It was time for another trip with the gang! If you remember, last year we went to San Antonio and saw "Wicked." Well, this time we chose to visit Austin to see "The Phantom of the Opera." What an amazing trip! First of all, we drove through the hill country and all of the wildflowers were in bloom! My favorite of course was the Texas state flower, the bluebonnet. This was my first time seeing wild bluebonnets and they were absolutely gorgeous! It looked like carpets of blue all along the side of the road. They were everywhere, along with purple phlox, orange paintbrush, yellow daisies, and white poppies...to name just a few :) I was in heaven!
Before heading downtown we enjoyed the beautiful sunset while eating dinner at The Oasis. This restaurant is three stories high and can seat more than 2000 guests at one time! The view was breathtaking and the food was great. When the sun finally set over the water, the bells rung and the guests clapped :) It was quite the event!
For breakfast the next day we went to the famous hotel Driskill on 6th street. The pastries, which were my favorite part, were delightful :) The food was so good we decided to come back that night for dessert after the show.
Can you believe all these boots! And this was just the aisle that had my boot size!! I had been in Texas for almost a year and had never even tried on cowboy boots, so I decided that was the day to do it! It was hard to choose, but I bypassed the boots with the snake head on them and went for a tradition brown, instead :) I'll have to save up, though...they cost $300.00. Shanam chose his favorite and of course he chose the highest priced boots in the entire store without knowing it...$3000.00!
After shopping on South Congress Street and Guadalupe Street we beelined it over to the state capitol to take a look at where Shanam's future seat in the senator's office would be. (He loves politics and would love to someday make it to that position.)
Before we knew it, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner and the show! We ate at an amazing restaurant called Landers and enjoyed meeting up with an old friend of Andrea's. I ordered the most tender and moist fillet of Grouper over potato and leek soup. Sensational!
And here we are in the theatre! We got there a little early, hence the empty seats around us, but it gave us plenty of time to get into the spirit of the play. I tell ya, when those first chords were pounded on the organ, chills rushed through my whole body and tears ran down my cheeks! The first time I saw this play I was about 13 or 14 and I went with dad and grandma. I remember it being so overwhelming and beautiful! This time, it was both those things but with an added understanding. I felt the emotions of the characters and was completely enthralled in every line of every song!
We love the friends we've made in Andrews and can't wait for the next adventure!
