My Thoughts About Austin

A couple of weeks ago Keith and I took a trip to Austin. Here's a quick rundown of my thoughts.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast off South Congress Avenue, a hip part of town that illustrates the motto "Keep Austin Weird."

Soon after landing we had lunch there at the Snack Bar. The name is deceiving, as it's a sit-down restaurant with lots to choose from, including a lot of vegan items. I had biscuits and gravy, and it was excellent. Keith had barbecue seitan, which was not good at all. It tasted like cleaning detergent.

We ate at the outdoor patio. The weather was beautiful, and I felt so at home in this area. It reminded me of my vegan meetups in Chicago, where all sorts of people get together -- older, younger, inked and pierced and not. Where people care more about the inside of people than the outside. Dogs were also commonly seen at other outdoor cafes along that street.

While our bed and breakfast was near busy South Congress, it was quiet. As the name suggests, Park Lane Guest House has guest houses for people to stay in. But Keith and I stayed in the main house. We had a little wing to ourselves, with a bedroom and separate bathroom. The two women who own the B&B also live in the main house but at the other end. They have two dogs -- a Pomeranian and a Havanese (I think) -- who are so cute. I missed our dogs, so it was nice to be able to play with Layla and Olevia.

Every restaurant we ate at was vegetarian-friendly, but vegan-friendly was harder to come by. At least harder than I had thought it'd be. I did have vegan chocolate ice cream at a shop near the University of Texas called Toy Joy. I wasn't crazy about the shop, though, which was filled with cheesy little toys for sale. They also served the ice cream in a plastic cup, which they didn't reuse or recycle.

We had delicious meals at Taste of Ethiopia in an Austin suburb and at Curra's Grill in South Austin. At the latter restaurant I had tacos with nopalitos, the pads of the prickly pear cactus. They were great. The tacos also came with soy chorizo, and I got to choose between three types of beans -- all without lard. (The next time you get refried beans in a restaurant, ask if they contain lard. Most do. Look for refried beans labeled "vegetarian" in your grocery store. These don't contain lard.)

What struck me the most about Austin were all the trees. Even more than I'm used to up north. They were beautiful.

I was most disappointed by the Austin airport, as it was not vegan-friendly at all. I could have ordered some kind of animal flesh called brisket at 7 in the morning, but when I asked if I could have a baked potato, two women at separate restaurants looked at me like I was crazy. They don't serve those during breakfast.

(Photos of the Austin skyline and of the bed and breakfast courtesy of Keith Means.)