Deep in the heart of Texas

Following market research in Dallas Jan. 12 and 13, Sarah & I went to Austin for the MLK weekend. What a great city! I feel like it's a hybrid between where I grew up in south Georgia and NYC.

I hadn't been to Austin since my Dell days (over 6 years ago). We stayed at the Hotel San Jose , a former motel that's been renovated into a boutique hotel.

Ate plenty of artery-clogging food: Tex-Mex, BBQ, and chicken fried steak. Heard tons of live music, most notable was Heybale Sunday night at the Continental Club.

Since we were in town for 4 days/3 nights, we ventured into neighboring Hill Country Saturday to visit a winery & go to the Enchanted Rock park.

On Sunday we toured the State Capitol. It's a very pretty building. But since we're in a post-9/11 world, I found it shocking that there was zero security. I had a Youth Assembly flashback when I walked onto the floors of the Senate and House!

We enjoyed seeing the "He Ain't Kinky; He's my Governor" bumperstickers around town.

Main drama of the weekend occurred when Sarah wrecked Mario's rental car during a driving lesson! Thank goodness we were only in a parking lot.