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Showing posts from July, 2017

For the Blue Spot In a Red State; Austin, Texas: “Getting In, Out, & Around Austin”

I enjoy many things about living here in NYC but trying to get on a plane and fly far away is not one of them. I heart my city but sometimes, just like me, she can be a real bitch.  Up, Up, and Away As I shared at the beginning of my Atlanta series ( http://bit.ly/2va0Tha ) just trying to catch my flight out of my closest airport can be a struggle. All that does is make me want to get the hell out of here even more, which you can see becomes a real catch twenty-two.  I have been flying solo since I was fourteen so I am used to the fact that the worst part of my vacations usually happen at the airport and usually its mine that is the real disappointment. For starters JFK, which I hate talking smack about simply because of who it is named for ( http://bit.ly/2vcOucb ), is not typically clean in fact using the bathroom sometimes makes me wish I was wearing a diaper. As if that weren't bad enough you can wait at the carousel for your luggage almost as

For the Blue Spot In a Red State; Austin, Texas: “Austin Eats”

Well, you know one post about food wasn't gonna cut it.  So now we need to cover food on a more basic level. When it comes to Austin eats there are several names that are going to be thrown out at you. Franklin Barbecue is one. However they do not take reservations and a typical wait time is anywhere between two and three hours. That is does not fit in my wheel house. I had a recommendation to try to Cooper’s Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que instead and I had planned to but I never had a chance. It remains on my to do list for next time. Also on to my eat list for BBQ is Salt Lick. I believe the only location in Austin is in the airport but a friend back home has been talking about it for years so I need to get some of that. I did see it when I was getting off the plane but didn't have time to grab food before picking up my luggage.  The one place I was aching to go to was a very old favorite: Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. I have been to only one location of t

For the Blue Spot In a Red State; Austin, Texas: “Dining on Rainey & Partying on Dirty 6th”

I was in Austin for five days and feel like I had a well rounded experience. I was able to some quality time with my family, relax a bit which I rarely get to do on vacation, yet still see many of the highlights.  Whenever you read material about visiting Austin there are several key places you will hear about over and over again. One of them is Rainey Street.  I was lucky my accommodations were located on Rainey Street. It’s a historic area that at one time was completely comprised of small bungalows like you would see in a beach community. As Austin gained more notoriety in recent years as one of the top cities in the USA to live, property values skyrocketed. With that many developers were buying these homes in order to tear them down and build enormous apartment buildings, contrary to the original feel of the neighborhood.  Thankfully before they were all gone, a new purpose was found for them. They are now some of the best places to eat and catch a d