Keep Your Dallas Out of My Austin

I was both intelligent and lucky enough to fly two planes near the end of August and enjoy the remains of summer with my cousin. He is only a few months older than me, and has always said this town seems a lot like it should be mine. We eased deep into the country to visit a ranch, witnessed a nocturnal phenomenon and sampled local Mexican cuisine. Below are samples from my combing through South Congress:




I loved seeing this edgy chick above taking a photo of me. I always react with a smile, a narrowing of the eyes and a shake of the head, tempted to make it my profile picture. But alas, it is someone else's art.




According to Adam, Hey Cupcake! was the first and only sweets store on the other side of the block, sitting at the right edge of a lengthy and empty lot. It was quite the success, and others began asking after renting space near it. After some deception and detection, other trailers secured the empty spaces. Now that sandy space is occupied by numerous shiny modules serving shaved ice, ice cream and spicy food.

I don't know why the below photo strikes me so (there is something in the irony of it being a private school). Still, they had undeniably majestic trees scattering the property.

Daily Juice is an open-air type storefront, with just a few brightly-painted walls and a roof for walking through. They serve all-natural smoothies concocted from ingredients like blueberries, Himalayan salt, unprocessed peanut butter, agave nectar and coconuts. The last's shells scatter the walkway; a testament to how fresh the product is.

Here, a secluded little pool behind vine-lined hotel gates:

At the Hot Sauce Festival on my last day visiting. This was maybe 12pm, and already so hot that I was sweating through my tank and jeans, cuffing the legs and desperately seeking water. And yet, the majority who turned out were undaunted.

The capitol building for the state of Texas:

Cruising past 6th Street: