acl: day one

Austin. City. Limits.

So, I’ve never been to a music festival before. Last year I toyed with the idea of going to Bonnaroo, but I couldn’t really afford to take the time off from work. So when Joellen told me that one of the main reasons for the road trip, the Mecca to our hajj, if you will, was Austin City Limits, I got pretty excited. And nervous. I don’t do so well in the heat, nor do I care for large crowds or excessive noise (I may be a 90-year-old masquerading as a 20-something).  One thing that always bonded Joellen and me, though, is our love of music, so I could think of no better destination for the road trip.

We got up early (around 8:30…) and headed over to Zilker Park for day 1 of ACL. When we arrived, we were relieved to find that the lines were short and the sky was full of clouds. As I’m sure most of you are aware, Austin is experiencing a major drought and to see rain clouds in the sky is kind of a miracle. With hope of a good-weather day, we headed over to see Cults, but not before dropping by another, smaller stage to see what Miniature Tigers had to offer. An all male band with a familiar sound, they sounded a little raw and were alright, but not my favorites. Now Cults: I was not aware of this band, but Emily and Helen–Joellen’s friend from Kentucky and Emily’s high school friend–really wanted to see them, so we were all game. I really liked the band. They had a female front man (front woman?) and a somewhat dreamy sound that reminded me of something I would hear on the Grey’s Anatomy soundtrack (that is a good thing). I would up knowing one song (you’ll notice that’s a trend with most of the bands we saw) and really enjoyed my first music festival act. After Cults, we stopped by another stage to see An Horse who I also enjoyed. A male-female duet from Australia, they had a cool sound as well. It was a Joellen pick and did not disappoint.

We then took a break for lunch #1 and were so excited when we saw all that there was in the Austin Eats section of the park. There was so much to choose from so we decided to take it slow. We started with a grilled corn salad with a soft boiled egg from Odd Duck Farm to Trailer. It was really good. I wasn’t expecting it to be cold, but that was a very pleasant surprise. Really nice flavors that didn’t totally bomb in the heat. Definitely a good way to start off. Then we decided to have something small, so we each ordered a taco from Torchy’s. I got the green chile pork (on flour tortilla) and Joellen got the fried avocado (also on flour) and wow. They were so delicious. I actually favored Joellen’s taco, as it had a wider array of flavors, and I was really digging the fried avocado. Mine had just a touch more cilantro than I can handle, but I will definitely be making more trips to Torchy’s soon.

After our first lunch, we went to check out The Secret Sisters, a band I’ve heard Joellen mention a few times before. Now, given her usual tastes, I assumed they would be indie-alternative singers who may or may not be related (see: Tegan and Sara). I was really surprised when she told me that they did old-school country music. And did they ever. These Alabama girls were both energetic and demure, and sung beautifully. I was absolutely thrilled at how much I liked them. Check them out. Now. We then went over to a bigger stage to set up camp to see Brandi Carlile, who I was really excited to see. I’m just going to take this time to come out and say that I knew of about 5 artists of 130 who are at ACL this year. And Brandi was one of them. I discovered her on a Grey’s Anatomy Soundtrack and fell in love with her sound. She was awesome. Just really great. Just as I hoped she’d be, and so much more.

It was then time for lunch #2. We walked farther down the food section and found a lot more that piqued our interests, so we again decided to try/share a few little dishes. We first got the Kick Ass Nachos from Tim Love’s Love Shack, which lived up to the name. Joellen and I both have a secret (now not so secret) love of cheese sauce. This dish had plenty. And it was homemade, too. Nice job, Love Shack. We also got some truffled mac and cheese from Lonesome Dove Western Bistro which I devoured. I’m really in to truffles right now (see here) and this dish was flavorful without being heavy. It was delicious. They used orzo instead of the traditional macaroni which I liked and Joellen wasn’t crazy about. I would order this dish over and over, but again, when you’re using two of my favorite ingredients, that is a given.

We then went to meet with Emily and Helen at the Smith Westerns show, which abruptly ended 20 minutes before it was supposed to. Odd. We heard that Ray LaMontagne was onstage and went to go see him. Joellen really likes him and the more I hear, the more I like. I would have liked to stay, but it was so swamped that we decided to go to the stage next to his to wait for Cold War Kids and listen to him from the sidelines. I really enjoyed CCK. They were an Emily pick and a good one at that. Again, I knew one song and got really excited. I also did not want to stand up so I got a good glimpse of feet and tattoos. It was pretty great.

We went to the next stage (where Ray had been) and set up camp for Bright Eyes. They are a favorite of Joellen’s and I’ve liked them for a while too. I was introduced to them back in high school and have dabbled ever since. I’m ashamed to say that I fell asleep during their show, but it was a light, short sleep and I could hear how awesome Conor and the gang were.

Joellen and I left a little early to get a spot for my favorite act of the weekend: Sara Bareilles. I just love her. She sings one song that got really big, and I have been pretty excited about her for a long time (thanks, Andrea for letting me burn her cd!). She was awesome. Energetic and so talented. I wish that she was given a bigger stage/that she had played longer. Oh well, we’ll just have to see her in concert some day.  After Sara, we had dinner: spinach pakoras with a delightfully spicy/refreshing mint chutney from Royal Indian Foods and an fried avocado “cone”: fried avo with spicy sauce and sweet coleslaw in a flour tortilla situated in a paper cone from The Mighty Cone. It was actually really good.  Oh, and we also got ice cream. Amy’s Ice Cream, which is something that Joellen has been talking about since we got here.  Apparently it’s very Austin. We got the mint chocolate chip which was awesome. We then found Helen and Emily and settled in for our final show: Kanye. And it was fine; just what you’d expect: flashy, loud and crowded. We all enjoyed sitting toward the back and taking it all in.

To close, some observations about ACL (if I still have an audience, thanks for hanging in):

– There are so many nice people. Everyone is pretty like-minded and I have neither heard nor seen anyacts of violence. It’s all peace and love here.

– I love the flags. People carry around flags or balloons, inflatable animals, what have you on long poles and I love them. We have seen so many fun, creative and random flags. They’re also excellent for identifying location when you’re trying to find a friend

– There are so many kids here. And not just little kids with their parents, but 11, 12 year olds (seemingly just with a group of friends) who should maybe be with a chaperone. It’s a little alarming to see that once the later shows start.

– “So many young people with so many regrettable tattoos” -Joellen

– Rain happened. It was awesome, even if brief.

– This is the greatest place to people watch-EVER.

 

Until next time, Peace and Love from the ACL-ers

❤ Amy

finally at the pacific!

Hello!  Tonight I write to you from the coziest place I think we could have chosen to stay.  As I lay here on the couch reflecting upon our day, I can’t help but feel that Seattle might be a Top 5 Favorite Place contender.  Although so far, there has not been a single hub that I haven’t liked, Seattle is definitely taking the lead (don’t worry, Minneapolis, you’re up there too!)

We woke up this morning in Spokane, Washington.  When we arrived there last night, I was not very impressed, and fairly certain that it would not be a town I would want to visit again.  Once we let the sunshine hit Spokane, however, I started to see a slightly different side.  After sleeping in too long/rushing to leave our hotel, we decided upon a cozy little breakfast spot that took us through some nice areas of town.  Frank’s Diner was exactly what you would want and expect from an old school diner.  Situated not far from Riverside Park, this train-car-turned-diner boasted not only breakfast foods of epic proportions in a very cool environment, but also the world’s greatest server, Gage.  Gage is perhaps one of my favorite strangers from this trip (there have been many favorites, but she takes the cake).  She has been with the diner for over 20 years and is exactly what you would expect in a career-server working in this kind of place.  Attentive, knowledgeable and friendly, she made our experience all the more authentic.

On to the food.  Oh my, the food.  Let me just start by saying that on the menu next to almost every item, there is the “lighter option.”  Now, if we had been thinking properly, we would have asked what this meant, and how big the normal portions were.  We lacked foresight, however, and hastily ordered our meals.  I could not believe how much food arrived at our table (nor could I believe how fast the service was, or the fact that Gage remembered I wanted lemons and wasn’t stingy with them).  I ordered the meatloaf benedict with hash browns and Joellen ordered the veggie and cheese omelet with hash browns.  I believe that Joellen liked hers, and I liked mine as well, but by the end I sort of left wishing that I had gotten something else.  The meatloaf was pretty good, but all of it was so covered with gravy that it was hard to taste anything else.  I think it is a great concept, but perhaps needs some fine-tuning.  Or not, since the place has been open for longer than I’ve been alive.  The shining star of my meal was the buttermilk biscuit, which was buttery and delicious and fluffy and just yum.  I could have easily gotten eggs and a biscuit and been happy, but I wanted a new experience, and I’m glad I got it.

We then hit the road for the easy drive across Washington to Seattle.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking and varied from farm land to barren hills to rocky mountains to rivers and lakes to lush forests.  Washington really has a lot to offer and I am so glad that we were able to see so much of it.  We arrived in Seattle just in time for rush hour, but made it to our hotel in a fairly decent amount of time.  Seahurst Garden Studio is an incredible bed and breakfast that Joellen came across during her hours of research for this trip, and by far my favorite overnight venue.  When we got here, we were beyond thrilled with the amenities.  Situated on a hill, this one-room b&b is attached to a main house where owners Alice and Jane live.  The entrance is through the back yard, which is absolutely gorgeous.  Jane and Alice have taken such care of their property and it really shows.  There is a vegetable garden, flowers, a gorgeous willow tree and fruit-bearing plants all over.  The room is cozy, clean and well stocked.  We could not be happier.

After sitting under the grape vines for a while (I KNOW, RIGHT?), I got cleaned up and we drove in to town for an absolutely wonderful meal.  Annapurna Cafe was just what we needed.  Although we both asserted that we would never eat again after brunch, we started to get hungry right around sunset and agreed that enough time had passed and we were allowed another meal.  Now, I am a fan of all foods, and Joellen is too, for the most part.  But we just could not do one more gastro pub.  So traditional Nepalese, Tibetan and Indian food sounded perfect.  This restaurant was such an incredible find.  Most of the food is what you would expect to find in a traditional Indian place-curries, rice and naan.  But there were a few dishes that were not common and we were very excited to try them.  We started with the Spinach Momo, a traditional Tibetan-style steamed dumpling filled with spinach.  It came with a sesame chutney, peanut chutney and spicy tomato chutney, all of which were awesome, and were perfect compliments to the Momo.  We shared some samosas, which were great, the palak paneer, which is my personal favorite, and the Himalayan Curry.  This dish was all at once comforting, fresh and flavorful.  Unlike many traditional curries, the vegetables were perfectly cooked and the flavors of tomato and garlic really shone through.  I am a huge fan of all Indian food, and love everything about the creamy sauces, but this dish having none of that was such a pleasant surprise.  If you are ever in the area and want to try something different, you need to go to this restaurant.

Tomorrow we are off to explore and see all of the sights that Seattle has to offer.  Can’t wait to report back on the Emerald City.

❤ Amy