Spring Break 09

I’ve clearly taken advantage of March (and a bit of April) being Spring Break for youngsters across the nation and been on a blogging hiatus. There’s nothing like being M.I.A. for a bit to know just how appreciated you are. My friends…you can now stop the hate mail and the treats, because I’m back in the saddle (thanks to a little ultimatum from Alicia).

One of the reason’s I’ve been out of pocket is due to non-stop activities over the last month. I mean it was one thing after another. And because I say it’s never too late for a recap I will attempt to recap March for you in this entry. Here’s the breakdown of the fun. Warning: this entry is not known for it's brevity.

March 6 thu 8: The Fort Worth gang come for a visit.

The Visitors: Brett, Keri, Wally, and Sarah

The Schedule:

Friday night – The gang arrived and we met Tedder for dinner at 616. After very little discussion we headed to Ego’s (or Eggo’s as Wally referred to it) for introduction to our favorite haunt. None of the FWers took to the stage, but I feel the people watching was enough to make up a great night.

Saturday – The obligatory lunch at Maudie’s was followed by miscellaneous shopping. Keri and Sarah took to San Marcos for some outlet shopping and Ash and I stayed behind and did some gun and fly shopping with Wally and Brett. The outlet shopping proved unsuccessful, but the gun shopping was a hit since Ash walked away with a killer (no pun intended) new shotgun.

Saturday night – We hit Vivo’s for dinner and had a special toast for B-rett’s bday…which was actually that next day, but since he had to get back to his chicken at an early hour the celebration commenced on Saturday night. After much debate, dinner was followed by late night porch shenanigans at Ashley’s.

Insert work week and some catch up zs and we are off to the second weekend in March.

March 13 – 16: Rodeo Weekend

The Visitors: Alicia (Friday and Saturday), Mooring (only Saturday), and Weston (only Saturday)

The Schedule:

Friday night – Ash and I had dinner with some of the Austin gang (Cronins/Wheelers/Dunlaps) while waiting for Alicia to arrive on a late flight. Dinner was at Maria Maria…very fun and yummy food. Oh…and the sangria…fabulous. My favorite part of dinner had to be Dunlap and Ash walking down HPHS memory lane. After picking Alicia up we headed straight to Ego’s. I love that it was really never questioned, just assumed. There we met up with Ted, Hogan, and Kari where we were clearly behind in the drink count.

Saturday – I slept in. Can’t believe it, but I did…didn’t even get up to eat. But, it was a must in preparation for the Randy Rogers concert at the Austin Rodeo…formally known as Rodeo Austin.

Saturday night: Weston arrived from Fort Worth early Saturday afternoon and Mooring arrived from H-town just before departure. Other concert goers were Sara and Greta. Not a shabby night for Weston. In the name of safety and pomp and circumstance, we went all out and hired a limo (more commonly known as a church van). There we met up with Hogan and Kari for the end of the bull riding and the concert….which did not disappoint. After the rodeo, again with very little debate, we headed on to Ego’s so that our new guests could begin their initiation. This is when things went south. I’ll leave it at that.

You’d think us Austinites get enough action on the weekends, that we could sit this one out, but we are never one to miss a holiday celebration and we were not about to let St. Patty’s Day pass us by…so only two days after our rowdy rodeo weekend, we headed out on the town yet again. Our St. Patty’s Day celebration was far from traditional and included dinner at Taverna, drinks at The Belmont, and then to the stage at Ego’s. How could we not?!?!

So on to the next weekend in March as Spring Break 09 continues. And yes, I am fully aware that SB is only supposed to last a week..not an entire month. Believe me I paid for it dearly.

March 20 – 22: HP Girls Visit Austin

The HP Girls: Angie, Mary Beth, Layne, Lisa, and Kara

The Austinites: Leigh, Christy, Ashley, Elizabeth, Becca, Sheldon, Catherine…oh and I’m sure I’m forgetting someone. Sorry.

Friday night – The girls arrived in time for dinner. Dinner locations proved to be a challenge with this size group and the fact that it was SXSW. But we settled on Sago and enjoyed a lovely interior mexican meal. Oh who am I kidding…it was a gong show. Food was great and the drinks even better….although I don’t recommend getting the Blackberry margarita poured down your back…which is exactly what happened to Ashley and me. And you can only guess what color shirt I was wearing. Argh! Our dinner was comped so Ash and I went home to change and met up with the girls at Star Bar. We were about to call it a night when Tedder Vance appeared and coaxed (well maybe coaxed is the wrong word here) us to hit Ego’s. The girls took to it immediately and we got to sing a few songs even though it was a very late arrival. Mary Beth was the only one (excluding yours truly) to take to the stage. She did great although it was clear we needed to work on song selection. Jesus Take The Wheel probably shouldn’t be your lead off song.


Saturday – Lunch was at Hula Hut where little Sam Levy joined us for “some” queso. (note that queso was consumed at every meal this weekend). After lunch there was much shopping to be done. Adelante, Touch of Sass, Wildflower, and more. The girls (sans me who needed some down time) then took to the patio at Z Tejas for some apps and cocktails.

Saturday night – Dinner was back at 616, this time on the fabulous patio. Ranch 616 rarely disappoints and that night was no exception. After dinner we didn’t even beat around the bush…we all knew what everyone was thinking….so we headed for Ego’s. Remember it was SXSW…so any “normal” bar would have been packed. Oh who am I kidding, we would have gone to Ego’s anyway. This time more of the group took to the stage…and Mary Beth hushed all critics with a rousing performance of Sweet Child of Mine….which was much better than said Jesus Take the Wheel performance.

Whew. Are you exhausted? I’m exhausted just remembering it. However the first three weekends in March which pretty much made up my Spring Break 09 tour were a blast.

I’m proud to say that the last weekend in March was low key….well you know…for us. Friday night we (me, Ash, Ted, Lizzie, and Ford) round tabled like the old days over Bud Light (Ford) and vino (the rest of us). It wasn’t a particularly wild night and we were all home in bed by a decent hour.

That next day we opted to watch team “You Don’t Even Know” in their kickball tournament. The weather was gorgeous…just perfect for a little day drinking. Unfortunately YDEK got jipped out of going all the way (at least on the kickball field) and had to end the day a little early. That night I had a work function, so I made my appearance and called it an early night. Aren’t you proud? Recovery was still in progress.


I’ll wrap up with that Sunday. Another beautiful day for afternoon cocktails. I spent a few hours on Ash’s back porch sipping on gin and juice…actually Pink Lemonade and Vodka (semantics). The best part of the afternoon however was the surprise visit from Ben Hogan...who was in town from NYC. Always a treat…and a great way to put a cap on the end of Spring Break 09.

Like I said, not the shortest entry I’ve ever done, but maybe not the longest either. It’s really difficult to fit a whole month into one entry…but all I can say is I do it for the fans. No really, I have learned my lesson and pledge (yet again) to be a more diligent blogger.

For what it’s worth Spring Break 09 really seeped on into April. But I’ll save that recap for the next entry.

For more pics from SB 09 visit my Phanfare site...many of them are well worth the look.