I'm all about furthering my education and skill set for resume building.
Wednesday, February 15th, 2017:
5:30 am - Woke up, did my hair and makeup and got dressed to take Little Man to school and off to work.
3:30 pm - Brittny and I loaded up in the Mustang and hit the road for Austin, TX.
7:00 pm - We arrived at the hotel, Holiday Inn Express - Downtown Austin, and checked into our rooms after a hilarious incident in the elevator with an incredibly drunk man waiting for his girlfriend to find him. We were so hungry but Brittny's phone was dead and she wanted to shower before we headed out. About an hour later she was ready to go. Our plan was to check out the Hillside Farmacy but after making it to our first intersection and coming up to the homeless shelter we were second guessing our decision to walk.
(Feeling overwhelmed and had a man on my mind.)
8:00 pm - A construction worker was outside of our hotel and I asked him for recommendations. He suggested checking out a pizza joint but it was closed. Worried about walking through the homeless and drug dealers by ourselves I jokingly invited him to put away his tools and to join us on our walk down 6th Street to grab a bite to eat. He accepted and he ended up being very entertaining company. He was a 6' 3" black man who was morbidly obese but let us know he would protect us from any bad guys. Walking through the dense population of the homeless and drug dealers was scary as hell. Brittny and I were stalked in the streets while Michael had to run to his work truck to put his tools away. In those short five minutes we were harassed and had numerous men ask for money and then become aggressive in their actions after we would say no. Ugh. We kept telling each other hell no to walking the streets the following night.
8:30 pm - We ended up at Casino El Camino for dinner. As a thank you to Michael for giving us his time and keeping us protected I offered to buy his dinner. I had their L.A. Burger with a side of fries with ranch dressing. The burger was so rich I could barely take down half of it and the fries were perfectly crisp. One of the best burgers I have had.
9:30 pm - Michael escorted us back to the intersection where we picked him up at and we said our thank yous and goodbyes.
10:00 pm - Got ready for bed. There was a heavy metal screaming band playing at Stubbs right next door to the hotel and I could hear them very clearly in my room. I was not amused but thankfully I was tired enough to fall fast asleep.
Thursday, February 11th, 2017:
5:00 am - Woke up and did my hair and makeup. Got dressed and out the door to grab Brittny.
6:00 am - We parked the car at the Chase Tower parking lot which was $18 for the day. We decided to walk to Starbucks since we saw it on the drive in. It was a block away. I grabbed a strawberry parfait and a Grande White Chocolate Mocha. I need to stop drinking these. They are so bad for me.
7:45 am- We left the coffee shop to walk back to Chase Tower to grab our laptop bags out of the car and get registered for class.
8:00 am - Walking into the building we were greeted by security and they got to know us very well over the next two days because we were the "girls who were always smiling or giggling."
11:25 am - Released for our lunch break and while on our walk to Starbucks we scoped out our lunch spot deciding on Athenian Bar & Grill. I ordered their Chicken Salad and it was delicious and filling. Really wanted a gyro but I was trying to be somewhat good.
12:30 pm - Back in class.
2:30 pm - Release for a 15 minute break so we checked out the cafe downstairs and ended up picking up some Horchata and chatting it up with some of the workers. Very friendly people. Made me miss working in Portland, Oregon at the corporate office when I was with a credit union there. I love the professional vibe and rubbing elbows with the higher ups. Maybe I'll check into working in downtown Houston one day. Maybe.
5:30 pm - Class ended and we drove back to the hotel to drop off our stuff and to freshen up for dinner.
6:00 pm - We decided it was early enough in the evening to walk past the homeless shelter on our own to make it over to Rainey Street after someone in our class suggested that being the place to be on "Thirsty Thursday".
(Strawberry Mojito before the bartender made me an off menu cocktail and that ceviche!)
6:30 pm - We made it over to Rainey Street which is a street of converted homes that have been turned into bars and restaurants. We picked a Mexican restaurant, El Naranjo, and grabbed two seats at the bar by the window. The bartender looked like he could have been Paul Walker's twin but he was such a douche bag. Brittny was all heart eyes over him. I have my heart set on someone else so no one turns my head at the moment. He was a good bartender though, chatting us up and even made me an off the menu cocktail after telling him what I was in the mood for. He muddled serrano chiles, basil and ice and then shook it together with lots of vodka and pineapple juice before pouring it into a chile salt rimmed glass. This cocktail was crave worthy and I lost count of how many I had. Haha! Needing food in my belly I ordered the seasonal ceviche which had yellowfin tuna and manadrin oranges in it served with hot salted chips. Amazing!! All of their food looked so good coming out of the kitchen.
10:00 pm - We decided to call it a night since we were incredibly tipsy and hailed a cab. Our driver's name was Godswill and he was from West Africa. He fell in love with your girl over here and couldn't believe I was going to call it a night but I explained we were already intoxicated and didn't want to be wandering the streets and with Brittny calling me out as well he offered to turn off the cab fair for us for the remainder of the night, gave me his cell number, and promised he would drop us off at a favorite spot of his and take us anywhere we wanted that night. He dropped us off at Star Bar and a couple hours later he came through as promised. "Wait 10 minutes and I will be right there." We were so drunk by this time and needed food. He offered to take us to Whataburger. After getting our food he dropped us off at the hotel and I thanked him so much for chauffeuring us around. He was such a nice man.
1:00 am - Back to the room to get ready for bed. Godswill sent me a text message about how beautiful I was and how if he ever came to Houston maybe we could meet up for a night out. Flattered but it would definitely be a just friends thing.
Friday, February 12th, 2017:
6:00 am - Woke up, showered, and did my hair and makeup before getting dressed. My eyes were so bloodshot and I was still slightly intoxicated. I needed food.
6:30 am - Grabbed Brittny and we drove to Chase Tower. On the drive in a road was closed so we had to take a detour and ended up seeing Voodoo Doughnut and Brittny just had to try it. I am not a doughnuts for breakfast kinda person since all that sugar makes me feel like shit but when in Rome... So I had their vegan chocolate doughnut topped with peanuts and a maple bar with bacon. We both picked up an iced cold brew coffee with cream and sugar. Damn this was strong and needed. I could have used two of them. I was dog shit that morning for class.
7:45 am - Walked back to Chase Tower to grab our laptop bags.
11:25 am- Released for lunch and we walked across the street to an Italian joint, Italic. We split a bunch of food trying their roasted local veggies, butternut squash soup, crispy polenta, and the baked penne with ricotta and sausage. The food was incredibly. I wish I didn't have to go back to class or else I would have ordered a pasta dish just for myself. We grabbed iced coffees from the restaurant to take back to class too. We were dragging from our late night out.
4:00 pm - Class ended and we were on the road back to Houston.
8:00 pm - Dropped Brittny off and made it home.
I would have loved to have more time in Austin to enjoy more of what the city has to offer. The food definitely did not disappoint, the hotel room was comfortable, and we both left the city more knowledgeable for our careers. I am incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to go.
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