Blogger Lunch!

Every day since we’ve been in Austin the weather forecast has called for thunderstorms, but luckily it’s only sprinkled a little bit or completely blown over.  On Monday Hannah and Jacob were spending the night at The Driskall Hotel in downtown Austin, which is known to have ghosts.  They love that stuff.  My niece and I drove them downtown, and after we checked them in, we walked around 6th street.  Hannah is of the opinion that I am up for Mother/Daughter matching tattoos this trip – and I am not yet convinced.  Just the pressure of picking something that I wouldn’t hate in five minutes, and I am not sure I could handle the pain of the needle.  That didn’t prevent us from stepping into a couple shops along the way though!

So even though we are in the land of BBQ, Hannah wanted some type of Asian food for her birthday dinner Monday night.  My step-son Joe and his wife Lizz suggested a Ramen place and that’s where we ended up going to.  Me?  You know I love spicy stuff, so I got the Mi-So-Spicy ramen and it was amazing.  Just the right amount of spice in the pork broth, but not overpowering.  I am still not there yet on eating a soft egg yolk like that, but this was probably the best ramen I’ve had.

Yesterday was my lunch with Shelley!   We decided to check the weather yesterday morning before meeting half way, and we both thought that the rain would either pass us or not be too bad.  It ended up getting sunny and really hot in the afternoon – but I was not complaining.   83 degrees felt amazing!

Shelley picked Bastrop which ended up meaning she drove a little bit farther than me, but it is such a quaint little town.  I ended up picking up Hannah and Jacob at the hotel.  Other than their light and fan turning itself on and off on it’s own, there were no other paranormal activities.  Shelley and I ended up meeting for lunch at Maxine’s while Hannah and Jacob toured the small town and ended up having lunch down the street and then meeting us at Maxine’s for dessert.

Shelley ordered a chili burger and I ordered a cheeseburger.  The server accidentally brought us both a chili burger (although mine had no onions!) and I told her it was fine because it actually looked really good.  And it was!  Spicy jalapeno, gooey cheese and medium rare burger, what’s not to love?!   Of course, it being a diner we were sitting right across the way from the pie/cake display.  I am a sucker for a chocolate cream pie, so that’s what I ordered and Shelley got a slice of carrot cake.  As an apology for getting my burger order wrong, the server then brought us a slice of their banana cake!  Can I just tell you that everything was insulin worthy?!  It was too much dessert, even with the four of us taking bites, and we both brought stuff home.

The best part about meeting a long time blog reader, who you’ve also read their blog for just as long, is that you already know so much about each other before meeting in person it is just meeting an old high school friend that you haven’t seen in a long time.  The conversation was flowing, it wasn’t uncomfortable, and I could see us hanging out a lot if we lived in the same town.  Thanks again for taking the brunt of the drive for our meet up – I already know we’ll meet again one day.

And long time readers of Shelley’s blog will know that she LOVES her mini-coop!  Hannah was a tiny bit jealous of her ride and took a picture next to it. 

After Hannah’s birthday dinner we tried to find a donut truck, but Siri and our directions were not getting us where we needed to be, so we just gave up.  My nieces Sarah and Rachel found it though and brought back four donuts to try – my favorite?  The Elvis – caramelized bananas with chopped bacon, peanut butter icing drizzled with honey.  Holy balls was that an amazing combo – and you’d have thought that the topping would have made the donut soft, it still had a fresh out of the fryer crispness to it.  Yum! 

Next up?  Voodoo Doughnuts.  I’ve seen this place on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in Portland, and didn’t realize they had an Austin location.  Hannah and Jacob brought home an assortment because the place was near their hotel – and brought me the maple bacon.  Can I get an AMEN on the salty, sweet combo going on in that donut?  I will say that I only had a couple bites of each, and both were definitely insulin worthy.  But I think after this vacation I may need a permanent insulin pump

Today we are taking a day trip to San Antonio.   I’ve actually never been but I have heard that the river walk is nice and we will find a nice place to have lunch.  Let’s just hope the rains stay away today!

Happy hump day – make it a great day!