Today was the last day for most people in our group, so I wanted us to go out with a (doughnut) bang!
If you’re doing any type of research on Austin, Gourdough’s seems to always be popping up! And since they’re all about doughnuts, and if you’re even a little bit familiar with my blog, you know that I didn’t hesitate to take us here!
My sister and I decided to split an entree and then get separate sweet doughnuts. We split the Cubano, which I’m not seeing on the online menu, but it was ham, pork, cheese, mustard, and a pickle, and that grilled doughnut bun was so good!
From left to right: Salty Balls, Funky Monkey, Squealing Pig, and Black Betty – all delicious!
I couldn’t decide between the Salty Balls and the Black Out, but the waitress said the Salty Balls was one of her favorites, so that’s what I went with (I love chocolate, but I thought the Black Out might be a little too much? I don’t say that very often…).
You’re probably looking at the next picture and thinking, you seriously went from one doughnut place to another? To be fair, we drove around for a bit before stopping at Voodoo. Does that not make it any better? Ok, fine, we have doughnut problems.
My cut-out booties are back in stock! I totally snagged them in cognac because I love them so much…here’s the link!
From Gourdough’s we went to Barton Springs just to catch a peek of the swimming hole (this was something else I wanted to do on our trip, but it was way too cold. I bet it’s a blast in the summer, though!). Since we were only downtown at night, we also wanted to ride around a bit to see the city, including the UT Austin football stadium, the capitol building, and Rainey Street. But our first stop was at Voodoo Doughnuts!
Some of us had visited Voodoo in Portland or Orlando, but it was still exciting to try another location! This building is really cool, super huge, with some fantastic wall and column decor, and the guy taking our order was really fun, too!
Most of the doughnuts are a little on the risque side, especially the names, so I was kind of shocked to see a family sitting inside. Voodoo has one doughnut (scroll through their menu and you’ll know it when you see it) that’s especially perfect for a bachelorette party, so of course we got one and all split it. I was horrified when one of the kids from that family group turned around, pointed at me because I was currently holding it, and said, “hey mom, look at that!” Ugh, awkward.
The last batch of departees had to leave around 3:30, so after that my sister and I were left alone. We sat around and chatted for a while and then decided to venture downtown. We were going to watch the bats emerge from Congress Avenue Bridge (you definitely need to Google that madness), but I was dumb and forgot which bridge was which and took us to the wrong one. Derp.
There was no way we were going to be able to walk all the way to Congress Avenue Bridge, especially in time to see the bats, if they were even there since it was so cold, so we headed towards Rainey Street, which is another popular area in downtown Austin.
This street was kind of abandoned, again probably because it was so cold, but I bet this area is hoppin’ when it’s warm! So many cool food trucks and bars – definitely a place I want to re-visit during the warmer months!
Another restaurant/beer garden that I constantly saw in my research on Austin was Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden. Since it’s a place that seems popular and is always recommended, we decided to stop in for dinner! And it definitely lived up to the hype!
Inside has a huge wall of beer and all the tables are long community tables, just like you’d see in a German biergarten. We ordered some drinks and the smaller size poutine as an appetizer/side. I love poutine, and this one did not disappoint and was totally enough for the two of us to share.
My sister ordered the Duck, Bacon and Fig sausage which was SO GOOD, and I got the Smokey & the Boar sausage (below). Mine was also really good, but I think if I went back I’d get my sister’s duck sausage. Mmmmmm.
A lot of things are closed on Mondays in Austin. From what I’ve read, a lot of places like giving their employees the day off since weekends in Austin are so packed and busy. I don’t know if that’s true, but it makes sense to me!
So that limited what we could get into on a Monday night. We were also kind of winding down from a crazy weekend, so we decided to head to UT Austin for some bowling! We were only one of two groups there, which made it fun, quiet, and relaxed (and funny since there were so many students studying really hard in the room next to us!).
After two games of bowling, we were ready to call it a night. There’s still one more day of Austin comin’ at you, though!
Biscotti and a Ph.D. 