Restarting my DDD quest in the Lone Star State (Day 1 in Austin)

It has been a long time since I hit the road on my Diners Drive-ins and Dives tour.  Alot has happened since that time.  I took a new job and although I can take the same amount of time off to travel, I feel obligated to be there.  The job is part of the Safety Office at work and I really enjoy the work, in fact I can say that 2013 has been a very good year for me at work, and let me tell you I have not said that in a very long time!  I no longer am on the Midnight Shift and that in and of itself is a real blessing. 

It is now May and I decided that I would get back on the DDD tour.  It just so happens that the 3rd Edition of Guy's DDD companion book came out just a few days before my trip and I got mine through The Food Network store website and the great thing about that is they are signed by Guy!  I decided to fly to Dallas to visit my friend Steve.  I talked Steve into making a day trip to Austin, where we could try a few places and also visit my very good friend from high school, Deborah. 

As you know I work for an airline so that allows me to travel at low or no cost, but when I do it is via Standby so when the flights are full, I don't go.  As my departure day approached the flights filled up and looked awful.  Luckily, Steve also works for an airline and he agreed to give me one of his passes so I could get there, his airlines flights from Dulles to Dallas looked great so no problem, away I would go - or so I thought.  My plan was to work until 1230p and then take the 120p flight.  Well, you know what they say about best laid plans!  About 945p I get a message from Steve that the flight at 120p has cancelled and the next two were full.  My nonstops were also full so I did some quick thinking and computer surfing and found a  flight via Houston that left at 1225p, so I quickly listed on that flight and was able to get on both the flight to Houston and the connecting flight to DFW.  It was a good thing because had I waited for the nonstops I would have had a real tough time getting to DFW.  A few hours after I arrived here, some deadly tornadoes hit the DFW area and not only were there fatalities in some of the southern suburbs of Ft. Worth but the flights from Dulles to DFW diverted, one to Austin and other to New Orleans.

Steve and I got up the next morning and made the 3 and half hour drive to Austin.  I will admit it is not the  most exciting ride.  We did pass a few interesting places, one was the town of West, the place where just about a month before this trip was the site of a huge explosion that killed a few people.  We also passed through the city of Waco, home to Baylor University (or as the sign said in front of the campus "Capital of Baylor Nation") and the great Redskin QB Robert Griffin III (known to most as RG3). 

Our first stop was in the town of Georgetown, Texas; a town that is about 25 miles North of Austin.  The "Monument Cafe" is in a art deco style building that once was a car dealership.  On their DDD episode Guy was joined by actor Matthew McConaughey.  I was first impressed by the lighting fixtures, which were very art deco-ish and it had to look of a classic diner only Texas sized, very large.

Monument Cafe in Georgetown, TX

 We were seated at a booth and the very friendly staff went to work.  I could tell that the portions were huge and despite that the prices were very reasonable.  Since I knew that I had a few more places to try I decided on the "Crispy Waffle" and it came with a choice of meat.  I chose the Peppered Bacon and glad I did.  The waffle reminded me of the waffles mom used to make when I was young. 

My Crispy Waffle Breakfast with Peppered Bacon

 

The Bacon was unreal it was the best bacon I have ever had, and I have had some really good bacon!  After finding out that the owner would not be there I asked the General Manager be the first person to sign the new book.  After a great breakfast Steve and I headed south to the capital of Texas and the home of the University of Texas (UT) (Steve's Alma Mata) Austin!

During the ride down, I had been texting with my high school friend, Deborah, trying to coordinate getting together during my time in Austin.  Her day was beginning to fall apart with new work commitments popping up.  I think here I need to tell you a little bit about Deborah, she works as what could best be described as an animal physical therapist and she also is a cancer survivor and is very active in the Austin Breast Cancer community.  We decided to meet for lunch at noon and that gave us a few hours to see the sites of Austin, so we decided to visit UT and see the sites of that great campus.

The University of Texas Tower

Base of the UT Tower

Iconic State of Texas Flag

The UT Tower Building

We walked all over the campus and walked through the Business school and around the dorms that Steve called home during his time at UT.  One of the cool things in the Business school building is a replica of the New York Stock Exchange, circa 1919.  We tried to get into the football stadium but were unable to. 

Texas State Capital Building

Replica 1919 New York Stock Exchange Desk in the UT Business School

We headed to our next restaurant and meet up with Deborah.  The "Counter Cafe" is a small, eclectic eatery.  The lunch crowd was constant.  We arrived at noon and got 3 seats at the communal table by the front door.  Deborah arrived about 30 minutes after we did as traffic in that part of Austin was pretty brutal.  The menu is very eclectic and features Quail, Chicken, Burgers and salad using organic vegetables. 

Counter Cafe's Chefs hard at work

It was a great time catching up with Deborah and we all got different items.  Steve chose the Ground Chicken Sandwich with fresh fruit.  Deborah got the Spinach Salad with Balsamic Dressing and I chose the Grilled Pimento Cheese sandwich with a side salad.  All the meals looked delicious and mine was.  The head chef came over and signed the book.  The time with Deborah was way too short and she told about and we decided to go get some dessert at a place that was featured on a Food Network show, but not DDD.  "Flip Happy Crepes" was on another great show called "Throwdown with Bobby Flay".  In the first season of that show Bobby challenged the owners of Flip Happy to a Crepe Throwdown and in the end they "Threw Bobby" out!

Flip Happy Crepes Food Truck

Deborah and I

Steve, Deborah and I

Deborah being Deborah!

 Flip Happy is a food truck (or trailer as they are called in Austin).  Food Trucks have grown all over the United States, but in Austin they have exploded!  We passed one area which is called Trailer Park Dining and there were about 20 food trailers in that area and all types of foods are featured.  We all chose dessert style crepes, I tried the Nutella crepe topped with mixed berries.  Do I have to even say that it was delicious?  Well if I do then yes it was!

My Nutella Crepe

From there we headed back to the University to visit the Bookstore/Co-Op to check out all the different UT souvenirs.  As we entered the place we ran into a very cool Longhorn, the mascot of the University of Texas.

UT Co-Op Mascot all decked out for the Graduation

From there we had planned to try a place called the Noble Pig in North Austin but arrived too late, so I guess that another visit to Austin will need to be made.  We then headed back to the Metroplex to rejuvenate for another day of DDD places and visiting local sites.  My DDD count stood at 305!