The Johnsons' Journal

Our last stop in the States was Austin, Texas to visit Amanda and Nate.

 They warned us before coming out that it gets pretty hot there in the summer and let me tell you, it didn’t let us down. It was hovering between 95 and 100 every day we were there and the evenings brought little relief with the lows at about 75. Well into the evening it was still warm enough for shorts and t-shirts. Nate told us that you get used to it and he ventured to wear jeans a couple of the days but honestly he didn’t look that comfortable.

One of the things we were excited visiting in Austin were all the Food Trucks. There are many, many trucks around serving all kinds of fare. Some like these below are actually more permanent shacks or parked trailers, others are true “trucks”and move from place to place throughout the day. Some of the things we tasted were Japanese inspired hot dog topped with pork belly, korean bulgogi tacos, fantastic ice cream sandwiches and a giant doughnut with cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries.

Austin has tons of food trucks

The other foodie fantasy of Austin is the Barbecue. We had been hearing we had to try a place called Franklin Barbecue. It’s so good that you have to queue up outside at least an hour before it opens to be sure to get what you want and apparently every day of the 2+ years they’ve been in business, they have sold out of their famous brisket. Did I mention they’re only open for lunch since all the food is gone by about 2pm. We arrived about 930am and there were already a few people in front of us. They open at 11am and we were not disappointed in what we got. That was the best brisket I’ve ever had and everything else was pretty awesome as well.

Waiting in line for Franklin BBQ

Friday morning we got up early and took a historic walking tour of the Capital area. The guide pointed out some interesting things like why the state capital has 6 “flags” which represent the governments who have ruled over Texas in the past including France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederates and of course the US.

The Capitol Building

On our last night in Austin we took a boat cruise on Lake Ladybird which is part of the Lower Colorado river which flows through downtown. This boat cruise was at sunset and was to see the roost of bats leave Congress Bridge for their nightly feeding. Apparently there are around 1.5 million bats which inhabit the bridge which is pretty incredible, even though they are pretty small bats.

Getting ready for the Bat Tour

Austin skyline

And the bats are off!