
So, while I have been admittedly quite woefully inattentive to my blog most recently, I am pleased as punch to say that’s not for want of inspired adventure nor for want of a plethora of photos to share.
Austin is, as everyone knows, delightfully eccentric. Keep Austin Weird is a motto I can get behind. But I’m not sure that we had a concrete sense of what to expect based on that. As such, we were quite surprised by some of our findings. For example, we have always pictured Texas as a bit of a tumbleweed wasteland. Turns out, Austin is incredibly lush. Moreso than San Diego, certainly. So below, you will find elements of our excursion to Hamilton pool, a spectacular swimming hole fed by a waterfall that’s just 45 minutes outside of the city. We also had our first Airbnb experience, and it was a truly wonderful one. We stayed with a woman named Robin who has a marvelous old historic prairie home that’s just blocks from the hipsterfest that is the South Congress area. She also has two rescue dogs that proved to be an absolute delight, and she fed us a lovely breakfast daily. All for half the price it would have cost us to stay in a nearby motel.
We first trekked out to Texas’ oldest cemetery. Forgive me if you feel it’s morbid, but as a graphic designer, I was enthralled with all the beautiful stonework from the 19th century. Another charming aspect of Austin is the food truck culture. We thought it to be not bad here in San Diego and pretty intense in Portland, but Austin blows ’em all out of the water—every three or four blocks is another parking lot filled with permanent food trucks doling out every manner of delight you can think of, with every manner of characters hanging about that you can think of. You may notice there’s a dude in a pink bunny suit at one of the spots we bar-hopped through… well, that’s just classic Austin.
Yep, our time in this city kinda knocked me out. From delicious café experiences, to lots of weird art in weird places, we found goodness. Our trip to Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon for chickenshit bingo (which is a VERY LITERAL kind of experience!), Airstream cupcake heaven, Zilker Park’s Barton Springs Pool (which is a largely natural giant pool in the center of the city and is totally radical), retro vintage bowling at The Highball (Scotty kicked my ass), drinks at the continental club (where we watched an übercowboy in big hat, jeans and jean jacket, boot and spurs strut in and begin to play some wickedly good jazz), walking the dogs around the prairie homes of the hipster mecca that is South Congress, spectacular signage galore (forgive me, as a graphic designer I am addicted) and generally having a truly wonderful time. Keep it weird, Austin.




















































whoa. amazing photos! I have a good friend who lives in Austin, so besides the fact that I have a totally justified reason to visit, upon reading this post makes me want to go even more now :] that bnb looks so homey! looking forward to reading/seeing the rest of your adventure!
Oh you simply MUST go. Now that we finally made it out (four years after I’d originally wanted to go), I feel foolish for taking so long! Thanks, Lisa!
These photos are so special. I love the focus and the charm that oozes out. Thanks you for sharing. And so happy to know you had a lovely time!
And that is precisely the spirit that oozes out of Austin. Thanks, Mum!
LOVE the birds on a wire!! So bitchen~ Welcome home!!
Seriously, right? It was the most birds on a wire that I think I have ever seen! Thanks, Jen!
OMG! Such wonderfull photos! I love the birds on the wire! More updates like this, please :)
Aw, thanks, Kjersti—I am happy to say there will be a whole post for the second half of our Austin adventure later this week. :)
Jasmine,
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. I absolutely love your style and your ability to tell stories by means of your images. Beautiful work here!
Thanks so much, Jonathan! Lovely to have you here. Wouldn’t you agree that storytelling is rather addictive? ;)
Awesome photos. Looks like you had a great time. I got to visit Austin a couple times about ten or eleven years ago. Such a cool place.
Hello, hello, my friend! We did have a damned good time. It is as cool as everyone suggests it will be. I had doubts—how could it possibly live up to all the hype? But then it did. Because it’s not all gimmicks… it has real content—the good stuff!
HOORAY! So nice to see you back and blogging your adventures. There are so many in here that I love that I can’t even point all of them out. Suffice to say, all of them.
You are too great. Thanks, Jazzy Jackie! It’s nice to *be* back, blogging again—work’s just been really dense lately, and I have struggled to find the time. But one must make time!
Oh my god, Jasmine! Your photos could not be more gorgeous (the water dripping is particularly breathtaking) and I could not be more excited for my own Austin excursion as a result. Glad you had such a great trip, and way to set the bar woman.
And I, thusly, can’t really wait to see what unique perspective you will have on Austin! Obviously, we’re happy to suggest myriad places we enjoyed if you want. And of course, the second half of our Austin trek will be posted soon… probably tomorrow! Thanks, Lauren! :)
I will take that list of suggestions, gladly, please and thank you.
The trip I’m about to embark on is a scary one – 2 weeks in a van with 4 20 year old boys, never knowing where we’ll be sleeping, and I worry that all I’ll have to show if photos of inside a car. That said, I will definitely share my own experience after the fact, though I’m sure with much humility.
I’m so glad that you’re snapping and sharing – you’re a total inspiration.
Well how lovely are you? And what a crazy trip that will surely be! What’s the motivation?
I am realizing that my photos may speak for themselves as my list in lots of ways. Definitely recommend exploring both South Congress (and the surrounding neighborhoods—Bouldin, Travis Heights, Zilker, etc) and East Austin—we found those to me the most intriguing neighborhoods overall. Obviously a trek out to Hamilton Pool is a must if you like a bit of hiking and waterfalls and swimming holes… there are other swimming holes worth checking out, too, that we didn’t make it to. You MUST go see a movie at the Alamo Draft House. It’s not your average cinema. if you like beer and full table service at the theatre, it’s something special! And of COURSE you have to go bowling at The Highball. The cocktails are pretty divine and the bowling was definitely improved by the throwbackness! And if you’ve got the stomach and will to fight the psycho crowds, you should probably check out chickenshit bingo at Ginny’s Longhorn Saloon. Zilker Park and Barton springs are musts, too. If the weather is good enough, you have to go swim!
perfecto!
Recos noted, and filed away. I promise to hit at least 3 of these. Much thanks!
As for me, I’m whittling my way through a pre-30 bucket list, and hitting the ‘SXSW’ and ‘go on a tour with a band’ bullet points with one stone! if you feel like a bit of sunshine, check out the lovely boys I’ll be touring with. Guaranteed to put some pep in your step.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3R0gRJoWTw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rw_0bq-1Ic&feature=related
LOVE, love your photos! (Have I said that enough already? No? Cool.) They are nothing but amazing. It’s so awesome seeing the world through your camera lens because you truly do see beautiful thing! Glad you guys had a great time there!
Marie, you are too generous with your compliments, but I thank you so very much. We really did have a wonderful time. I would 100% return.
Man, that couch is lovely!
I’m so glad you’re back with all those fantastic photos! I love all your food cart photos and the house photos. And the dancing people!
Really, more food carts than in Portland?
WAY MORE! But then again, I haven’t been to Portland for a few years, so maybe things have changed. When I was there, it wasn’t every three blocks that 10+ food carts were parked permanently, though. Every single neighborhood we visited had several different parking lots full of food truck meets!
There are definitely not food carts every three blocks here, sadly. There’s only one in my neighborhood. You should come out to Portland soon! I’d love to meet you!
Oh gosh, we loved Portland so very much. I cannot wait to go back. We toyed with it recently, but it’s so expensive to travel during holiday weekends. We have a major Scandinavian trip coming up in April/May, but hopefully late summer or fall we can find a chance to come back to Portland!
So jealous! I’ve always wanted to visit Hamilton Pool, but have never been able to make it out to Austin :(
gosh, i love your photos so much.
No, yours! :)
wow! amazing photography! i discovered you through angelica’s blog. i loved the picture with the birds resting on the wire! so many of them.
keep up the good work!
greetings from greece
Thanks so much and welcome! I know, when I saw those birds, I was blown away.
[…] have me almost peeing with excitement. You know, in a beautiful kind of way. Please check them out here and here, and then look at the rest of her work, because it will make your day so much […]
Okay so now Austin is another place on my list of places I NEED to visit.
We’re planning a trip out to the San Fran area this summer & planning to use Airb&b for the first time- glad to hear you had such a great experience.
That cemetery is breathtakingly beautiful.
And seriously, you are so talented- I think your blog *may* be my very favorite, it’s just full of so much goodness.
You will have a wonderful time, I’m sure—it’s an incredibly region filled with fun to be had. PLus, Airbnb makes everything a little extra-fun.
Thank you, Sarah Jane, your lovely compliments are making me blush! I really appreciate your regular comments (what with my irregular posting!). I highly recommned Austin (as you can probably tell). I am sure you’d love it.
again, i heart every single photo here. what a feast for the eyes! waterfall ones are true gems.
Thanks, again! It was truly a magic place.
Oh gosh, after seeing those waterfall images, I am totally overcome with wanderlust! Love these images, Jas!
Aw, thanks so much, Daisy. I’m planning our Scandinavian tour, and it looks like Iceland may have the most epic waterfalls… so come May, you can expect lots more wanderlust to come. Ha!
I’ll have to check out what Airb&b is all about. I love the photos of Hamilton Pool. Gorgeous work!
I can’t tell you how great it has been. We’re already planning another adventure through lots of Airbnb reservations, and I already feel like it’s the perfect cross between couchsurfing and real BnBs. So excited to continue meeting wonderful folks all over the world. I wish we lived in a larger home so we could host people with us!
This totally makes me want to go to Austin. I have wanted to go for awhile, but just haven’t gotten there yet. I especially love the pictures of the water falling. So pretty!
I highly recommend that you make it a priority. We felt silly for waiting so long!