Day 13 of my trip in the USA started in Houston, Texas. We had only spent the evening there and it was ever such a shame we couldn’t have explored the city properly. I think it’s certainly a place I’d quite like to re-visit and get to know a little bit more. After all, it is Beyoncé’s hometown. It was time to get back on the road as Austin was calling our name.
The drive between Houston and Austin was one of the shortest on the Trek as we had arrived by lunchtime. Our first stop was a slightly random one, we actually visited Whole Foods for lunch. This is because the Austin store is actually a flagship as the store was founded in the city. I really should’ve been restrained as spending $35 on pizza, salad and fruit was slightly absurd.
Whilst we were in Austin, we stayed at the HI Austin which was just overlooking the Colorado River. I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t the best place in the world as we were without cold water but it was in a lovely location. We spent the afternoon chilling by the river before heading out into Austin hunting down those Instagrammable Murals. Before heading for some dinner, we went stopped by the Texas State Capitol Building. It’s actually bigger than the US Capitol Building in Washinton DC.
Initially, we planned on going for a few drinks after going to Torchy’s Taco’s but it turned out Sunday’s are not very happening in Austin. In the end, we ended up just hanging out at the hostel with a few drinks playing games.
Unfortunately, our stay in Austin was another short but sweet visit. The next morning, we got back on the road after a quick pit stop at Lance Armstrong’s Bike Store. I’ve got to say, I absolutely loved what I saw of Austin. It was another city I would most certainly be returning to. It just had that cool laidback vibe with plenty of interesting places, shops and restaurants to explore.
The goal for Day 14 was to drive to San Angelo, a small city towards the New Mexico border and also to pick up Halloween costumes from Walmart. In the end, we stopped off in a place called Brady which actually is the heart of Texas as it’s right in the middle of the state. Not only did we find Halloween costumes at the local Walmart, we had one of my favourite lunch on the whole of the trip. I’m possibly going to do a post on some of my favourite meals on the trip. Let me know if that’s something you would like? But Fat Boys BBQ in Brady was certainly up there for their insane brisket sandwiches!
San Angelo was a very quiet place. It was almost like a ghost town as there was nobody about and nothing seemed to be open. It was certainly interesting though. The downtown area was full of historical buildings which reminded me of Frontierland at Disney! It was such a cool place to have a wander around and just take a few photos. Whilst in San Angelo, we were staying at the Clarion Hotel which had a pool which we very much took advantage of after another amazing meal at the Twisted Root Burger Company.
Over the past couple of days, I’ve really realised just how bloody big Texas is! There’s been a lot of driving which is a shame as I’d love to have explored more of the Texan cities we passed through. We definitely got a taster of the state though! Don’t forget to stay tuned for the next instalment of my USA Diaries as I spend Halloween in a cave and go hunting down aliens! Catch up on my other diary posts here!
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