Austin, TX 2025 Week 2 part 1: Aunt Visit!
Dec. 9th, 2025 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.
This post covers Monday and Tuesday.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
MONDAY
Well first let me start by saying that last night's show went well. We have so far raised close to $165k for Broadway Cares, which I think is great! (No context yet for how that compares to other tours but we sure did try!)
After the show I carpooled back to the hotel where my Aunt had gotten inside safely! Yay! I had been so worried, what with all the key codes and fobs needed just to access the room. But she was chilling on the couch with some dinner and a movie when I arrived :)
We got caught up a bit, then she presented me with an amazing gift: this bracelet!!
It is a Disney x Pandora bracelet, and the rose is the clasp.
On the back of the rose are the words, "Until the last petal falls."
(remember that you can click the image to enlarge in a new tab)
Now listen. I don't wear much jewelry at all. That's because I'm a minimalist, and because it opens up opportunities for things to clink against my trombone while I'm playing (necklaces especially as the trombone rests on my neck, and rings when I grab my metal mutes.) But a bracelet is less obtrusive. But that aside...I actually like it. The few pieces of jewelry that I do wear, I wear because they have emotional value or meaning/significance to me. The key to my train room, for example, I wear around my neck sometimes. Or my mother's ring (until it broke.)
This bracelet, and those words, and the person who gave it to me, mean SO MUCH to me.
I'm gonna wear it probably every day.
Anyway, it was late so we went to bed. Monday morning I was up early, excited to spend a whole day with my Aunt!
We started with breakfast at Paperboy. A beautiful little cafe downtown, and DANG the food was delicious!
We shared a ham and gruyere empanada:
Then I got their skillet pancake with browned butter. It was a lot like a light and fluffy cornbread!
My Aunt got a breakfast hash with pulled pork, kale, sweet potato, onion, scrambled eggs, and pecan mole.
I think she had the best dish of the day!
It was absolutely delicious, and I got a guava pop tart to go for later.
From there we went to Lady Bird Boardwalk, named after Lady Bird Johnson. It was cold but the sun was warm and the views of the city were spectacular!
Next was Zilker Botanical Garden. We were a bit tired by this point so didn't walk the whole thing, but saw the Oriental Garden, Pioneer Village, and Rose Garden, all of which were lovely. There were huge koi swimming sluggishly in a pond (it's cold after all!) and this beautiful waterfall. The dead tree on the top was significant to the person who designed the park, and was called "Mother Tree."
For lunch we went to revolving sushi because my Aunt had never experienced it! It was a more modern one, with robots to bring you drinks and ordering via screens/QR codes. She got some really excellent panko fish, and I had misc nigiri.
After that we returned to the apartment for tea and to rest a bit, then for dinner we went to a local Italian place for wine, shrimp scampi, and chicken picatta. We had good, heartfelt conversation, like we always do when we're together. My Aunt is one of few people that I can talk to about basically anything at all, and vice versa. I am so grateful that she's in my life, and that she flew down here to see me and spend time with me. Neither of us has spent quality time in Austin before, and we had a wonderful day today :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUESDAY
We had a simple breakfast at the apartment, then went for a walk just so the Aunt could see the hippie shops on 6th street. We ended up walking to Target so she could get a few things, and I stopped in to Whole Paycheck next door for two Koia protein shakes. Walked back. A nice sunny day out :)
Chilling at the hotel for a bit, then off to County Line BBQ! It was a bit of a drive but some of the band guys had gone earlier in the week and assured me that it was well worth it. And it was!
My brisket, green beans, and slaw:
Aunt's pulled pork, brisket, beans, and slaw:
We also got an order of the homemade bread which was shockingly light, fluffy, and sweet. In fact it was a lot like Japanese milk bread. It was too much food to eat at once so I got a doggie bag and made sure to pack the bread too!
County Line has wonderful views. One of the servers kindly took this photo for us :)
On the way back we decided to stop at the state capitol. I have been here before but that was years ago. It's still the same, but an impressive building and I was glad to see it again.
The House and Senate chambers were decorated for Christmas:
We explored outside a bit too as there were several monuments and pretty trees. All in all, a lovely afternoon.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped to pick up a croissant for my Aunt which she had at the hotel with tea while I ate half of my guava pop tart + tea. Around this time I started stressing about getting to the theater because I swear to you, every time I have a guest visit, something goes wrong before showtime!
And as usual my fears were well justified, because even though we left pretty early we tried to stop at a fast food place for dinner and got caught in a hideous traffic jam. After we waited for a while I was getting more and more tense, and my Aunt suggested we move on and get sandwiches from a place called Snarf's on campus. We got THERE in what seemed like plenty of time and enjoyed nice toasty subs. I found parking just fine too. But at the ticket booth they had somehow not printed out my Aunt's ticket (this happens so often you would not believe me if I told you) and we had to wait seriously another 10 minutes while they tried to figure out what to do. Finally they got her ticket printed, and that gave me just enough time to escort her into the lobby and hug her goodbye before making my own way backstage. Geez!
The show was good, we had a lovely enthusiastic crowd. I showed everyone my beautiful bracelet from my Aunt :) During intermission she came down to see my "office." After the show I met her in the lobby. She had a great time, and I am so grateful that she visited and came to see the show again. Having her here means a lot to me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Dropping the Aunt off at the airport, one evening show.
Thursday: One evening show.
This post covers Monday and Tuesday.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
MONDAY
Well first let me start by saying that last night's show went well. We have so far raised close to $165k for Broadway Cares, which I think is great! (No context yet for how that compares to other tours but we sure did try!)
After the show I carpooled back to the hotel where my Aunt had gotten inside safely! Yay! I had been so worried, what with all the key codes and fobs needed just to access the room. But she was chilling on the couch with some dinner and a movie when I arrived :)
We got caught up a bit, then she presented me with an amazing gift: this bracelet!!
It is a Disney x Pandora bracelet, and the rose is the clasp.
On the back of the rose are the words, "Until the last petal falls."
(remember that you can click the image to enlarge in a new tab)
Now listen. I don't wear much jewelry at all. That's because I'm a minimalist, and because it opens up opportunities for things to clink against my trombone while I'm playing (necklaces especially as the trombone rests on my neck, and rings when I grab my metal mutes.) But a bracelet is less obtrusive. But that aside...I actually like it. The few pieces of jewelry that I do wear, I wear because they have emotional value or meaning/significance to me. The key to my train room, for example, I wear around my neck sometimes. Or my mother's ring (until it broke.)
This bracelet, and those words, and the person who gave it to me, mean SO MUCH to me.
I'm gonna wear it probably every day.
Anyway, it was late so we went to bed. Monday morning I was up early, excited to spend a whole day with my Aunt!
We started with breakfast at Paperboy. A beautiful little cafe downtown, and DANG the food was delicious!
We shared a ham and gruyere empanada:
Then I got their skillet pancake with browned butter. It was a lot like a light and fluffy cornbread!
My Aunt got a breakfast hash with pulled pork, kale, sweet potato, onion, scrambled eggs, and pecan mole.
I think she had the best dish of the day!
It was absolutely delicious, and I got a guava pop tart to go for later.
From there we went to Lady Bird Boardwalk, named after Lady Bird Johnson. It was cold but the sun was warm and the views of the city were spectacular!
Next was Zilker Botanical Garden. We were a bit tired by this point so didn't walk the whole thing, but saw the Oriental Garden, Pioneer Village, and Rose Garden, all of which were lovely. There were huge koi swimming sluggishly in a pond (it's cold after all!) and this beautiful waterfall. The dead tree on the top was significant to the person who designed the park, and was called "Mother Tree."
For lunch we went to revolving sushi because my Aunt had never experienced it! It was a more modern one, with robots to bring you drinks and ordering via screens/QR codes. She got some really excellent panko fish, and I had misc nigiri.
After that we returned to the apartment for tea and to rest a bit, then for dinner we went to a local Italian place for wine, shrimp scampi, and chicken picatta. We had good, heartfelt conversation, like we always do when we're together. My Aunt is one of few people that I can talk to about basically anything at all, and vice versa. I am so grateful that she's in my life, and that she flew down here to see me and spend time with me. Neither of us has spent quality time in Austin before, and we had a wonderful day today :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUESDAY
We had a simple breakfast at the apartment, then went for a walk just so the Aunt could see the hippie shops on 6th street. We ended up walking to Target so she could get a few things, and I stopped in to Whole Paycheck next door for two Koia protein shakes. Walked back. A nice sunny day out :)
Chilling at the hotel for a bit, then off to County Line BBQ! It was a bit of a drive but some of the band guys had gone earlier in the week and assured me that it was well worth it. And it was!
My brisket, green beans, and slaw:
Aunt's pulled pork, brisket, beans, and slaw:
We also got an order of the homemade bread which was shockingly light, fluffy, and sweet. In fact it was a lot like Japanese milk bread. It was too much food to eat at once so I got a doggie bag and made sure to pack the bread too!
County Line has wonderful views. One of the servers kindly took this photo for us :)
On the way back we decided to stop at the state capitol. I have been here before but that was years ago. It's still the same, but an impressive building and I was glad to see it again.
The House and Senate chambers were decorated for Christmas:
We explored outside a bit too as there were several monuments and pretty trees. All in all, a lovely afternoon.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped to pick up a croissant for my Aunt which she had at the hotel with tea while I ate half of my guava pop tart + tea. Around this time I started stressing about getting to the theater because I swear to you, every time I have a guest visit, something goes wrong before showtime!
And as usual my fears were well justified, because even though we left pretty early we tried to stop at a fast food place for dinner and got caught in a hideous traffic jam. After we waited for a while I was getting more and more tense, and my Aunt suggested we move on and get sandwiches from a place called Snarf's on campus. We got THERE in what seemed like plenty of time and enjoyed nice toasty subs. I found parking just fine too. But at the ticket booth they had somehow not printed out my Aunt's ticket (this happens so often you would not believe me if I told you) and we had to wait seriously another 10 minutes while they tried to figure out what to do. Finally they got her ticket printed, and that gave me just enough time to escort her into the lobby and hug her goodbye before making my own way backstage. Geez!
The show was good, we had a lovely enthusiastic crowd. I showed everyone my beautiful bracelet from my Aunt :) During intermission she came down to see my "office." After the show I met her in the lobby. She had a great time, and I am so grateful that she visited and came to see the show again. Having her here means a lot to me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday: Dropping the Aunt off at the airport, one evening show.
Thursday: One evening show.
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