To The West

I always heard about Austin, Texas. 

"Keep Austin Weird." South By Southwest. 6th Street. So Co. Queso. All sounded appealing.

Finally, I was able to visit this mythical place for a conference with work. Six days I spent exploring vintage boutiques, graffiti walls, food trucks, rooftop bars and everything far and in between in Austin. The verdict: When can I move here?

The attitude of this place. The style of these people. The overall joi de vivre and progressive culture that I had only ever dreamed about in a metropolis city. I fell in love with the weird and the beautiful in this capitol city and I'm never going to settle for less. 

Day 1 (Wednesday): Land in Austin around 3pm. Wait for check in at hotel with a Blue Moon. No judgmental looks, even a "cheers" overheard from an attractive twenty something across the hotel bar - not your average 3pm patron. Looks good so far. Hit the gym, ordered delivery and passed out to wake up early the next day.

Day 2 (Thursday): Conference fun; full of interviews, sessions, and free meals. The whispers of "I need a drink" and "When can we get drunk" start to be heard around late afternoon. After dinner, we do a little hotel partying (flip cup on ironing boards) and then head to 6th street where chaos insues. Rooftop bars with no covers and $5 pitchers of your drink of choice that you sip through a straw. Dancefloors with huge projected music videos. DJs. Cheap drinks. Take your pick. I mean, this street is closed down by blockades every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. What? End the night with a pit stop at a local Mediterranean food truck. Mistake hot sauce for ketchup. Somehow made it to bed.

Day 3 (Friday): Conference fun again; interviews, roundtables, free meals. Completely blown away by these people. At the end of the day, a sponsor surprises us with an open bar at a trendy dive called Handlebar where the employees have mustaches and there is a seesaw on the rooftop. Tab runs out and we realize we haven't eaten. Head to the Iron Cactus for some southwest eats and die over some amazing baja fish tacos. Afterwards, we go back to 6th and bar-hop around. First, Voodoo bar with private cabanas. Next, Maggie Maes for some live blues and drinks on the rooftop. Last but not least, Rooftop Bar (strangely not on a rooftop) that features climbable booths and stripper poles for patrons. Just keepin it weird, Austin. Ended the night with a hotel party and late night life stories with new friends. 

Day 4 (Saturday): Free day from the conference. Slept in and went to South Congress (locally known as So Co) for food and exploring. Found "designer vintage" shops and an antique mall hidden on the strip. The market displayed local artists and great attitudes about booming Austin business and the influx of new people in town. Everything about this street was perfect. Dogs in stores. Vintage clothes. Art. Care-free attitudes. Western prints. Local craft. Fresh food. This was my "Aha" moment. This is when I knew I was going to come back. Next, we toured the capitol lawns and got lost downtown looking for cheasy gifts for our loved ones. Ended the night with the conference banquet, celebrating these incredible universities with advertising departments that I had never imagined before. I was truly humbled by the work and ambition of the people I met and learned more in these past few days than I ever did in a classroom. 

I thank Auburn University and The Auburn Plainsman for this incredible experience. I hope to find a job that brings me back to this magical city someday. Until then, I will be dreaming of Texas and searching for any opportunity to get me back here.