I LOVE AUSTIN, Y’ALL! (caps on purpose)
This is why everyone should live in Austin (for readers in Cali or Phx, you really should come visit- I’ll hook you up with #2)!
1. THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS!!!!!!! UT Football reigns here and UT has to be the coolest campus with the tastiest little hole-in-the-wall dives around its perimeter. Hook ‘Em! (how can you resist this picture?)
2. We not only have the best Tex-Mex food on the planet, we have a restaurant chain that originated here that literally says “no crybabies” on the door.
3. Austin is the Live Music Capital of the world. Bored? Go online and find a band on ANY night of the week!
4. Most of us have gills growing on our necks from how much time we spend in the extensive lake systems. Lake Travis’ Devil’s Cove is crazy in the summer where 100+ boats link together and people freely walk onto each other’s boats, swap beer, stories, food, and friendship (lame point, but true).
5. Austin has to be the most diverse city anywhere- hippies, conservatives, tree huggers, commercial developers, and any other extremes all live happily under the same clean-air-sky.
6. Austin is America’s #1 Top Dating City- have a cosmo at any of the swanky downtown bars, cruise to 5th street for the hoity toity bars or 6th street for the more Girls Gone Wild type bars.
7. The Capitol grounds are amazing- the pink limestone building was actually built by Texas inmates! Try bumping into Rick Perry, John Cornyn or any other famous Texan politician!
8. Leslie. If you haven’t met Leslie, it’s a must- he (she?) is a houseless (that’s the PC word for homeless) man dressed in a mini skirt with a scraggly beard and Bluetooth piece in his ear. He has run for mayor several times (and actually gotten votes) and is beloved in Austin. Despite his chosen housing situation, he is incredibly intelligent and exceptionally funny!
9. Austin is Hollywood Squared. Filming is common here and numerous celebrities have flocked to the shores of Lake Austin or the high rise condos downtown, and cops LOVE busting famous people here, making great gossip news.
10. I don’t care what any hippy says about the Toll Roads, they make North Austin connect to downtown in a way never seen before in Austin. Opening new corridors of development and cutting travel time by 150%, I would date the Toll Road if I could, even if it costs $2.50 to get to work!
I LOVE AUSTIN and I will NEVER EVER LEAVE!
April 7th, 2007 at 8:27 pm
It’s amazing how so many folks in so many cities love where they live, and wouldn’t even consider living anywhere else.
Me? The biggest complaint about living in San Diego is - where the heck do you go for vacation?
Summers aren’t unbearably hot or humid, or both. We know it’s winter because the weather guy says so.
We don’t have hurricanes or tornadoes. Blizzards aren’t a problem.
Motto: Just another day in paradise.
It just underlines the cliche that home is where the heart is. Your heart is in Austin. h
April 7th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
You are KILLING me Lani! I lived in Austin from 1980 - 1999 and miss it terribly.
I crave Chuy’s on a regular basis. (I assume they still have the Elvis shrine?) Trudy’s was another Tex-mex favorite (and the namesake of our dog!) Try the Mexican Martini’s. Then there is the Green Mesquite — BBQ unlike any other I’ve found. It’s hard to beat slow smoked Texas brisket…
I assumed Leslie was dead. He used to wear very interesting bra’s (still does, I’m sure).
Toll roads? That’s a new development for me, but sorely needed.
Ahhh, 6th Street… best music in the world down there. If you’ve never been to Ivory Cat’s on 6th street, you should — assuming it’s still there. They have the most amazing piano players on the planet. Joe’s Generic Bar had incredible blues bands, but I heard it closed down. I still have a Maggie Mae’s “Beer, it’s not just for breakfast anymore” t-shirt. And you can find my initials carved in the bar on the old side…
The saddest thing that ever happened in Austin was in the 80s when they tore down the Armadillo World Headquarters and put up a high-rise.
God, I miss that town….
PS: Your links aren’t working. You’ve got “http://realtorwives.blogspot.com/” in front of them….
April 7th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
@ Jeff
Try New Zealand for a vacation.
April 7th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Jeff- obviously you vacation in Austin, duh. What’s the weather like today? Snow here- it’s freakish.
Jay- Leslie is totally alive and has upgraded to a Wonder Bra (AND wears a bluetooth as I mentioned).
Athol- Jen told me you were a kiwi! I have family that moved there about 2 years ago (now citizens!). Why the heck did you come here? I hear it’s a lot like Texas there; maybe you should consider Austin….