Around the World

One of our favorite spots in Austin is the corner of Lamar and 6th. At the corner you'll find 24Diner, Waterloo Records, Book People, and Whole Foods. Sort of a perfect mix of things that Lola and I love. And while there's plenty of gentrification and Austin stupidity, this corner has stayed pretty stable over the last 10 years. So this morning we invited our Austin-based friend, Adelle, to join us. Our first step was to hit up Waterloo Records, as we were waiting for a table at 24Diner and the two are in the same building. Didn't pick up any records, which is sort of shocking, but did pick up a set of vinyl dividers to help make sorting records a bit easier. We got our text saying the table was ready and we went to eat breakfast. Adelle came from across the street, she was reading at Book People. Our meal was delicious. Lola fell in love with 24Diner while she was in college and we always make it a point to visit the spot when we're in town. All three of us had waffles...

 Woke up in the hotel a little earlier than the rest of the fam, so I went down to the breakfast area. I know this isn't a review site, but holy cow! the spread was above and beyond. I had some biscuits and gravy (because white), then went back to Lola and Billie to wake them up (as the breakfast was only open for another 30 minutes. They rolled out and also expressed delight at the sheer amount of quality food. Neither had biscuits and gravy though! I went to the front desk, as the ladies finished their meal, to find out when the pool opened. I was informed that the pool was closed because it was "out of season." Some stupid BS right there. We had picked this hotel with the goal of swimming in the morning, so that kind of sucked. Billie was less than thrilled. So we filled our bellies and then wandered back into the room. Checkout wasn't till 12, so we lounged a while before leaving. The drive into Austin was just 2.5 hours from Junction, so it was a short leg. We ha...

When Lola and I were still just dating, we went to Austin City Limits Music Festival. Lola was pregnant at the time, so several times during that weekend, we'd have step out of the crowd and find a shaded spot for Lola to catch her breath and relax. That year, we saw Drake, Chance the Rapper, TV on the Radio, Alabama Shakes, etc. It was a good year. In the years that followed, we would plan on going again but each time, something would come up and we would bail on the idea. Until this year! With Billie now 6 and excited about travel, we decided this was the year to take her to Austin for ACL. And though the lineup of acts wasn't as interesting as years past, we knew we'd have fun regardless. So today was travel day one. We decided to get a hotel halfway to Austin (in Junction, TX). The drive was a bit longer in feel than we hoped. We got on the road from El Paso around 530pm and arrived in Junction around 1230am. It was a quick check in and we were in our hotel room. Tomorr...