1-14-2014 Meetup at The Capital Factory

This meetup was at the Capital Factory and was  a meetup for Maker.  Maker is where students get together for 8 weeks of intensive soup to nuts programming coursework.  When they emerge they are ready to be developers.   This meetup highlighted some of their efforts.

I must say that I was very impressed by their enthusiasm and the product that was produced.  It really makes you think about going and learning to code myself.

Before the meetup we ate at Ancho's and the review is posted here 

1-12-2014 Ride on Rainey Street

Rainey Street is a hip little enclave near downtown Austin.  It is right on the river and is just east of downtown.  High rises are building that way.  Rainey street is a collection of old houses that people live in, and mostly old houses that have been repurposed to businesses.  It is a bit run down almost like nobody wants to put any money into something big because they know that soon highrises will be there.

Below you will see an interesting shipping container bar that is going in.  It is fascinating what they are doing and it will be neat to chart their progress.  I have always been very interested in shipping containers.

We rode around for a while and we were going to eat at Rainey street, but they were out of the Veggie Burgers so we went to How Do you Roll?  Which is a sushi fast food chain.  I didn't review the restaurant.

1-10-2014 bike update

Well, I have been running around 100 MPH with my hair on fire lately.  With that said I renew my vows to keep the Blog Up better.

Since 1-3-2014 we have been setting up our place here in Austin.  We have a small one bedroom apartment right on the river at Riverside and South Congress.  For you less familiar with Austin, this is just across the river from Downtown.

We will be here until April.

We ended up getting some Electric Hybrid bikes that combine a 250 watt electric hub motor with a regular bike.  It gives you 3 levels of assist and goes about 15 mph or so.  This starts an experiment of live without a car.  It is hard to park in Austin and costs money too.

Stock Hybrid bike from Sams Club for $899

We just got the bikes and now we have to work on waterproofing and customizing the bikes.

1-2-2014 New Year's in San Antonio, TX

We didn't know prior to Christmas that Eric's brother Dan, his wife Stephanie, and several friends had planned to meet in San Antonio, Texas for New Year's.  We had already planned to drive to Austin, so it only made sense to meet up with them as well, since San Antonio is only about an hour from Austin.  We all made it to San Antonio the day before New Year's Eve, and we stayed for three nights.  We enjoyed lots of eating, drinking, walking on the Riverwalk, the free street party at Hemisfair park, and the Alamo.

Night view of the Riverwalk - all the trees have lights in them, and it's beautiful.

Oh, it's the Mariachi Band again.  Better get out my wallet...

The Mariachi Band at Rita's on the Riverwalk was a huge hit!

One of the crazy drinks at Howl at the Moon

The Alamo

Live Oak tree in a courtyard at the Alamo

Daytime view of the San Antonio Riverwalk

The guys

The infamous blinking hats, that thankfully did not cause a seizure in anyone.

The free festivities at Hemisfair Park.  It was crazy crowded, with probably more than 200,000 people!

More of the free festivities near Hemisfair Park.

Arneson River Theatre on the Riverwalk - just finishing up a performance on New Year's Eve.

Arneson River Theater

This was one crowded plaza the night before on New Year's Eve.  On New Year's Day it's a quaint old courtyard again.

Old building in La Villita area of San Antonio

Another old building in La Villita

Hugman Dam on the Riverwalk

The Locks & Dam at the west end of the Riverwalk

Beautiful bench by the Southwest School of Art.  It's right on the Riverwalk - how inspiring!

Another awesome bench along the Riverwalk

A "hidden" waterfall at a hotel on the Riverwalk

Another view of the "hidden" waterfall

The Alamo at night

Christmas Tree in front of The Alamo

Part of the plaza that is all lit up in front of The Alamo

12-30-2013 Starting Three Months in Austin SoCo

After enjoying a nice Christmas with our families we headed south to escape the cold.  So, we actually made an appointment with Louis Divino of The Leaf Group to help us find an apartment in Austin.  We met him early in the morning the day before New Year's Eve.  He listened to what we wanted and our requirements (3 month lease at a reasonable price).  He took us to three great properties, but didn't rush us, and by that afternoon we had made a decision, signed the paperwork, and actually moved a few things into our new place!

We could have been a few miles away and had all kinds of amenities (gym, heated pool, washer/dryer in the apartment, etc.), or we could be in the heart of it all and have less amenities (drive/bike to my regular gym, un-heated pool, washer/dryer across the parking lot, etc.).  We went to location over luxury - no surprise there, I'm sure.  So, we are walking distance from SoCo and Downtown, which means we are also biking distance from tons of stuff in Austin.  Our building overlooks Lady Bird Lake, and you can pick up the greenway trail right outside.

This is what the greenway trail looks like where you pick it up outside our building.

Looking back you see our building overlooking the lake.

Cheers to life in Austin!

12-8-2013 Fountain Square Brewery

Fountain Square Brewery offers inexpensive growler fills on Sunday (5 bucks)  It is a nice place to hang out and they play good music and there is always something going on.

Today they built a christmas tree from 6 pack boxes.

12-6-2013 First Friday in Fountain Square

Various parts of Indianapolis participate in First Friday. So, on the first Friday of each month the businesses in these areas showcase local art, and galleries and artist studios open up to the public. This Sunday we chose to check out Fountain Square.

Our first stop was New Day Meadery, where we each bought a yummy hot mulled cider.

New Day Meadery has a nice back room that you can rent out for meetings, events, etc.

Nice local art is displayed in the back room also.

Our next stop was the Murphy Building.  We checked out every studio that was open (although we didn't make it in to see the movie at Heartland), we listened to a little music, then headed downstairs to get something to eat.  Pure Eatery had looked good to Cara, so we quickly found a seat at the bar.  We enjoyed a meal and drinks (see full review here), then headed out.  We popped into the Wheeler Arts Building, but everything was pretty much closed down there - we'll remember to get there earlier next time.  So, we ended the night at Fountain Square Brewing Co.  Cara found a pop-up shop from Athena's Fashion Boutique and made a purchase.  We both enjoyed the live music.

They had a band called The Hardees playing, and they were pretty good.