Day trip to Austin

Hello readers!

It was also my first flight on Southwest Airlines!

It was also my first flight on Southwest Airlines!

Last Saturday, I traveled to Austin, Texas for the day. I went to visit my friend  from high school who is currently studying at the University of Texas. I was supposed to make this trip in October but it did not work out. Thanks to Southwest’s no change-fees policy as I pushed the trip a few weeks later free of charge paying only the fare difference.

My flight was in the morning from Orlando (MCO) to Austin (AUS). When I landed in the capital of Texas, it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit with rain showers. Coming from warm Florida, I didn’t even think of bringing a jacket.

During my short visit, my friend showed me his apartment which was about a 10-minute walk from campus. We then walked to the campus where we toured for a while. As we were walking past an open field, there were students running around throwing some balls and carrying a broomstick. I’m sure you already know what they were doing. Yes, they were playing quidditch like in Harry Potter. Well they weren’t flying but the game looked quite similar from the movie. It was fun to watch to say the least.

Quidditch game!

Quidditch game!

After watching the game for a few minutes, we went to get lunch at a Mexican restaurant in downtown Austin. Since I lived in San Antonio for three years, it was unquestionable that we had to go eat tacos! One of my favorite taco is called al pastor and comes with marinated pork, small pineapple chunks, chopped onions and cilantro and a slice of lime.

Later after lunch, we hanged out for a few hours before I had to leave for the airport for my flight back home. I really enjoyed my day in Austin!

Until next time!

Nicolas

A weekend in Texas

Hello, again!

I wanted to let y’all know what I did last weekend. Of course, I had to embark on another non-rev adventure! Since it was a long weekend, I had originally planned to go to Honolulu for three days. However, this time around, I wasn’t as successful. I ended up not making it on the flight Friday night, and decided not to risk it Saturday morning.

I knew that I definitely wanted to travel, so I looked for a different destination. I ended up going to San Antonio, Texas! I have always wanted to go to San Antonio, and this was the perfect weekend. My sister and I took a flight Saturday morning, and arrived in Texas that evening. We frantically booked a hotel before we boarded the flight, so when we got there, we took an Uber to the hotel downtown. It was a quick ten minute drive to downtown, which was really nice!

Once we got our room, we went out to the River Walk. The first thing we did was ride a boat down the river. It was an awesome way to discover what all was along the river! It was also nice to have a breeze in your face, since it was 104 degrees! We had a great boat captain who told us about the history of San Antonio, as well as pointed out some local restaurants. After the boat ride, we went to eat dinner. Everywhere was packed, so we just had to choose a restaurant and hope for the best. We ended up going to a BBQ restaurant that had the most delicious ribs! Since we ate so much food, we decided to walk around the River Walk for awhile and look at the shops. There were people everywhere, and it was 11:30pm!

The next day, we woke up early and went to find the Alamo. We were told that it was right around the corner from our hotel, however it took us awhile to find it! The street signs were pretty confusing, but we eventually decided to follow the crowds, and we ended up in front of the Alamo (I was surprised that it was located right downtown). There was a line to get inside, but it was worth the wait! You could feel the history when you walked inside. It was incredible. I would’ve loved to have shown you the inside, but photography was not allowed. Once we were done looking around, we walked from the Alamo to Market Square.

My sister and I at the Alamo

My sister and I at the Alamo

Market Square is about a mile away from the Alamo, so you can imagine that it was a long walk in the heat. I was so excited once we got to the Square because it was filled with decorations and food! I felt like I was in Mexico. The shops were incredible, and there was a Mexican market that had really cool handcrafted items. My sister and I ended up eating lunch at a very popular Tex Mex restaurant in Market Square, called Mi Tierra. We had to wait about an hour, but it was SO worth it!! I would go back in a heartbeat.

Market Square

Market Square

Our next decision was not the best. We thought it would be a good idea to walk from Market Square to the Tower of Americas, which is a tower with an observatory at the top (like the Space Needle). It was about a mile and a half walk. We ended up getting lost, since there was construction blocking our route. We got to the Tower eventually, and we were so tired!! After waiting outside in the heat, we were finally able to get up to the top of the tower. The view of San Antonio was awesome! You could see the Alamo Dome, downtown, and all of the scenery surrounding the city.

Tower of the Americas

Tower of the Americas

The view from the top of the tower

The view from the top of the tower

With that, our journey to San Antonio was pretty much over. I am so glad that I got to experience the Alamo City. It was another city checked off of my bucket list!

Now, where should I go this weekend? I’ll let you know where I end up!

Until next time,

Lindsey