Sam Adventures

Our friend Sam flew in from wintry Winnipeg on Thursday to enjoy a bit of sun with us in Austin.

On Thursday night we took Sam to Guero's on SoCo and caught some live music under the live oaks while exploring some of First Thursday on Soco (a once a month event)

On Friday morning we biked along Town Lake and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack at Riverside. Friday night saw us to dinner at Uchiko and the play Tru at the ZACH Theatre. A one man play about Truman Capote that we really enjoyed -- it's not a barrel of laughs, very black by times. It wasn't very well attended but we thought it was a great production. It got a standing ovation. Afterwards we stopped in at the Wine House for an after theatre drink and a bit of live music. Fortunately saner minds prevailed and we went home early (I was driving and careful about drinking).

Saturday was a cool wet day so we three spent the afternoon playing a dominoes game called "Mexican Train". It was a Christmas gift from Joan and Ron that we had brought with us. We had lots of laughs and a few drinks while playing the afternoon away. Our plan was to take a taxi to the evening's events.

The ladies we met on Thursday night at Guero's Taco Bar under the live oaks on SoCo had recommended a restaurant on S. Lamar called "Barley Swine" which is near Oltorf and not too far from us. They described it as a "tapas" style service -- little nosh sized dishes. The restaurant web site warned us to arrive early as they do not take reservations and would be busy. We arrived at 5:00 and got the last table which we ended up sharing with another group of three. We really enjoyed the food and would compare it favourably with Uchiko on N. Lamar (rated #1 on Tripadvisor, #3 in the Austin Chronicle's Reader Favourites/AC RF) where we had an early dinner on Friday.  Uchiko is Japanese styled (which we're not very familiar with) while Barley Swine, if I were to put a local, I'd say California or haute-local. The menu at the Barley Swine (rated #18 in AC RF) is much easier to manage (it's much smaller and easier to figure out) and the atmosphere is more casual. The place is much smaller but the service is just as great. At both restaurants each dish is lovingly prepared, plated and served. We would have no hesitation recommending these restaurants.... if you want to get away from the chicken fried steaks and Tex-Mex.

Saturday night we saw some great music. The photo above is Wendy Colonna playing with some friends at the "Strange Brew" coffee club on Manchaca not far from us. It's a great spot to see good music. A place where people listen to the music, where friends gather to play with friends. We were there last week and will go again. It's a very nice spot.

Sunday morning we took Sam to the airport for an early flight home. We returned to bed and slept late. For a hang-over breakfast we headed over to the Magnolia Cafe ("Sorry, we're open") on SoCo for Love Miga's, Huevos Rancheros, etc.  ... a place we've been many times and quite the contrast to the fine dining of the previous evenings.