The ever growing Austin skyline over Lady Bird Lake.

Austin is a great city with healthy outdoor, fitness and food scenes, which we were quick to plug ourselves into.  Big thanks to Faith – Caroline’s friend from Dickinson – our enthusiastic and gracious guide and hostess.  Faith took us to the best known spots; we got to feel like real Austin-ites.  We had our first round of margaritas’ at Polvos’ (famous for mixing their ‘ritas with everclear) and toured the 6th street downtown district at night, where we caught a glimpse of “Leslie,” Austin’s friendly elderly transvestite.  On our first day we walked along Lady Bird Lake and did what everybody does in Austin in the middle of summer with temperatures hovering around 100 – go swimming in the city’s natural swimming holes: Deep Eddy & Barton Springs (we visited the later at night, which was quite a treat).  We also got a chance to check out the famous Mellow Johnny’s, Lance Armstrong’s bike shop. One of the mechanics there told me (Pat) of some fine singletrack north of town that I checked out the next morning. It was flowy, fast, and sent me flying over the handlebars once! Good ride…

Our wonderful hostess and guide, Faith

We cooled off at Deep Eddy, one of Austin's spring-fed public pools.

We were really looking forward to Austin because it’s a city where we both have good friends who we hardly ever get to see.  Over the weekend Caro, Faith and I met up with my friend Robin and her husband Jacob for microbrews and a delicious dinner.  It was great to catch up, share travel stories and get some interesting additions to our travel itinerary, from West Texas to places in South America, thanks guys!  We all met again the following night for a tasty picnic at the outdoor symphony, somthing new for both us and our Austin friends.    

Good times with good people!

Austin is all about outdoor living.

There’s no wonder Whole Foods Inc. is based here -  Austin is a true foodie paradise.  We ate awesome organic and vegetarian dishes at Mother’s Cafe near the University of Texas campus and at Mr. Naturals in East Austin.  Breakfast tacos were available almost at every corner, particularly at local favorite Juan in a Million.  Mr. Juan is there at the entrance shaking hands with regulars and newbies alike. The breakfast burritos were right on time.  Also, to keep up with Caro’s immune boosting diet of wheat grass every day, we made sure to stop by a few juice cafes for a shot of wheat grass and some kind of raw fruit smoothie.

we are happy here after some fresh juice!

Our timing was perfect.

We rolled into Memphis on a hot Monday afternoon and quickly found the heart of downtown: Beale Street. Despite the fact that it was “Elvis Week” –  the annual celebration of all things Elvis - things were surprisingly quiet. I’m a huge fan of BBQ, having made weekly Famous Dave’s lunches a tradition while working at NIST. The best BBQ sandwiches are always enjoyed “Memphis Style,” which means there’s a big pile of cole slaw on top of the meat, MmmmMm good. So we found a touristy place on Beale and devoured plates of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with some cold beers.

Memphis style in Memphis!

Fishing on the mighty Mississippi

River walk on the Mississippi

After lunch we drove down to the “River Walk” for a stroll on the east bank of the Mississippi.  It was blazing hot, so we made the walk brief and only took a few photos, then headed off to find a campground.  The place we picked was literally across the street from Graceland, Elvis’ estate.  I’m sure things looked differently back when he resided there; now the place sits on a 5-lane road dominated by strip malls.  We splashed out for a small cabin with A/C that night, and it turned out to be a very wise move.  A big thunderstorm rolled through an hour after we checked in, and we watched from our porch as a small tree cracked in half and took down some poor guy’s RV awning.  It was quite the spectacle at the RV park, but thankfully the damage seemed minimal.  It would have been very interesting if we were in the tent during the storm, but I’m sure that will happen at some point soon.

The storm roared through.

The next morning we took advantage of the free wifi at the camp and launched the blog (woohoo!), then headed over to see what this whole Graceland thing was all about.  It was actually pretty neat. Although we didn’t opt for the 3-hour tour, we did enjoy the visitor center and Elvis’ airplane display.  Of his two planes, the best was the Lisa Marie (aka  ”Hound Dog One”), a big 4-engine jet that was all decked out in the finest 70′s style leather and suede – looked pretty comfy!

Hound Dog One

That afternoon we hit the road yet again and ended up in Hot Springs, Arkansas!

On the road

We were able to find some other Tennessee directory of campgrounds and after 3.5 hours of driving, we arrived at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park, situated down Nashville’s Music Valley Drive (where I was expecting to see live bands everywhere, but alas, it gets its name from the Grand Ole Opry).  At the campsite, they put us way in the back far from all the RV’s and, regrettably, also the bathhouse. At least we had a shady spot, but no matter where you are in Nashville, it is hot and humid. 

Plenty of space to camp

Beautiful campsite, away from it all

Unfazed, we unpacked a few things and headed into town to see some real live music.  We were not disappointed this time, as there were plenty of places to choose from.  We decided to avoid the famous joint Tootsies and opted for an alternative dueling piano bar called the Big Bang.  Having grown up around a piano, I have a soft spot for that instrument, and it proved to be highly entertaining.  Pat and I situated ourselves in the middle with a clear view of the performers and watched the fanfare of bachelorette parties (must have been at least 6), drunken middle aged men unable to hold themselves up and the entire Big Bang crew (with t-shirts that read “Bang This”) do a cute little dance to Staying Alive.  Although all of that kind of sounds awful, it was actually a great show.  There were always 2 pianists/singers who took turns playing requests from the audience.  The range of repertoire was incredible and their voices amazing – they were definitely American Idol quality and beyond, but maybe it’s just me being a bit envious.

Night out in Nashville

The next day we decided to lounge around the pool in the morning, then braved the heat and went for a bike ride into downtown Nashville in the afternoon.  The folks at the campground were very helpful and gave us maps to the new bike path that connects Opryland to Nashville.  The path was spectacular going over brand new bridges and tunnels under the highways, hugging the river most of the time, with a nice selection of  local parks along the way. It was about a 4.5-hour ride round trip, with a stop for dinner in Nashville, so we were both pretty exhausted afterwards.  Sorry, didn’t bring the camera with us!  One highlight on the way home was when an old General Jackson paddle boat steamed right past us – a prelude to our next stop: Memphis on the mighty Mississippi river.

Post bike ride at camp