Austin Move-In Week is upon us!
We made the drive down from McKinney to Austin in about 4 hours on Mond
ay morning and picked up the keys to our new apartment in a building called “The Catherine”. This is a 19 story facility on the south side of the Colorado river in downtown Austin. Our unit is on the 14th floor corner (left hand side of the picture) and looks out over downtown and the river.
Here are pictures of the view from the 19th floor resident bar and of the pool area. We haven’t had a chance to try either yet.
A nice feature of the Catherine is the 24 hour concierge service in the fancy lobby area. The guys manning the desk will accept deliveries for you, let guests up to visit if approved, let you back into the apartment if you lock yourself out (hmm – who did that?), and generally handle everything.
This service was much appreciated as the first of many deliveries showed up shortly after our arrival – our new TV. We hauled the things we had packed into Diana’s car up to the apartment and then walked across the parking lot to check into the hotel. In the early evening, we walked to the famous 
Continental Club on South Congress avenue. The Peterson Brothers play there every Monday at 6:30pm. I covered the details on this excellent band a month or so ago so won’t go into too much detail. Diana really enjoyed the positive energy and interaction between the brothers. She just came back to the apartment as I’m writing this to report that she had been chatting with a musician in the elevator (there was music in the Sky Room bar on Sunday afternoon). She asked him about his favorite music venue in Austin and he replied with the Continental Club and mentioned that he had been watching the Peterson Brothers since they were very young kids. Here’s a short video of the performance:
We headed to Swift’s Attic for some dinner and had another delicious meal. We’re really enjoying being able to walk to such excellent local restaurants.
All deliveries on Tuesday happened before the estimated windows. The couch and bed were delivered well before expected and then the cable/internet technician was also way ahead of schedule. Thanks to Diana for handling the furniture while I was oblivious at the hotel gym. By the end of the day the apartment was almost ready to go. One thing missing was Diana’s desk chair but she chose to “think outside the box”.
We had an early dinner at the hotel bar and then had planned a run to Target to pick up a number of things we needed for the apartment – trash baskets, laundry baskets, laundry detergent, waters, brush and pan, pillows etc etc. Unfortunately, the Target we selected was tiny and designed for students grabbing a few things to go – with no parking and tiny shopping carts. We got a few essentials and gave up.
Here’s Alicia’s contribution to the apartment and my belated Christmas present – a Keurig 2.0 – so that I’m all ready to go with coffee in the morning. Thanks for the great gift Alicia!
For Wednesday lunch, I tried a new food truck that I had noticed on the drive to work – Sarah’s Mediterranean was excellent, even though they had only been open for 3 days.
A real Target visit happened on Wednesday night and we were officially into the apartment to spend the first night. We’re very happy with the place we chose. Here are some pictures of the views from our balconies:
Our friend Vinod, who’s working with me in Austin now, met us at Shady Grove for dinner on Thursday. He worked with both of us at AIG and Diana hadn’t seen him in 3 years. It was great to catch up on family and life in general over a delicious dinner. Vinod is vegetarian and enjoys the veggie plate at this restaurant – and it doesn’t have mushrooms (one of the few veggies that he won’t touch). He’s one of the smartest guys we know and has an endless amount of energy.
On Friday evening, we walked across the 1st avenue bridge to Peche (French for “sin”, if I could find the acute accent feature) for dinner. This turned out to be an excellent French restaurant/absinthe bar. We loved our drinks and meals. Diana tried a Manhattan with fig foam and loved it. The steak tartare and charcuterie platter were some of the best we’ve had. Our entree of braised short ribs over mashed potatoes and mushrooms was also delicious.
We made a stop at Dumont’s Down Low (next door to Peche) for a nightcap – good drinks but annoying music. According to the doorman, the best music is on Thursday night.
Saturday started with workouts – our chance to try out the new gym – all good with the elliptical machine passing Diana’s requirements. We walked across to Second Bar and Kitchen for a late lunch and had an early night in. There was a lovely sunset view from the balcony on Saturday night.
Sunday started with a beautiful sunrise view from the master bedroom. Diana went down for a workout while I read my book for a while – I’m way behind on my reading for the week.
We enjoyed a delicious brunch at Odd Duck on South Lamar. Quail and crispy chicken dishes were both very good.
It was a gorgeous afternoon on Sunday and we enjoyed a walk down South Congress for a coffee at Jo’s – just missing the live music on their patio. Lots of folks were out enjoying the day. By contrast, my friend Greg in Minnesota was ploughing a route across the lake to his ice fishing camp after a blizzard.
It’s been a pretty hectic week and I haven’t done much reading and don’t have much new music to report on. So, I’ll finish with my Oscar picks, just before the broadcast starts:
Best Picture: Roma
Best Actor: Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Actress: Glenn Close in The Wife
Best Supporting Actor: Mahershalla Ali in Green Book
Best Supporting Actress: Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Director: Alfonso Courian for Roma
Best Song: The Shallow from A Star is Born