It's October. I last wrote on my blog exactly eight months ago. To say I had writer's block is one thing: the creative juices weren't flowing as they have before. The eating didn't stop, per se, but the writing didn't come to me as naturally as it once did. So consider the next many (many) blog posts to be updates on my life. Because if nobody reads these posts, this blog is more for me to document everything I've been doing in my life. That's the purpose of this blog - always has been, and always will be.
I last updated you on an unbelievable trip to Kohanaiki, a private getaway in Kona, Hawaii for winter break at the start of 2022. So now I pick up where we left off: spring break. As I skipped into the second semester of my senior year at Indiana, spring break quickly approached, and my friends and I packed up to jet off to Austin, TX. We're not ones to go to the typical spots of Cancun or Cabo... you know those. Texas barbeque and TexMex called, instead.
We stayed at the magnificent Lakeway Report & Spa, in Lakeway, TX, just 30 minutes west of downtown Austin. Mornings started off with walks around the neighborhood, drinks by the pools were our afternoon delight, and evenings were spent relaxing. We discovered a local favorite cafe, Cafe Lago, where we ended up just about every morning. And if we couldn't decide on just breakfast, we would order lunch to go, too.
The Turkey Delight sandwich was a favorite, with sprouts, sunflower seeds, tomato, and avocado; any breakfast with cheesy eggs (pictured to the right)was spot on; and the a la carte breakfast tacos started an obsession deep inside of me that I didn't know existed. I tried Cholula for the first time (I can't typically do spicey!) and it changed me. I'd walk out of Cafe Lago every morning with a few extra breakfast tacos for later. Cheesy eggs don't photograph well so I have no photo to share but just know that they were good.
My friends and I wandered into downtown Austin to explore for a day. We were intentional about where we went to eat, considering the great food scene in the city. We started at Cafe No Se on South Congress (but all the cool kids say "SoCo"). We started off with strong, bold coffees - I got a latte with homemade lavender syrup.
While Keri got the cafe scramble, Lauren, Jessie, and I all enjoyed the quinoa bowl with a poached egg, fried chickpeas, avocado, and almond pesto on top of hearty greens. It wasn't only that the egg was perfectly runny, or the chickpeas had the most unique crunch, but the pesto was thick enough that it wasn't much of an oil-based dressing but more a paste - it was amazing. The veggies were crunchy as ever, the vibes were immaculate, and other brunching ladies came in wearing their boots, hats, and fringes. Something about Texas is just so different than what I'm used to... and it was so much fun. I'd adopt fringes into my everyday essentials if it means I move down to ATX.
The rest of our day downtown was consumed by shopping and seeing the sites. We eventually worked up an appetite again and stumbled upon Aba, Chef CJ Jacobson's take on Israeli-Turkish-Greek-Lebanese cuisine. And anything that has a Mediterranean influence screams Simone, so I got really excited.
We started with the smokey garlic hummus, then enjoyed the sweet flavors of the ahi tuna with watermelon, cucumber, pomegranate, nigella, yuzu & black pepper vinaigrette. All of this paired well with a glass of prosecco.
I anticipated Austin's culture to be all barbecue and thick southern accents, so while the "y'alls" and yeehaw energy was there, it was nice to eat fresh food throughout our stay. But of course we couldn't leave Texas without the 'que, so my friends and I made a pit stop before the airport... and I mean we literally brought our suitcases into the busy Terry Black's Barbecue before our flight. While we went all out on brisket, I was most excited about a pint of their mac and cheese. It was perfectly smokey and paired well with their homemade sweet barbecue sauce. And even as busy as Terry Black's is on the daily during lunch hour, we got served and seated rather quickly.
Austin is really fun. I'm reminiscing on this trip many, many months later and would go back in a heartbeat. Now that I have friends living in ATX post-graduation for their first jobs, perhaps I have a reason to go back and visit! But for now, I'm finishing up college and have big Spring travel plans coming up... stay tuned.
Welcome Back! Keep ‘em coming.