Bangers & Modern Art // A Day in ATX

Today's blog post will take you through a typical day in Austin, Texas filled with bangers, modern art and a building full of books. Our dear city, like most communities, is currently under Shelter-in-Place, but before all the craziness hit our world we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary with a special tradition I call our "Austin Day". While this list may not be spectacular, we branched out a bit since most of the typical Austin activities are repeats for us at this point. These places are definitely worth adding to your list once we are done with social distancing!

Stop #1 // Banger's

The day began with beer and a very spicy sausage at Banger's on Rainey Street. Banger's has over 100 draft beers, a dog park and homemade sausage (what more can you ask for?). I ordered the Spicy Smoked Andouille. My mouth was on fire, but every spicy, delicious bite was worth the burn! Plus, the side of warm german potato salad made my heart so happy. . .partly because it diluted the spice, but mostly because potato salad is my thing!

Stop #2 // Laguna Gloria

I must start this section off by telling you this contemporary art museum is one

of my all time favorite spots in the city. This 1916 villa overlooks Lake Austin and the modern art installations line the wooded trails around the estate.

My Grandmother used to take me here every once in a while when I was younger, so I think of it as our special place. I make it a point to take my Husband here annually; a tradition we started the weekend after tying the knot in 2015.

Side note: I always dreamed of getting married here!

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Our "Austin Day"

The story behind our "Austin Day" as I call it began just days after our wedding. We knew that just a week after saying "I Do" I would pack up my life & join my Husband in Arizona where he was stationed at the time. We knew we would live there for over a year so I was determined to do all of my favorite things, with my favorite person, in my favorite city before I had to say goodbye for a while. We spent the freezing, rainy weekend in a hotel on the river. We ate at Threadgills and the original Torchey's Taco food truck. We walked down Congress Avenue to the Capitol and of course, we also made it out to Laguna Gloria! Each year we try to do something a little different around our anniversary to keep it interesting - but regardless of what is on the agenda it is my favorite tradition of the year!

Surprisingly, this is the only photo I have from our mini-honeymoon!

Stop # 3 // The Austin Public Library

Yes, you are correct. The library is such a random place to visit for no reason - but hear me out! I've started to feel like I've done all the typical touristy activities in Austin, so this year I was a little stumped for ideas. When asking around at work, multiple people reminded me how incredible our local library is. Architecturally it is rated one of the best in the nation. It has a rooftop area that overlooks the water and staircases jutting out every which way. It almost reminded me of Harry Potter and the moving staircases at Hogwarts. I was just waiting for one of them to shift. I have uploaded a youtube video so you can see what I am talking about!

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I hope you are all staying safe during this unprecedented time in our lives and adjusting well to your new normal. Once this is all behind us I hope you can see some new sights & try some new places around Austin. Luckily, the Library is FREE & the trail around Laguna Gloria is donation based so you can splurge for lunch at Bangers (or the dozens of great places to eat on Rainey! Y'all -- they even have sausages especially for your pup!