We finally took an adventure. We have waited so long to get vaccinated and get far, far away from North Carolina. Before the pandemic, we had ambitions of going to Austin, TX, so once vaccines started being distributed during this loooong winter, we made a plan (on an index card) to drive to Texas over Spring Break. We chose some cool cities to see along the way, and started booking hotels.
And it finally happened. And it was glorious. We drove over 2500 miles and saw so many places that we had never seen; Birmingham, New Orleans, Austin, Waco, Dallas, Memphis.
We visited with college friends, saw civil rights memorials, and kayaked in the Colorado River. We ate breakfast tacos, Texas brisket, Whataburger, and Birmingham BBQ. We saw filming locations for Stranger Things and Dazed and Confused, and walked through the Texas State Capitol building. We got lucky at Texas Thrift, bought records at Waterloo Records (Neil Young at Shakespeare), and toured the University of Texas. We rode streetcars in New Orleans, climbed a Vulcan statue in Birmingham, saw a giant Athena statue in the Parthenon, and signed our name on the front wall of Graceland. Jessica finally got to visit Magnolia in Waco, our kids were likely traumatized on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and we fell in love with Austin.
Beautiful.
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| New Orleans! |
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| Parthenon, Nashville TN |
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| Birmingham AL |
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| Buc-ees - the greatest gas station on earth, Texas |
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| Getting our Chip and Joanna vibes at Magnolia |
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| Texas Forever, my first Lonestar |
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| College buds in Austin |
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| Kayaking the Colorado River through Austin |
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| The original plan... |
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| Avery at the Palace Arcade filming location, Stranger Things |
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