Girlfriend Getaway to Austin – Keeping It Weird

My good friend Ginger and I meet up every year for a weekend of fabulousness. She lives in Boston, and I’m in the Bay Area, so we always choose somewhere in the middle that we hope is a perfect blend of awesome and amazing.

This year’s Girlfriend Getaway pick was Austin. It did not disappoint.

Here’s a snapshot of a bunch of great stuff we did…

Hotel

We stayed at the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt. Loved it. Nice touch: the can of Tejas beer at check-in. 🙂

Sips and Nibbles

Top recommendations: Swift’s Attic and Dai Due for dinner and drinks. Olamaie for brunch (this Peach Sour!)

And of course, Midnight Cowboy for cocktails (they’ll mix one up for you, tableside – this is right next to our booth!)

 

Shopping

I found a gorgeous, handcrafted necklace by Son of a Sailor at a boutique called Limbo.

We browsed thousands of boot options at Allen’s Boots.

I scooped up a few unique, heavenly-smelling candles at Spartan.

 

And we window shopped on 2nd Avenue and South Congress…lots of goodies!

Pedicures

Lacquer gets two thumbs up. Note the wine and fabulous mid century light in the background.

Active Relaxation

We borrowed bikes from the hotel and rode around the lake. 12 miles went by quickly!

We also went on a Kayak Tour around the lake.

 

We got ready for our flights home with a super sweaty Vinyasa Bikram Yoga class (with a Michael Jackson soundtrack) at Wanderlust. Highly recommend!

Getting Around

Since Austin kicked Lyft and Uber out of the city after they refused to fingerprint their drivers, rideshare options were scarce and spotty when we were there. The one that ended up working best for us was Fasten. (Tip: If you want to try Fasten, you can get a $20 credit with my code: KE9174).

 

Weird and Wonderful

Art-o-mat.

The owl building. Hoot!

Food truck.

Guero’s. Yum!

 

Have you ever been to Austin? Do you have any great spots to share? I’d love to know!