Hi everyone!
I live an hour and a half from San Antonio. It’s not the most glamorous destination, but it’s fun city and the perfect place to take a road trip. For my birthday, Scott and I got a hotel room and made the drive down for a mini vacation! We could only get one day off for work (Scott was literally back at it the day after my birthday, once we were back in Austin), but it felt like we were there for much longer than that. Sometimes even a little bit of travel is just what you need!
We got iced coffees and drove down I-35. I even had a glass straw for my caramel macchiatto!
We had a view of the pool from the hotel. We’d picked the hotel mostly because Scott had stayed there before for business and said it was really cool- and he was right! Aloft Hotels feel really boutique-y and unique.
We went to Green Vegetarian for my birthday lunch. I LOVE Green and overhyped it to myself before we went. We don’t have a Green in Austin, so it’s a treat to get to go.
It was a super hot, sunny day. Typical Texas at the end of July.
We tripped around and went makeup shopping! I went crazy at Sephora. We also went guitar shopping. This is what we do. Every city we go to, we check out the Ulta, Sephora, Sam Ash, and Guitar Centers that metropolitan area has to offer.
And of course, I love to check out bakeries whenever I travel! San Antonio has a few locations of an award winning bakery named Bakery Lorraine.
I got a box of macarons from Bakery Lorraine, and the orange dreamsicle one was such a surprise hit! Scott liked the pistachio macaron- it actually tasted like creamy pistachio ice cream. But my absolute favorite was the S’MORES flavored macaron!
Scott got a blueberry scone and a DELICIOUS cappuccino.
We went back to the hotel after tripping around and spending a scary amount of money at Sephora (I mean, I bought perfume, so most of the $200 went there…). I also chased a stray dog through the mall parking lot, but it got away from me and the security guard got it.
I wanted to get dinner at Piatti, which is a cute Italian restaurant I found last time we traveled to San Antonio. It’s the kind of place that was BUSY on a Wednesday night, an hour before close. It’s obviously a spot in SA. It’s in the Quarry District, which has a ton of shopping and a Whole Foods.
It was so dim we didn’t take a lot of photos at the restaurant, but I got this one of a very happy Scott after our eggplant parmesan appetizer.
We headed back to the hotel after dinner. We’d bought a ton of treats at Whole Foods and had plans to watch Iliza Schlesinger’s new comedy special. I thought that sounded like the perfect low-key Wednesday birthday plan! We watched Elder Millennial, her awesome special, and had a great night.
The next day, we got up early to check out of the hotel. We headed right to the other location of Bakery Lorraine that we wanted to see before going home. It was in the VERY cool Pearl District, which is where I would live if I had to move to SA.
It felt a little like Montreal, with the bricks and outdoor shopping. Bakery Lorraine Pearl was absolutely amazing. Beautiful space, amazing food, and delicious coffee.
I got the quiche and a morning bun. I couldn’t have their ketchup since it was Heinz with high fructose corn syrup, but the potatoes and quiche were amazing all the same.
Scott got the avocado toast with pickled lentils and a poached egg. It was SUPER good and crazy! I’m glad to be with someone who orders cool shit like that.
We headed home after that, and had to take all kinds of crazy back roads. The highway back to Austin was closed, and cars were literally being re-routed, driving down the highway the wrong way to get off. It took us forever to get home.
Since we took back roads, we got to see this crazy farm with African animals that looked like baby deer! We turned the car around and doubled back to see them. They look like little elk or something. It was so magical!
The birthday trip was just what I needed, and it inspired me to take more little trips like this. And also, to live life in Austin more like that- jam packing a day with different stores to check out, new restaurants to try, and great conversation with my partner. It was a perfect birthday road trip.
Have you ever taken a road trip? Do you like mini vacays? Just a night can be enough!
Have an AWESOME week!
-Taylor
TAYLOR DOROTHY 