The Lauers Take On Austin

I was under the impression that my parents were coming to Austin for a long weekend... but they came for a whole WEEK. I was so excited to know that they weren't leaving after only a few short days had gone by. There is so much of Austin and its surrounding areas that I wanted to show them. I rested up on Friday night and Saturday, anxiously awaiting their arrival. They landed in Austin, snagged a rental car, and arrived to the Courtyard Condos in the late afternoon. Nothing like a sweet reunion. I gave them the 20-second tour of my apartment and we headed downtown to their Marriott on 4th Street, a stellar location. They dropped off their bags, changed clothes, and we were on our way to happy hour and dinner downtown! Our first stop was Malverde, a bar that serves the best mojito in Austin (of the four or five that I've actually tried). My parents were impressed, so at least I have two additional votes on my side. Despite the strong scent of incense that lingered throughout the bar, it was a good place to sit outside, enjoy a cool beverage, and catch up. Next stop on the list was the Ginger Man, one of my favorite bars in Austin. If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you might recall the Ginger Man as the bar where we played trivia and we met the "Statue of Liberty". Still makes me laugh. Anyways, Mom and Dad were just as enchanted as me by the hundreds of beers offered on tap. We enjoyed a couple beers brewed by the Live Oak Brewery (yes, this was also mentioned early on in the blog in the post about the brewery tour) and discussed details for Dad's brewery plans! Yes, Dad is going to experiment with brewing beer, and I can't WAIT to come home and taste! Soon after, we headed next door for a delicious Tex-Mex dinner and tasty margaritas at Maria Maria... yes, a restaurant owned by the one and only Carlos Santana. Most 26-year olds would have dropped their parents back off at the hotel and hit the town with friends... but if you know my parents, you know that's not the case. They are always up for a good time. We hit up 6th Street where we saw "Matt Dillon" perform live (seriously, look at the picture and tell me that's not his identical twin) - and ole' Matt didn't just strum the guitar... he played it behind his back (for a solid 10 minutes) and he played it with his tongue (kind of weird). I convinced them to come into the Blind Pig for a few minutes, as it is the bar where Nicole, Deirdre, and I danced our tails off the weekend they brought me to Austin. We enjoyed a few songs by Rico on his acoustic guitar, and then the college kids started rolling in... and that's when we witnessed the bartender crouch atop the bar, take a shot, and then swan-spit (I just made that term up, but can you picture what I'm describing?) the shot into a bachelorette's mouth. I regretted my decision to take my parents into the Blind Pig at that very moment. Sick. Time to go home. Apart from that disturbing experience, it was the perfect first night and I was so happy to have Mom and Dad in Austin. And yes, I slept over at the Marriott on the pull-out couch. And yes, I loved it.