Luckily for me, this was my second visit to Austin. On my first a few years back, I had plenty of time to check out all that Austin has to offer. I had seen and experienced enough to know where I’d focus my very limited time on this past visit – food and craft beer. While I’ll need a third visit to Austin to make my first pilgrimage to Franklin Barbecue, I did manage to get to another of the city’s best reviewed barbecue joints. In East Austin, about a fifteen minute walk from where I was staying sat La Barbecue, a perfect amalgamation of restaurant, craft beer store and tap room. A real slice of heaven for someone like me.

I was on the receiving end of some good karma here. Visiting near the end of the day, I knew their offerings might be slim, but when I stepped up to order, I was given great news. There was exactly one beef rib left because someone didn’t show up to pick up their order. That rib, the single best thing I ate on this trip, along with some pork ribs, chopped brisket and an order of chipotle coleslaw made for a perfect meal. The photo below doesn’t do the portion size justice – I couldn’t finish all of this. The meal wasn’t cheap, ringing in at just about $50USD, but I had no regrets.

The novelty of eating outside in November led me to Banger’s Sausage House on Rainey Street. Under patio lights and sitting at a long communal table, I ordered a flight of Austin craft beers and this delicious antelope sausage with a side of jalepeno mac and cheese. I had to pinch myself to be able to sit outside in a t-shirt this close to Christmas and knowing that I’d be returning to icebox temperatures back in Saskatoon in a few days.

With extending my enjoyment of the evening outdoors, I strode a few blocks further down Rainey Street to Craft Pride, a great bar I discovered on my first visit. I enjoyed sitting on their patio nursing this beer and knew that I’d try to replicate the experience at least one more time before hopping on a plane home.

One evening after my work day wrapped up, I walked back into East Austin (this was a theme on this trip) to visit Blue Owl Brewing and their eclectic tap room.

I was drawn to Blue Owl because they specialize in sour beers. I was also drawn here because they had a patio. I enjoyed their Little Boss and Spirit Animal sours while soaking in the sunshine of a 25C late afternoon.

On my last day in Austin, I ventured a bit further east into East Austin to visit a couple more taprooms. Everything I had tried by Hops & Grain on my previous visit I loved, and this set of samples was across the board delicious. With a comprehensive taproom and Sunday NFL football on their TVs, I really enjoyed my time here.

As I made my way on foot to my next brewery, I came acorss this message inscribed on a wall in a residential neighbourhood. Kind of sums up my view on life and how I sense Austin is as a community overall.

When I stopped in at Lazarus Brewing Co, it was right after a massive Beto O’Rourke rally that was hoping to push him ahead as an unlikely Democratic representative from Texas. Alas, election day didn’t work out for him, but it created a really nice upbeat and “together” vibe in the tap room and on their patio. I had a varied selection of Lazarus’ beers (DIPA, Belgian strong ale, Kolsch and an American IPA) with the surprise hit being their Prodigal Pils, a delicious German pilsner, perfect for a smoking hot afternoon.

A Democratic love in, perfect patio weather for a Canadian who had to wear a parka too many times already and delicious beer would have been enough to make me a very happy camper. But this tap room was dog friendly and the place was crawling with very good doggos.

As I sipped my beer, I considered my citizenship and wondered if I could make East Austin home. For all the time I’ve spent in the USA and the fun times I’ve had south of the 49th parallel, there aren’t many places that I could ever see myself living in. Austin is one of the special places that I’ve felt at home in right away each time I’ve visited.