm goat cheese + prosciutto salad, need i say more?).

and, of course, we had to hit up the bar scene - we stopped by c-boy's and then finally got hauled over to 6th street to go to buckshot. everyone says you can try to avoid ending up on 6th during a night out, but you'll inevitably find yourself there.

 saturday
i was so excited to go to hamilton pool! this natural pool is about 30ish miles west of austin, and oh my gosh, is it worth the drive! there's a short, steep hike down to the pool, and honestly photos don't do it justice. if you're in the area, you must go here.

after our day excursion, we headed back to austin to get ready for fun fun fun fest! i didn't take any photos here (lots of snapchats) but it was an awesome festival. and i crossed seeing modest mouse off my bucket list.

sunday
on this day, we explored south congress a bit and had sunday brunch at blackbird & henry. i got a lamb leg grilled cheese with goat cheese and some grits (plus a mimosa, of course) and was about ready to die afterwards because it was so damn good. then, we trekked to walton's fancy & staple per molly's recommendation for some macarons! i also explored UT's campus a bit before we drove all the way down to salt lick for bbq. there's a vineyard on site, so of course, we picked up some of their wine! afterward, i had my first experience at alamo drafthouse to see 'st. vincent'. loved it. why aren't all move theaters this way? they should be.

on monday, my cousin returned to work, so i stopped by patika again for a vanilla latte, then toured the zilker botanical gardens, which were a perfect way to wind down before my flight back to birmingham.

have you ever been to austin? did i hit all the good spots? the foodie scene is so overwhelming there! i can't wait to go back!