Keep Austin Weird

Planning a weekend vacation around a sporting event is very typical of the LaSelva clan. In fact, when I was growing up, if the vacation destination was not chosen for the sole purpose of a sporting event, we found one to go to when we got there. Needless to say, I've been to a lot of minor league baseball games.

This year my baby brother Josh's Birthday present was a trip to Austin, Texas to see his beloved Longhorns play in person. I have no idea how this kid picked the Longhorns but he has been a fan since he was probably seven or eight years old, long before I even thought of moving to Texas to attend the most amazing university on the face of the earth...aka: Texas Tech.

My parents decided to entice me to come along by choosing the Texas vs. Texas Tech game. I hadn't seen my parents in 11 months and I had some vacation days stored up, so taking a free trip to Austin was a pretty easy decision.

My parents and my brother flew into Austin a few hours before me so by the time I got there my dad had already traded in a sporty Mercedes rental car for a Ford SUV. He tried to be a Mercedes sports car kind of guy, but he quickly found out it's just not for him. It was probably the shortest midlife crisis in the history of the male population. He also managed to get a parking ticket in less than four hours after arriving in Austin.

Friday we took an unofficial tour of the Capitol building. My mom was impressed by the state pride.
This is one of the many door hinges in the Capitol. You know, just in case you forget where you are.

I was impressed by the architecture and attention to detail. This is the dome when you are inside of the building looking up.

My brother kept trying to look for the Occupy protestors. And my dad complained the whole time about how much it cost to build such an elaborate building and about the amount of tax payers' dollars spent on furnishing the over priced building. According to him politics should be cheap. According to me, political buildings should not look like an IKEA showroom.

Seriously, one of my top three dream jobs is to hold an office at the Capitol and call one of these fancy chairs mine.

Next it was off to lunch. The only thing more important than sporting events on a LaSelva family vacation is good food. We have a gift for finding and consuming the best food in any city we visit.

Next on Friday's agenda was a University of Texas campus tour. For me, it was like walking straight through the enemy's camp. I don't know why anyone would ever choose that place over Texas Tech. UT's campus sits right in the middle of the city and there is traffic and one way streets everywhere. Everything is dirty and loud and just feels old, except for the new building for the Longhorn Network. You better believe they showed that thing off on the campus tour. Talk about controversial. Just as an FYI straight from the lips of the campus tour guide, you can't even get the new network on campus. No one has showed any interest in carrying it. Ha! Serves them right. 

For me, my favorite part of the tour was getting to hear my parents' constant flow of reasons they liked Texas Tech and Lubbock so much better than UT and Austin. It just warmed my soul. Josh liked the campus, but repeatedly said, "Where are all the hot girls? There were so many hot girls at Texas Tech." Forget the education, these are the priorities of a 15 year old boy - hot girls and a good football team. 

Saturday was the big game. The stadium was pretty impressive and Texas' offense wasn't too shabby that day either. However, I think my whole family, including Josh, was a little disappointed in the fans. Who thought 100,000 people could be so quiet? There was little cheering or screaming at any point in the game.

My dad expected it to be like a Gator game because the schools are comparable in size and notoriety. Poor Dad got a rude awakening when he realized the SEC and the Big 12 are two totally different worlds. Nothing can compare to the fan fair of an SEC game, especially at the Swamp.




I managed to find a little taste of Lubbock while in Austin - our marching bands' bus.

The Goin' Band from Raider Land!

Saturday night we went to a hole in the wall for BBQ and then walked around all the crazy stores. Austin really is a weird place. It's like the Boulder of Colorado or the Key West of Florida. I was excited to see my family and my team, but I was really disappointed in Austin as a whole. I think it was because Austin is nothing like the rest of Texas. There are no huge, gas guzzling trucks, big bleach blonde hair, holes in the ozone thanks to all the hairspray, hats and boots on every corner, beef for breakfast, lunch and dinner, or sweet Texas accents made complete with words like "mam," "y'all," or "howdy." No one opened doors for me or started up friendly conversations. Basically, I was excited to go to Texas and I ended up in some crazy, over priced, liberal town full of people who look homeless. Austin, you stay weird...and I'll stay in Colorado.

All in all, the best parts of Austin were the things that weren't from there - like the Texas Tech football team, my family, and my friend Lisa (in no particular order). 

It just so happened my friend Lisa and her husband Griffin were in Austin for a weekend getaway. We couldn't not have planned it better if we tried. We found out we would both be in Austin quite literally when I was in the terminal of the Colorado Springs airport about to board my flight (and minutes before I spilled hot coffee all over myself). Plus, I was stranded in Austin alone for most of Sunday because my family had a much earlier flight. That meant one thing...quality time with two wonderful friends before I headed back to Colorado.