Jay just started a new job (hmmm…should post about that) and we took the Friday before his first day off to enjoy our awesome city. We had all kinds of plans, but you can never squeeze in everything, so we got off to an early start and just played it by ear. So, let me tell you about our all day date in pictures (and words):

9:00am: Patika Coffee Trailer - After reading all of the awesome reviews for this place on Yelp, we decided to leave the house a little earlier and make this our first stop. We both have to have our coffee in the morning, so it wasn’t a hard decision. Jay had the mocha (complete with the heart on top) and I had the Americano…both super good. It sits with a few other trailers on Congress in between 2nd and 3rd and has a few picnic tables if you aren’t on the run and want to sit and enjoy your coffee.

9:30am: Le Cafe Crepe - With a recommendation from Dawn and Kevin (and the fact that I had never had a crepe), we stopped into this little cafe attached to the Hampton Inn downtown for breakfast. The weather was perfect, so we sat outside at one of their sidewalk tables and shared a savory breakfast crepe. I was a fan!

10:30am: Kayaking on Town (Lady Bird) Lake - Another first for the day and it’s only 10:30! Neither of us had ever kayaked (or canoed) on Town Lake, so I printed off the 2 for 1 coupon for Zilker Park Boat Rentals and we decided we would try to go early before it got too hot. Well, it got pretty hot, but it was worth it. Relaxing, great views and very friendly people boating alongside us!

12:00pm: Jay wore his life vest (instead of sitting on it like me), so his shorts got a tad bit wet during our action packed kayaking trip. So, while his shorts and shoes dried on top of the car, we headed down to Zilker Park for some snow cones.

1:00pm: Shopping (well, browsing) on South Congress and lunch at hopdoddy Burger Bar - We headed to South Congress for lunch and a little shopping. We decided on hopdoddy Burger Bar for lunch despite the extremely long line. They conveniently make the line pass right by the bar in the middle of the restaurant, so we ordered a couple beers to make the line more bearable.  We shared the Llano Poblano Burger and some fries…they were gone by the time we remembered to take a picture, so what you see is what you get.

4:00pm: Drinks at Shady Grove (where else?)

And this is just a little bonus for Noah, compliments of the Austin graffiti and the wall at joe’s coffee:

So, all in all, a great day with my favorite! I would suggest to everyone to get out and try to be a “tourist” in your own city every once in awhile. Austin is such an awesome city, but we take advantage of it…there are SO many things here I haven’t done and/or seen. Maybe this will be a once-every-couple-months tradition…no repeats!