Labor Day in Austin

Last year on Labor Day we were teaching- trudging through the first few weeks of school. This year, our wonderful employer gave us the day off!!!!!! As it should be. Seeing as I had to take the GRE in San Antonio on Saturday, we decided to make a weekend out of it.... Not that we needed any arm-twisting- we get out of the valley every chance we get!!

On Friday night Edwin and I drove to San Antonio. We had dinner at The Cove, a restaurant I had seen on the Travel Channel awhile back. It's kind of a dive (fitting, as I had seen it on Diners Dives and Drive-Ins), but had great food. They feature sustainable, local and organic meats. Edwin had a lamb burger and I had a bison burger. Yum!

On Saturday I took the GRE. It sucked, but I think I seem to have gotten the score I needed for education programs. It's a good thing I don't want to be an engineer though, as my math score was less than stellar. While I was beating my head against a computer screen, Edwin saw a movie- something about the girl with a dragon?? He liked it. After the test we drove to Austin, the promised land as far as Texas is concerned. Soon after arriving at the hotel, we set out for Whole Foods. Some of you may remember from past posts how we feel about Whole Foods, but it bears repeating. IT IS PHENOMENAL. At this "grocery store", we had dinner, wine-tasted, bought freshly ground chocolate peanut butter and local honey. Can't beat it folks. For my dinner I had DELICIOUS bruschetta: pesto, goat cheese, tomatoes and zucchini. Edwin and I are going to attempt a recreation on Wednesday so stay tuned for pics. Edwin ate pasta which he felt was pretty good.

On Sunday we set out in search of street food. I am fascinated by street food (i.e. food being sold from a truck or trailer on the side of the road), and Edwin has even dreamt of starting his own taco truck. Austin is also known for fabulous street food. Sure enough, we hit the jackpot. We found a few dessert trucks that were featured in various tv shows and magazines (sadly, we did not indulge) and a delish taco truck. Come visit us and we will take you to Austin for these culinary gold mines!

Sunday afternoon we went to see The American, with George Clooney. It was bad- don't go. VERY boring. At night we recovered from our wasted 2 hours with George C. and went to dinner at Stubbs, which is a famous BBQ place. I believe my fam has a bottle of their BBQ sauce in the fridge at home. It was lip smackin good!

This morning we went out for one last meal (the last breakfast, you could say) before returning to the Valley. We went to Polvo's, which apparently is well-known. The food was delish- check out Edwin's breakfast!

I had migas, which are eggs scrambled with tortilla chips, swiss cheese, tomatoes, onions and jalapenos. I have discovered them since setting up camp in Texas and they are awesome. After breakfast we hit the open road and came back to the Valley. Apparently there is a tropical storm set to hit Brownsville tonight, and the schools in those towns have already been canceled for tomorrow. We shouldn't get any effects here, but we'll keep you posted! Happy Labor Day!!