SXSW Photo Diary & Austin City Guide!

 Here it is, our South by South West photo diary & Austin city guide! Keep in mind we were only there for 3 days so there were many things we weren’t able to do but we will try our best to include them here!

So it was Nick and I’s first time in Austin Texas and we had two schedules! An event-filled one with The Macallan and a tourist one, via trip advisor. Waking up every day relatively early gave us the ability to conquer both- and of course since we were out with a spirit brand, that got us by too. (did I say that out loud?) We landed on Friday night and immediately hit the town under a beautiful 60 degree, starry evening sky. We crowd weaved and eventually found ourselves at the downtown WeWork which was hosting a lot of the tech talks. As the audience would go refill their Macallan’s they also got an earful of knowledge on the latest gadgets and products. I always wanted to Attend SXSW during the music portion but found a lot of these talks very interesting and appealing. The interactive portion had my attention from that point forward.

Next thing we knew it was saturday and we blossomed out of bed like a Texan blue bonnet. Our B&B was within walking distance to the SFC Farmers market (happens every SAT) so we indulged in some AM moseying before we NEEDED food. We were recommended brunch at Bouldin Creek Cafe which didn’t disappoint so I will relay the suggestion onto you folks. Afterward you can also be super-tourists like we did and photograph against the ‘AUSTIN’ mural since it’s so close to the cafe. We then head back across the river to host a Bonobos event, which was with- you guessed it!- The Macallan. After all the work was finished we dedicated our evening to checking out the street scene which was packed! Bar after bar after food trunk on top of another food trunk. It was surreal and really, really fun.

Sunday Morning came as a slap in the face and also a reminder to not drink so much of the sponsored scotch whiskey. We found solace in a trends on trends brunch hosted by the lovely Emily Miller at the phenomenal brunch spot, ODD DUCK. As I was too busy photographing the food instead of eating it I leaned over to Nick and whispered “I think this may be the best food I’ll ever instagram. I can’t eat it” and then I quickly became a liar as I shoveled portions down my throat, washing it back with MORE Macallan. Skipping the details, we finished the feast and head back over to bonobos for the second round of event hosting and photographing. What a day, what a day.

Monday was my final day so it was anything but mundane. see what I did there? Nick and I were invited to the second trends on trends brunch, but this time in south Austin at modern mecca, Gardner. We ate and refueled enough to explore the city walking about 8 miles each. From the Capitol to the waterfront and the parks in-between, we got a workout. We didn’t stop there as we head to Mt. Bonnell to go climbing. LOL but really, we did. It was sunset and I heard it was the best view in the city and holy crap, it was. Seeing the sun set behind the colorado river was one memory I’ll never forget. The crimson reds and vibrant purples are etched in my brain like a vivid travel stamp with words in bold…’AUSTIN’. Everyone had told me that cliche phrase “keep Austin weird” to which I wouldn’t reciprocate just for the lack of knowing what it meant but as I boarded my plane, I thought to myself.. “I think Austin made ME more weird…and I’m okay with that” *shrugs*

here’s a quick AUSTIN city guide just in case you didn’t care about our trip

WHAT TO SEE: Mt. Bonnell, Town Lake, The Capitol, Congress Ave bridge (bat show. but really)

WHERE TO EAT: Odd Duck, Gardner, Bouldin creek cafe, Hopdoddy

WHERE TO STAY: W Austin (contemporary), The Driskill (opulent), Four Seasons (upscale) & of course airbnb.

WHERE TO SHOP: 2nd street district is up & coming and was also where our bonobos event was. for vintage try New Bohemia

big thanks to everyone at The Macallan for bringing us out and allowing us to participate and experience all the “weird” Austin events. They were Fantastic.

photos: Nick Pierce

GALLA