Merit Coffee.
Mexican vanilla latte. I enjoyed my latte. It was creamy and hot. Can’t taste what was Mexican about it though.
Vince got a colorful pop tart and I got the everything bagel with chive cream cheese.
After grabbing coffee, we went to do a 100 step short hike up to the highest point of Austin called Mt. Bonnell Hike. My sister counted the stairs and it was 101 steps. The view was kind of nice but it was just so hot cause we all slept in and went at like noon time.
We took a short Lyft to Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden because my sister was craving a hot dog. She wanted a dirty LA hotdog the night before but Austin doesn’t have any of that. So random! This place was pretty cool. It was in a different part of Austin that looked more like hipsters and container houses. It was mostly outdoors with fans overhead and long wooden tables and benches ideal for large groups. There was an outdoor gift shop of cool shirts. Vince got a t-shirt that he loved. Then there was a beer bar on tap just steps away!
Local Watermelon Wedges. 4 slices of the best local watermelon. Colors may vary; do not attempt to adjust your television. Very refreshing and appreciated in the hot and humid weather. We were all already sweating buckets even before eating our hot dogs.
Salt & Pepper Fries. Hand-cut, thick, then double fried. Golden brown & crispy on the outside, soft & pillowy on the inside. Served w/ ketchup. Served super hot
St. Arnold – Root Beer. So refreshing in this hot and humid weather! Big, sweet, flavorful and old-fashioned! Made with Imperial Cane Sugar (absolutely no high fructose corn syrup) and lots of yummy (but secret) flavorings. I love root beer and this special occasion calls for an exception for soda consumption for me.
Jalapeño Cheddar Brat. Our world famous bratwurst w/ some jalapeño & cheddar cheese mixed in. Topped w/ spicy peppers & grain mustard. It was insanely spicy and made me sweat and heat up even more. Omg I couldn’t finish the jalapeños. I took them off! The sausage itself was very flavorful.
Duck, bacon & fig. Dried figs, plumped in port wine w/ honey & bacon. Topped w/ fig chutney, caramelized onion. Again, the sausage was very flavorful and super juicy. The overall hotdog was too sweet for me from the figs.
At the end of this, everyone really enjoyed the sausages and the hot and sweaty ambiance. It added to the Texas experience and everyone thanked Truc for having a sausage craving to look this place up. Good job little sister! It was worth all the sweat!
Next stop was to scooter to Whole Foods flagship! We were already scootering here and there around the city the night before. My first time was the second night when we were getting back to the hotel. It was scary at first but by the time I did it again today to get to Whole Foods flagship and back to the hotel, I felt more used to it. It was nice to sight see the city close up while on the scooter. We did a little detour on a bridge and also saw a pretty wedding table set up in the middle of a round of trees. So pretty!
Vince and I really wanted to check out Whole Foods here because it is a flagship location with multiple bars, restaurants and even a rooftop bar. However, due to covid, the Mezzazine was closed upstairs. The rest of whole foods was HUGEEE though. I got an Thai tea almond latte and pistachio mochi ice cream to try while the others got a beer at the brewery section.
Marian pre ordered bbq food 4 hours earlier to bring back to the hotel lobby to eat. We also got local beer from Whole Foods and hijacked the usual hotel lobby round high top table and did our own self serve community eats while drinking beers. It was nice! Very relaxing. Easy access to our hotel rooms at the same time. Bathrooms right there. Free AC. Brilliant idea! We also only did this because there was a thunderstorm going on so we couldn’t eat the bbq food at the Austin Capitol building as originally planned.
There was a looooooong line that wrapped around Terry’s Black BBQ for dine in. The pick up line was empty. Everyone seems to think it’s worth it to line up a few hours in hot humid weather to dine in at all these local bbq places we scooter by.
Corn bread
Beef ribs
Creamed corn
Prime sliced brisket
Mac n cheese
Turkey
Mexican rice
Chopped beef
Jalapeño cheese sausage
Original sausage
Pork ribs
Baked potato salad
Every was so good! We did a large takeout of all these items. My favorite were the chopped beef and sliced brisket. The brisket was super fatty and tender and juicy. The chopped beef was nicely seasoned and easy to eat. I was also very impressed with their cornbread! It was just so good. I’ve never liked cornbread before but even without the extra butter, it was just so savory and soft.
Truc found this super cute bar lounge that was located upstairs in a hotel called Upstairs at Caroline. The decor was half outdoors and half open breezy indoors with a bunch of board games and table top games. The decor was a bunch of different cute furniture of chairs sofas and coffee tables for multiple diff small groups of friends to get together. It was cute, casual and relaxing!
SIPPIN’ SANGRIA. deep eddy peach, oleo saccharum, white wine, fresh juices. I really enjoyed this drink. Sweet and refreshing. I just wished it has more fruit in it. I think I might like to start to like sangrias more as long as it’s not too carbonated.
The next bar we went to is called Halcyon, which is also a coffee shop during the day. You pay at the counter and get your drink at the counter like as if you were ordering coffee at the coffee shop still. Get ringed up by the cashier too. It was interesting still for a night time bar.
Regular hot chocolate. It was the last night and I wanted to keep it chill. I just got a regular hot chocolate. It was okay. Not too thick and not as chocolate-y as I am used to with my Straus chocolate milk.
We couldn’t find another bar we found enticing and Vince suggested revisiting Corinne for cocktails since we loved the place so much the first time on the first few hours of Austin. We also got to see the inside of the bar now, which didn’t look as fancy as we imagined when we tried to peer in from the outside.
San Jacinto Spritz. Lustau Px Sherry, strawberry, mint, lemon juice, sparkling wine. Vince got this drink so that I can take a sip from it. It was not too carbonated and very sweet. My kind of drink! Oh my godd where is my picture! 😀
The boys also got a round of dressed tequila shots for Vince for his bachelor. His one and only bachelor shot for the trip! What a great way to end the night and trip!
