Houston and Austin TX - Nov and Dec 2023

After our road trip to Louisiana, we returned to Keith's parents house for two nights and then did another road trip to Houston and Austin for a week.  Our first stop was in Houston for two nights.  The first night we stayed at Christine and Greg's house - Christine is a childhood friend of Keith's.  When we arrived, we chatted for a bit and had a glass of Prosecco.  That evening, we went out to dinner at Tribute - a nice restaurant in their country club.  We shared the wedge salad for appetizer and the duck for entree.  The food was very good.  

Dinner with Christine and Greg at Tribute

The next morning we had some coffee and then met Ginny and Mike for lunch at Coppa Osteria.  Ginny is Shawna's step sister.  We shared a salad and pizza.  We then went over to their house which was a few blocks away for a small bowl of ice cream.  

After lunch, we headed out to Kingwood (suburb of Houston) to stay one night with Nick and Joannah.  Nick is a childhood friend of Shawna's - both of their parents were very good friends and Shawna traveled with him and his family quite a bit when she was younger.  We chatted with them for a while and then had Prosecco while Joannah made us a healthy and yummy meal of salad and soup.  We also met their youngest son who is a junior in high school.  Shawna got the news of all of Nick's siblings.  The next morning, we had coffee and then packed up to drive to Austin.

Dinner at Nick and Joannah's House

In Austin, we stayed for three nights at Jeff and Nina's house - Jeff went to grad school with us both.  The first evening, we went out to dinner with them at Aba in downtown Austin - a great Mediterranean restaurant with really good food.  There is a sister restaurant in Chicago which we had been to several times.  We started with a cocktail and then moved to wine while we shared a bunch of dishes for the table.

Time with Jeff and Nina

On Friday, Shawna went for a long run in the neighborhood and then we met Jackie and Fred for lunch at Eldorado Cafe.  Jackie is another childhood friend of Keith's and is Christine's sister (who we stayed with in Houston).  We shared a yummy pork dish.  

Lunch at Eldorado Cafe with Jackie and Fred

That evening, we met up with Lily (our niece) and had dinner at Texas Roudhouse - we told her to pick the place and this was her choice!!  We shared the ribs which were tasty.

Dinner with Lily at Texas Roadhouse

On Saturday, we met up with an elementary school friend of Shawna's, Heidi, and her husband Bruce at the Salt Lick in Driftwood (outside of Austin).  It's a great BBQ place.  We got the sampler which includes multiple meats and sides and caught up on lots of years!

Lunch with Heidi and Bruce at Salt Lick

We had some time to kill between lunch and dinner so we went to the LBJ Library in Austin which was quite interesting.  We only had a little more than an hour before they closed so we did the power tour, learning quite a bit about his wife, Lady Bird Johnson.  That evening, we had dinner at the Odd Duck in downtown Austin with Nancy, Hall, Tracy and Dave - all Fuqua alumni.  The food was very tasty - we shared many dishes for the table.

Dinner at Odd Duck with Tracy, Dave, Nancy and Hall

On Sunday, we got an orientation from Jeff and Nina on what to expect/do when we return in May to watch their son Ryan.  After that, we went to Patrick and Lauren's house (Patrick is a childhood friend of Keith's) where we stayed for two nights with them.  They have two adorable kids - Shane who was three and Sky who was one year old.  When we arrived, we had a delicious and light lunch of salad and shrimp paella that Lauren had made.  We then walked over to Patrick's parents house who live seven houses away to catch up with his parents who we had not seen since their wedding.  That evening, we drove into Austin and had BBQ at Terry Black's.

The Shami Family

Dinner with Patrick at Terry Black's BBQ

On Monday, we had a great vegetarian lunch at Casa de Luz and then rented a canoe and paddled along the river in downtown Austin.  We then had a couple of beers at Zilker Brewing, sitting outside in their beer garden.  

Canoeing on the river in downtown Austin

That evening, we had dinner with Jen (Rebecca's sister, who is a childhood friend of Keith's) and her husband Nathan at Kome, a sushi place in central Austin.  We shared a bunch of dishes for the table - all tasty.

Dinner with Jen and Nathan at Kome

On Tuesday, we packed up and drove back to Dallas where we stayed one night before hitting the road to Vegas and Phoenix for the weekend.  That afternoon, Margaret came over with Owen and Josie so that Owen could open up his bday gifts!