I recently had a work trip in Austin, Texas, and decided to take an extra day to visit friends and see more of the city. I always recommend trying to build in a little bit of personal time to work trips. Even if all you can manage is one local coffee shop or one dinner, it’s a great way to give yourself some balance and get to know and see more of the world!
Our event was at the Marriott Austin Downtown, and it was honestly a great spot to stay in. The hotel is brand new, has a FANTASTIC rooftop pool and bar, and is in a great location for walking and ubering. I was lucky enough to get an upgrade to a corner room with some great views of downtown and the river.
On our first free day, we started out by driving to Cenote, a cute little coffee shop with incredible breakfast. Their menu is extensive, and it was so hard to pick what to order because everything sounded fantastic. I was just around 12 weeks pregnant so FINALLY my appetite was back in full force, and things had stopped tasting like metal constantly.
I went with a croissant breakfast sandwich with chipotle, and it was SO good. I cut out all caffeine for the first trimester, so I hadn’t quite yet gotten back into it, but they had a ton of different coffee options, and everything my friends got looked fantastic.
After breakfast, we went to the nearby Texas State Cemetery. I know cemeteries are a weird tourist destination for most people. Growing up in New Orleans, I find them fascinating and have been to a number of VERY cool cemeteries across the world (shoutout to Lisbon having the most interesting tour for sure!).
The Texas State Cemetery is notable because it is the resting place for so many famous Texans. The grounds themselves are beautiful, and there is a little museum at the front entrance where you can learn more about the history of Texas and Austin, as well as a bit about some of the people buried here.
After our walk around the cemetery, we drove over to the Texas State Capitol. The Capitol building is beautiful, and I highly recommend taking one of the free guided tours so that you can learn more about the building and the history.
One of the most unique aspects of the building, is that when they ran out of space for offices and gathering above ground, they build floors underneath and expanded down. It’s wild to see how large the space is once you get into the basement floors!
For lunch we stopped into Tacodeli to grab a quick bite. There are SO MANY famous taco places in Austin, and I wish I had weeks to try them all. This one was highly recommended by multiple people, and it was so delicious!
To walk off lunch, no trip to Austin is complete without some shopping on South Congress. Hitting up Allen Boots, the Stetson stores, and of course the Krewe pop-up were the must do’s on our list.
After freshening up (and resting – being pregnant is hard!) at the hotel, we grabbed a cocktail at Zanzibar, which is located on the rooftop of the Marriott Downtown. The bar had some great mocktail options, which was great, because honestly I’m appalled at how few fun options there are for us pregos to drink when we’re out with friends. Just because we’re pregnant doesn’t mean we don’t want to drink something delicious! They made me this beautiful tropical mocktail, and we enjoyed the sunset off the balcony.
For dinner, we headed over to Loro, a new spot started by Tyson Cole of Uchi fame and Aaron Franklin of Franklin BBQ. The Asian/Smokehouse fusion was something I could not pass up, and boy did it not disappoint. There aren’t any reservations, and you basically show up and wait in line to enter, grab a table when one is free, order at the bar, and then they bring the food to you at mostly communal tables. While you wait outside for a table there are lounge chairs, and a bar where you can order drinks (and the non-alcoholic Lagunitas hop water!).
We ordered SO MUCH, and everything was incredible. Highlights were the Crunchy Sweet Corn Fritters, the Chicken Karrage, Texas Sweet Corn, Char Siew Pork Belly, Smoked Beef Brisket, and the Glass Noodles. It’s a great menu for family style sharing, so I recommend getting a few people together to go so you can try more things!
After dinner, we stopped at The Driskill Hotel for a post dinner drink, and to walk around the incredibly beautiful and historic hotel. It was decorated for Christmas, and we had a blast just wandering around.
I was even convinced to stop at a club/bar afterwards for one more cocktail and some music. Devil May Care has some CRAZY amazing cocktails on their menu (and will make fun mocktails!), and they had a live saxophonist playing alongside the DJ. It was nice to be dressed up and out for the first time in what feels like forever with COVID and pregnancy!
While I’d love to have stayed and explored more, alas, I needed to get home, and left the airport with this beautiful sunset as my backdrop. Can’t wait to get back and explore again – what do I need to add to the itinerary for my next trip? Let me know in the comments!
