Christmas to New Year's Day, the time when the western world shuts down. And if you reside in this part of the world, a wonderful time to plan an escape from work. So that's exactly what we did--the husband and I. Our destination? Texas.
When I told friends about the plan, reactions ranged from 'that sounds like fun' to guffaws. But the constant theme was -- ''Why Texas? Do you have family there?" And my answer remained the same, "Nope, no family. Just another state to cross off our U.S. travel list. Plus I hear they have great food, so hopefully that will cancel the gun-love!"
So, after surviving the pre-Christmas work week, we arrived at the airport along with hordes of similar geniuses who thought travelling on the day of Christmas was easy. While the traffic was probably a tad heavier than usual, I loved the Christmas decorations (though I still maintain that NOBODY does festival decorations like India). But both of us were a little worried that we might not quite make the flight.
As the Security Check line snaked on, and I watched a woman whose flight had been cancelled throw a minor tantrum, a red man appeared and told us to follow him to a different line. Like lambs, we set off behind our piped piper. And lo behold, he led us to a line which had about 10 people in it. And thanks to this kind soul, our worries vanished and we arrived at our boarding gate well in time. Maybe he was our Christmas miracle :)
We landed in Dallas a little earlier than expected and headed straight for Austin. Having learnt that a long drive on the day of our return flight is not our thing, we had planned to stop in Dallas on our way back. Our first stop therefore, would be the city that our friends unanimously seemed to love -- Austin. So, off we went on our 3-plus hour drive to the 'most liberal' city in Texas, also home to University of Texas, Austin.
Apart from wisdom learnt on the way to NEVER eat at a Jack in the Box, we arrived uneventfully in Austin and checked into the downtown Hilton. And immediately fell in love with the adorable gingerbread village made by the hotel chefs and decorated by patients at a children's hospital and our 22nd floor view of a surprisingly non-homogeneous array of rooftops. As darkness fell, we walked through a fairly-shuttered downtown in search of Christmas dinner at a new Asian fusion place, which was much-loved on Yelp. Interestingly, the only other people we crossed on the darkish streets bore signs of homelessness. After a short walk, we discovered a 2.5 hour wait at the hot new place and resolved to continue to stay away from fancy restaurants! Fortunately, Ra (a Sushi and Asian fusion place), only a few blocks away, was open and had no wait. Destiny had us down for an Asian Christmas dinner after all ;)
We had heard of the Austin live music scene and decided to go to a Jazz performance at the Congress Ave. basement club Elephant Room. Incidentally, this music club draws its name from the elephant head lampshades that adorn its walls. With an hour to kill between dinner and the performance, we
strolled up Congress Ave. in the direction of the Texas Capitol, the largest state capitol building in the United States. On our way, we crossed a mix of old and new stores, which would likely make for a very vibrant main street in the light of day. At about 8:30 p.m. on Christmas however, two excellent drummers seemingly locked in intense competition, were the life of Congress Ave. The tourist numbers swelled as we arrived at the pretty Christmas tree outside the Capitol gates and it was easy to mistake this stately government building for Austin's favourite Christmas destination. Surprisingly, the windows to the building were left open--not sure if that was a welcome sign or just forgetfulness!
Photos done, we headed back to listen to Jazz and gained entry despite a surly doorman. As the crowd grew for this Texas-born Jazz band and people started to offer seats at their tables to those who were standing, the city charmed me a little more. At a table near us, someone paid the tab for a set of strangers who had invited them to their table. This definitely seemed like a city with a different kind of heart. While three members of the four-people band were older Caucasians, the drummer was a slight Asian woman. Despite the standing room-only crowd, I think she and I were the only Asians in that room that night!
The next day would bring more sights of Austin. But for now, it was time to say good night to this lovely city.
When I told friends about the plan, reactions ranged from 'that sounds like fun' to guffaws. But the constant theme was -- ''Why Texas? Do you have family there?" And my answer remained the same, "Nope, no family. Just another state to cross off our U.S. travel list. Plus I hear they have great food, so hopefully that will cancel the gun-love!"
So, after surviving the pre-Christmas work week, we arrived at the airport along with hordes of similar geniuses who thought travelling on the day of Christmas was easy. While the traffic was probably a tad heavier than usual, I loved the Christmas decorations (though I still maintain that NOBODY does festival decorations like India). But both of us were a little worried that we might not quite make the flight.
As the Security Check line snaked on, and I watched a woman whose flight had been cancelled throw a minor tantrum, a red man appeared and told us to follow him to a different line. Like lambs, we set off behind our piped piper. And lo behold, he led us to a line which had about 10 people in it. And thanks to this kind soul, our worries vanished and we arrived at our boarding gate well in time. Maybe he was our Christmas miracle :)
We landed in Dallas a little earlier than expected and headed straight for Austin. Having learnt that a long drive on the day of our return flight is not our thing, we had planned to stop in Dallas on our way back. Our first stop therefore, would be the city that our friends unanimously seemed to love -- Austin. So, off we went on our 3-plus hour drive to the 'most liberal' city in Texas, also home to University of Texas, Austin.
Apart from wisdom learnt on the way to NEVER eat at a Jack in the Box, we arrived uneventfully in Austin and checked into the downtown Hilton. And immediately fell in love with the adorable gingerbread village made by the hotel chefs and decorated by patients at a children's hospital and our 22nd floor view of a surprisingly non-homogeneous array of rooftops. As darkness fell, we walked through a fairly-shuttered downtown in search of Christmas dinner at a new Asian fusion place, which was much-loved on Yelp. Interestingly, the only other people we crossed on the darkish streets bore signs of homelessness. After a short walk, we discovered a 2.5 hour wait at the hot new place and resolved to continue to stay away from fancy restaurants! Fortunately, Ra (a Sushi and Asian fusion place), only a few blocks away, was open and had no wait. Destiny had us down for an Asian Christmas dinner after all ;)We had heard of the Austin live music scene and decided to go to a Jazz performance at the Congress Ave. basement club Elephant Room. Incidentally, this music club draws its name from the elephant head lampshades that adorn its walls. With an hour to kill between dinner and the performance, we
The next day would bring more sights of Austin. But for now, it was time to say good night to this lovely city.
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