Day 6-7

Day 6 was pretty uneventful. We drove through terrible weather all the way into Austin. We caught rush hour in Houston, which was way worse than Miami rush hour. We did, however, eat at Julien's Po' Boys in Acadiana, LA. Amazing. Ragin' Cajun Po' Boy is fully endorsed by the Mike 'n' Chrissie US tour '10.

We arrived at Selena's apartment in Austin, TX at around 8:30, and she introduced us to her friend that was also on a road trip, just passing through. He was from Massachusetts, where Carmella went to school. Carmella set us up with this place, and Selena was a friend of hers from college. Selena was awesome and gave us some very welcome suggestions as far as restaurants and art museums go. We drove through Austin that night before hitting the sack, and decided that it was pretty sweet, daylight or not.

We woke up this morning (day 7) and drove into Austin for some breakfast. We ordered the Don Juan taco at Juan in a Million on Cesar Chavez Road, and listened to the birds whistle and chirp while we ate the monstrous serving on their outdoor patio ($2.59- totally worth it). We then drove to SoCo (South Congress Drive) and walked the carbs off shopping and checking out the APA's attempt to pawn off their orphan puppies. They had some sort of Bull Terrier mix named Gus who was very cool and also very  excited to see us. We tried in vain to find a restroom open to the public until coming across a blue port-o-potty behind the modified Airstreams being used as concession stands for donuts and tacos and cupcakes.

Chrissie reporting-

So after the port-o-potty situation, we decided to head to the state capitol. We didn't even know that Austin was the capital of Texas, but apparently it is. Admission was free, which was a plus, and parking cost us about 25 cents using the meters. We walked around the capitol, it was a beautiful building. It amazed me that security was fairly minimal; we could almost walk right through to the offices in the building. I guess September 11th hasn't changed much after all, which is a good thing. So we spent about 45 minutes taking pictures, looking at portraits, and walking around the beautifully ornamented building.

We then decided to go to the Blanton Art Museum. It was great. We found out from Selena that there is free admission to the museum every Thursday, so we took full advantage of that. We spent the most time at the modern art and temporary exhibits, and quickly walked through the European art area; we weren't really into the European art as much.

We were pretty exhausted after all of this walking/sightseeing, so we went back to the apartment and showered/rested. Then came dinner time! Mike shall tell the rest.

Welcome back to the Mike Show! We were told that Iron Works was the place to have dinner if we were interested in some bbq, and we were told right. We drove down to the address and Chrissie immediately noticed a number of trailers and signs saying "Actors this way/ Crew this way." Signifying, of course, that filming for something was underway. We skipped the questions and gawking and checked in to Iron Works for two brisket plates and some Shiner Bohemian Black Lager. The meat was tender and the BBQ sauce was wonderful. The beer was something else, too. We left the restaurant full and I was somehow able to pry Chrissie away from the filming site across the street long enough to find a cheap place to fill the gas tank. We went back towards 6th street in order to do some bar hopping, and fully succeeded in this quest.

6th street is what Duval St. wishes it was. There were quite literally dozens of bars for every three blocks. We walked up and down the street, taking in the local tunes (and spirits). The first band made a small detour (meaning they improved and ranted about the situation) when LeBron James was on the flatscreen announcing his decision to sign with the Heat (idiot), and the second guy was a solo act named Mike that played T-Pain covers as well as Garth Brooks classics. Then we found the Dirty Dog, where bands were in a battle for the chance at a bigger contest or something. Either way, we saw two really amazing bands before the third one made us finally give up and leave. They were pretty bad. I got behind the wheel and navigated us towards I-35 South, which took us past the filming site again.

I abruptly pulled into the parking lot, where I was stopped (at midnight, mind you) by some sort of uniformless, gunless security guard. He started to talk, and I interrupted "So, uh.... what's going on here?" He replied "Well, uh.... Friday Night Lights." The whole thing had been for a TV show that neither of us even watched. Boooooring. So now we're back at the apartment preparing for bed, and a long trip to Roswell tomorrow morning. Chime in if you want, or just share our blog with your friends. We still have 23 days left!