Ah...sweet sunshine

Waking up from the most comfortable bed on the trip and then stumbling downstairs to the most lovely breakfast felt pretty luxurious. Our lovely b&b owner, Noel, made the most amazing lemon/blueberry scones. It was just the perfect way to wake up to a beautiful and sunny start to Austin. Jaime's aunt and uncle from Sugarland, TX met us at the b&b and were good enough sports to play tourists with us for the day. First we headed over to South Congress to do some shopping. The cute little shops are only about 4 blocks long south of the river, but they were pretty charming. There's a great little toy store (one of 2 great ones we saw here) called "Monkey See Monkey Do." There were a few old gems there and some pretty hysterical magnets and action figures (Edgar Allen Poe, Tesla and of course Jesus). Probably my favorite store on the block was a trading company called "Tesoros." www.tesoros.com It's touristy, sure, but I actually thought it had some pretty cool stuff. One of my favorite things, which I'm now regretting not purchasing, were some really beatiful old light switch plates from Peru that were a brushed copper. Damn, I knew I should have bought at least one but you reach a point in a studio apt. in Brooklyn where you run out of room for cool things like that.
After the shopping we headed over to the Central Market. It's a grocery store, and part of our grocery store tour of Austin as it turned out, but it's considered the "foodie" grocery store for all the wannabe gourmet or actual chefs out there. We had a lovely lunch at the outdoor cafe and even a glass of wine. On some afternoons they have live music playing out there. The store was quite impressive and if I didn't feel so bad for Jaime's poor relatives I might really have lost myself in there. But alas, I limited my time and walked away with some pretty good cheese for later in the evening. Slightly sunburned from lunch we headed over to the Capital. The Capital is taller than the actual Capital in DC, a fact I couldn't stop laughing at. I was convinced that when this capital was built they deliberately made the statue on the tip top raise it's arm just so they could claim height over the national capital. haha I mean, I can't say enough how proud Texans are. They used to be their own country for god's sake. And actually they are the only state allowed to fly their state flag at the same level as the American flag. They were also occupied by 6 different "states" at one point hence the 6 flags flying over the Capital, and yes, the theme park. Ah...it all comes full circle. :) The capital is quite impressive inside but perhaps what amused me the most were the "Texas touches." Door hinges, yes door hinges, said "Texas Capital." Lone stars were pretty much everywhere you looked: on the floor, on the ceiling, in a mosaic of stone outside, and on and on. And my personal favorite, the policemen inside who wore cowboy hats. You're in Texas now! In a way when you stepped in the Capital it felt like Texas, the Texas you always think of. And when you step outside the iron lone star gates you're back in Austin. It's an interesting dichotomy.
We bid Jaime's realtives adieu and headed back to the b&b for a lighter dinner: wine and cheese, the best dinner! It was glorious to sit on that big beautiful front porch in the early evening sun. We tried out our new cheeses, one of which was called Beehive lavender coffee cheese. It was interesting to say the least. A bottle of wine later, from Becker vineyards by the way, we knew it was going to be an early evening. Yes, we were lame that evening, but whatever, it was worth it to relax and soak in a warm Austin evening on that porch.