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Published: October 18th 2009
Farmers Marter Stand
local olive farms, not something I expected to grow well in TXHere is Austin there is a movement of locals who appreciate and support "Keeping Austin Wierd" where they love this unique identity. Our second day in Austin was a good experience of that as went about our planned activities but went off the beaten path....literally....and saw some really interesting and hilarious things.
We started out the day by heading to the Sunset Valley Farmers Market. Over on the western side of Austin close to the Hill Country you see more of the industrial/rural side of Austin. After a few missed turns we found a giant football stadium apparenlty for high school sports - obviously football is a serious sport here - and in the parking lot was about thirty pop up tents.
As we approached we noted just how unusual yet refreshing it was to see yuppies, goth, hippie, seniors, basically people from all walks of lift mingling, sharing stories recipies and there was no barrier, some other cities we have visited you see people who have similar interests clustering together, but here in each neighborhood there is no seperation. You see alot of seemlessness which is refreshing and makes us feel comfortable no matter where we have gone.
The great thing about theis Farmers Market was to see the overwhelming supply of from the farm direct to the home products, beyond organic vegetables and fruits many picked the same day, there were alot of small farms who offered grass fed lamb, bison, beef, chicken and many of it by the time we arrive was already sold out. The sign for the market said that every vendor in order to be there had to have made or produced the product, so there was no one there who was acting as a middle man. As such great stories and a certian pride from the sellers which made you excited about their items. Unfortuantely for us we don have a kitchen here, it made us sad because there were some amazing raw products we would of loved to have taken home and experimented with.
Since we were starving when we left after seeing all these great things, we went in search of a quick bite to eat and landed on a company called Which Wich, a sandwhich shop where you can customize your sandwhich, they have brown paper bags that you select based on your main ingredient such as
turkey, beef, cheese and then on each bag is a list of igredients to add to your sandwhich and you take a sharpie and fill out what you want. The concept was unique and the sandwhiches delicious - I did a grilled cheese variation with bacon and onion straws and Jay ordered the wicked - five meats and three cheese with various toppings. See photos attached.
After filling up we headed in search of this reportedly unique dog store - yes a dog store we always bring something back for the animals - we don want them thinking we forgot about them! On the way we drove through hill country, now blame it on my ignorance but I never imagined Texas to be so hilly! So much so that my ears were popping alot. Anyway on the way we spotted a sign that said Hamilton Pool ahead...we were excited as in the airport was this amazing photo by a local artisit of the pool with a waterfall it was so beautiful and I had said to Jay I want to go there.
So off we went, not quite knowing how far we were going. We stopped and picked
up water just in case and about 13 miles later we arrived at Hamilton Pool. Now here is the thing hiking was no on our agenda for the day but we were not going to be the area again so when we got to the gate and found out that we were about to walk 1/2 mile into the canyon, down a steep decent in flip flops...we nervously laughed, loaded the backpack with water, popcorn, gum (you know in the event we got lost and needed something to survive on while waiting to be rescued ha!) grabbed the cameras and went hoping we weren about to loose a limb. You go down a path that gets steeper and steeper but it fortied with wooden beams so we made it down in one piece not thinking about the return trip and headed into what is called a box canyon but really looks like a natural football arena, round with amazing rock formations and a waterfall that is falling 50ft from above us into the pool. Unfortunately due to high bacteria no swimming was allowed but it would been cool. Attached are photos of the canyon and pool, it was the first
Cacti
ths is the most prominent cactus in the hill country area, i never imagined cactus to grow in lush green areas but this one does time I had seen anything like this and it was beautiful.
Our accent was uneventful and surprisingly easy, making us ponder if flip flops actually were the way to go for hiking from now on:-) and we then headed back to Austin, a little sweaty, but exhilirated from such an unexpected discovery wondering how wierd (austin wierd) that we without planning ended up at the site of the photo from the airport. On the way back we found the dog place got a few items and then stopped at the oddest two shops. One was called Living Dessert Cactus - it was an ecceltic collection of glass, not smooth refined glass, no this was chucnks of glass from boulder size to specks of that apparently they get from window manufactures, windshield companies, it is all the oozed out glass from pouring glass into molds and he buys it from those companies and then turns it into art or sells it to people to make thier own art so imagine piles and piles of glass boulders, in the midst also was a cactus nursey, it was very bizzare. Next door was an antique store and well I personally call it a place someone with a hoarding problem has called it a business, once we stepping in we could barely move, piles and piles of crap, seriously....but believe it or not we found something to buy....we got a dinner bell - you know the peiece of iron that you hang out side and then you take a stick and hit the inside of it to annoucne dinner and what is worse it is in the shape of a longhorn head - blame it on the adrenaline from hiking who knows but it seems like a good idea at the time:-)
Tired and needed a bit of a break we took a rest at the hotel and then headed out to 6th Street in downtown. This street is alive with bars, resturants, souvenier stores, where as Congress was like Duval Street in Key West but not so crowded - 6th street was almos Duval, loud, crowded but full of life as many college kids and locals were out for a Saturday night. We were headed to Esthers Follies a local musical, comedy revue show that I heard was a great intro into Texas humour and life.....we grabbed from one of the many street food vendors, again in a little trailer, a brisket sandwhich and then waiting in line at Esthers as it was a packed night and we had to go on the standby list.
Luckily we got in and it was so funny that my face was sore upon leaving from laughing so hard. Jokes about current events, Texas living and people, all was done in song with dance and great jokes and the best part was the back of the stage was the window onto the street and many times people walking by who stopped to see what was going on in the show because the butt of jokes. I highly recommend it to anyone who comes to the area to go it was well worth the visit.
Afterwards we hunted down reportedly the best street food in Austin - The Best Wurst - a place that I say gives a NYC hot dog cart a run for their money. Only four types of suausages offerd Jay said it was really good. I have to say that what I find wierd here is how popular these little trailers all over the city are, some of them only open at night and have lines waiting for them, some of them change locations each night yet online have a website. I have included two that rate highly in this area.
We walked 6th street for alittle while and then called it quits as it was along day. We definitely had a great time enjoying the natural and not so natural aspect of Austin. Also noteable are the frequency of signs saying you can carry a weapon in this area - and this is in the oddes places bus stops, at the restuarants etc.
If Austin is weird then in our opinion it should be because it makes it a great desitation.
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Lucia
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Travel Writer!
I keep telling you to quit your job and become a travel writer! Always enjoy reading your blogs. Glad you e having fun! xoxoxxo :-)