Day six – boots, belts, burritos
Miles driven 169
Total miles – 2603
Sunday, a day of rest. Sort of.
We took the 80 mile trip from San Antonio to Austin in the morning. 80 miles now feels like nothing. Britain is going to feel tiny when I get back!
Once in Austin, we met up with a couple of Camden’s friends to give us a tour of the city.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Austin if I’m being honest. I’d heard good things from people who had visited while at a race weekend there but on this trip I though it would probably be one of the less exciting places we would visit on this trip. I was wrong.
The first stop on our tour was a famous Austin memorial, next to it was a neon artist’s gallery. Unfortunately it was closed, however as we were leaving the owner of the building saw us and gave us a personal tour around it. Neon makes up a lot of the skyline of Austin’s more downtown areas, so this guy is very much in demand. He was recently commissioned by band Kings Of Leon for their latest album cover too. A demo of a working vinyl juke box topped our little tour of the neon gallery off perfectly.
After being shown a stunning view of the 360 bridge and to look around the Capitol building in the heart of Austin we were taken to get some lunch. A Mexican, which as well as being incredibly cool inside and having great food was also where Bill Clinton ate when he was president.
A spot of light shopping was in order next. Allen’s boots, our first shop. It sells boots unsurprisingly, and lots of them! As much as I wanted a pair of cowboy boots, I suspect when not in Texas they lose some context.
“10 years ago in this area, you would have been shot” Our introduction to downtown Austin. Now it’s very much a lively and young community. We arrived at a bar where they were finishing up a mac and cheese competition. Number 22 won if you wanted to know.
Our final destination for the afternoon was the Circuit of the Americas. No track action was happening but I got a good look around the facility. It looks great, the huge roller coaster style tower in the middle makes a great feature point.
I’d love to come back for a race there. Back to San Antonio for a night in hotel. An early start on Monday beckons. New Orleans the destination.
