Austin, Texas has long been our favorite place to road trip to. Typically just a 3 hour shot down I-35 from Fort Worth, it’s relatively quick to get to for us and it feels like its own little state within a state.
We love it for its outdoorsy-ness, its awesome food and people, and its charming, slightly off-kilter weirdness.
When Coronavirus hit the US, I had JUST decided to start this blog – and it was mainly going to be centered around travel. I have impeccable timing, I really do. We cancelled a couple trips and waited patiently…and waited…and finally I started looking in to a “socially distant” trip to Austin. I researched boutique hotels that had a contactless check-in/check-out, looked up outdoor activities that were safe, and looked at restaurants where we could grab our food and eat outdoors or at the hotel.
Such a good decision.
We needed the change of scenery and never felt unsafe during this trip. People wore masks and kept their distance – it actually felt safer there than at home here in DFW. So if you need to get out of your house and aren’t ready to jump on an airplane/can manage the drive to Austin – here’s a quick rundown of what we did on our 2 day trip.
WHERE WE STAYED
We chose the Hotel San Jose for a few reasons:
- It’s right on South Congress which is our favorite area of Austin.
- It’s GORGEOUS. The rooms are amazing, the pool and outdoor areas are so serene, and there’s a bar so you can grab a cocktail and chill outside for awhile.
- The hotel has an apartment-like set up, so you access your room from outdoors. In other words – you aren’t staying in a building filled with a lot of other people and that was a huge factor given our desire to stay socially distant.
DAY 1
We went down on my birthday and arrived mid-afternoon. As I share a birthday with June Teenth, we stopped at the Capitol building to see the Texas African American History Memorial. Sadly because of the Coronavirus, the grounds were closed so we had to look from the sidewalk near the street. I’m looking forward to going back in more normal times though to see it up close and read about it to Hattie.
When we left there it was still technically too early to check in but my husband called and they said to go ahead and come on in. The check-in wasn’t completely contactless, but it was very quick, easy, and there was no one else in the lobby (which is so cute, by the way AND we were greeted by the sweetest pup too!).
Our room was gorgeous and opened to a shared patio with a beautiful dining table and view of the lush greenery found literally everywhere at Hotel San Jose. We unpacked, got dressed and headed out to my birthday dinner at Launderette. They offered outdoor seating with spaced-out tables and the food was some of my favorite food I’ve tried in Austin! If you go, do not skip the potato chip and pimento appetizer. I’m not generally a fan of pimento cheese but this was so good!
DAY 2
We started by walking right across the parking lot to Jo’s for a Belgian Bomber – an iced coffee drink with chocolate, hazelnut and cream that’s as amazing as it sounds. We then drove to Maria’s Taco Express for our favorite breakfast tacos (and a mimosa). When we were well fed and caffeinated, we headed to the Barton Creek Greenbelt for a slippery (post-rain) but super fun hike. This is an easy hike for kids of all ages.
After our hike we grabbed Tacodeli and headed to Zilker Park for a picnic lunch. We went back to the hotel, swam, lounged around and then ordered pizza for dinner. Afterwards we decided to go on a fast and furious Austin Wall Crawl to snap some pics of Hattie in front of our favorite Austin walls.
DAY 3
We ended our trip with breakfast at Walton’s Austin (but not before Andy and Hattie took a little ride on a rented scooter) and then went for a serene canoeing adventure on Ladybird Lake.
(PHOTO)
It felt like just the right amount of activity for a quick, 48 hour getaway! We would do this trip again and again (and probably will).
Til next time, Austin!
