Texas Day 2: Austin

On Friday, we headed up the road to Austin to check another city out. We covered so much ground in San Antonio the day before and we knew we had to spend our last day there, to kill time before going to the airport, that we decided to head north for the day.

On the way there, I saw this water tower and many signs for Kyle. Sorry for the blur...we were cruising down the interstate. Hi Kyle!

First we checked out the University of Texas. This is what I would say is the equivalent to the Union on IU's campus.

We thought we'd blend right in on a college campus, but little did we know that they were hosting international children's day, and we stuck out like a sore thumb since we didn't have a gaggle of small children walking with us.

To get away from all those school kids, we headed towards the football stadium. And not to make this post a complete comparison between UT and IU, this will be the last...but this football stadium is not something we're used to in Indiana. It was gigantic!

Then we walked many many blocks to the Capitol building. You know, with Austin being Texas' capitol and all.

Alli's sister lives in Austin, so her brother-in-law told us to hit up 6th Street. Ok, last comparison, but it's very similar to IU's Kirkwood. Kyler had forgotten his wallet back at Mark and Alli's so we had few choices in terms of where to eat lunch. Most of the Bar and Grills were mostly bars and you had to have your ID just to get inside. But alas, we found a cute little bar and grill that looked very old and classy.

I tried to take a picture of the black and white tiled floor and brick interior walls, but those windows weren't any help. Just use your imagination.

After our lunch, we walked the many, many blocks back to our car and thought we'd head to a park for a little relaxation. We'd brought along our books, and we stopped at a McDonald's for a drink before we headed for the park. Except by the time we made it through downtown Austin on a Friday at rush hour on a 2 lane road, I had downed my drink from McDonald's and was so in need of a bathroom! I saw an outhouse-looking building sitting at the park entrance and despite the horrid smell, I insisted that that be my first stop. So I walked right up to the building and jerked on the door, only to find it locked and heard something fall from the inside. I didn't put two and two together to realize that someone was in there, so I turned to Kyler and said in a very loud voice, "What happened!?"

And the man inside said, "Oh, that was just my water bottle."

We ran away trying not to laugh out loud, but the laughing didn't help my bladder any and I insisted we leave immediately to find another toilet. So we gave up on the park and drove to the closest public building...a mall. Upon entering the JCPenney, I discovered the women's room closed off and a line of women waiting to use the men's. Men...six urinals and two stalls. Not very handy for the ladies. But I made it in time. No accidents to report. But after all that, we just went back to Mark and Alli's house to enjoy the weekend with them.