Austin, Texas will never be the same

We recently visited Austin, Texas for a business conference. I had no business being there, but we had a lot of fun.

We stayed at two places: Barton Creek and Courtyard at the Marriott in the heart of downtown Austin. Barton Creek was absolutely gorgeous and here are the pictures to prove it.



Golf at Barton Creek





I was treated to a manicure, a custom massage, and a hot stone massage. It was every bit as good as it sounds. Here is a picture of the hot tub at Barton Creek.




Our room at Barton Creek was fabulous.






I love a good snack bar.



On Friday night, we took a horse guided tour of downtown Austin. The next day we took a picture of Bob, our horse guide.



I also visited Book People, the largest book store in Texas. I was in heaven with three floors of books and excellent staff selections. I walked out with six books varying from historical fiction to how to tap into my creativity. So far Founding Brothers and The Other Boleyn Girl are fantastic.




I expected Austin to be flat and dirty, but it was hilly and picturesque!









We moved to a downtown Austin hotel for Friday and Saturday night.

Here is a picture of our hotel.



Me, before our exhausting walk.



This is a picture of Pete and I in the lobby of our downtown hotel.



Me before eating Texas's version of BBQ (not like NC BBQ at all)



Pete waiting for a cab.



Saturday we spent most of the day walking. Since it was a nice day, we decided to walk...and walk....and walk. In the morning, we took a cab to Lamar street and ate breakfast at a great place. Then we went in search of the "cool" places to shop. Apparently cool means expensive. I saw many cute tops, but I wasn't spending $210 for a black knit top. It was crazy. So we walked back to the hotel, which was a good ten blocks.

After a brief rest and picking up the camera, we decided to walk to see UT's campus. Hmmm. It was oh, 23 blocks from our hotel, but to our credit, we did it!

This is a picture of me with the Freedom Mare at UT.



After walking around UT, we were a bit delirious and I decided to break the speed limit. Pete was kind enough to capture the moment.

Mid-stride



Proof I am a speed demon.



We also saw UT's Bell Tower, the site of Charles Whitman's shootings in 1966, one of the first school shootings in the U.S. (an autopsy showed he had a brain tumor).

Pete's business client was actually present during the shootings in 1966 and was on the cover of Time magazine.



Prior to our UT visit, we toured the Capital building, the biggest Capital building in the country, even bigger than D.C.'s.

View from the steps of the Capital building.



Pete and I in the Capital building, which was quite ornate.





Ceiling view...quite impressive!



Me opening the door to the Capital building.



This is a view of Capital Street from the steps of the Capital. It's a neat picture because you can see so much from the site.



The front of the Capital buiding...



The top...



Here is the gate to the Capital, originally built to keep livestock from wandering on the premises.



Two more views...





We ended the day by walking 24 blocks back to our hotel. Our feet are swollen and I can't wait to sleep!