A very special trip to Texas

On January 16, Wednesday, Ajo & I flew on Jet Blue to the Capital City of Texas. The reason behind the trip to Austin was to attend my cousin's wedding. Our flight was early morning on Wednesday and we arrived in Austin, TX approximately 12 noon Central Time.We had a light lunch from The Salt Lick place inside the terminal.  The brisket melted in my mouth. We picked up our rental car from Hertz and headed to Hilton Airport. We were exhausted from the 4.5 hr flight. After a power nap we headed over for an early dinner at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. Ajo had Gumbo and I had crab cakes with craw fish.
http://pappadeaux.com/home/

Thursday morning around 8 am we headed downtown for a walking tour. We waited on the capital grounds and met with our tour guide who narrated pertinent Austin history and walked us through historic downtown Austin. The temperatures were in the mid 40's, a little chilly for a walking tour but we enjoyed the 1 hour exploration of the city. We ate lunch at Whataburger and headed back downtown to explore the interiors of the State Capitol. Afterwards we drove to UT Austin where we strolled through the campus and ate at a Pita pit, perhaps my highlight of the day. http://www.pitapitusa.com/home.php
When Ajo & I lived in Reno, NV, we would go to Pita pit every other Sunday after church. It ended up being our comfort food on Sundays. We drove to Round Rock area of TX to take a photo of the Dell HQ since Ajo wanted to add the Dell HQ to his collection of Head Quarters. It was almost dusk when we headed over for dinner at Ajo's cousins place. We had delicious Indian food made by his cousin's wife. The hospitality and the warmth you felt in that home was incredible.

Friday morning we checked out of our hotel. We had to return our rental car and pick up a new rental car from Alamo with a car seat for  my 2 year old nephew. My brother and family was expected to arrive Friday night. We headed over to The Salt Lick BBQ place in Driftwood, TX. The drive was about 30 minutes from the airport area. We had some incredible barbecue. I would recommend this place to anyone visiting Austin, TX. Also, I would recommend their blackberry cobbler. After my brother and family arrived we went to the pre wedding festivities and dinner.

Saturday morning all the family members gathered at the Marriott at 8am for prayer prior to leaving for the church ceremony. The bride looked absolutely gorgeous.There are no words sometimes to describe a bride. They fill the room with a lot of happiness. The church service was beautiful with some bittersweet moments for both my cousin and her close family. If I had to describe this person in 3 words I would say: compassionate, genuine, and truthful. May the good and gracious Lord continue to help the married couple grow together to love the one true God.

After lunch, we all headed back to the hotel to change and returned for the reception around 5PM. The banquet hall was exquisite. The food was delicious. It was beautifully planned wedding and reception.

Sunday morning Ajo & I along with our cousins worshiped at Austin Stone Church. It was a joy to worship the Lord. We ate Brunch at a Crepe place in downtown Austin. We spend the rest of the afternoon in Austin Zoo along with my nephew and his parents. He was truly excited to see all the animals. We wrapped our Austin trip on Sunday night with Tex-Mex dinner at Chuy's. We said our goodbyes to Ajo's cousins and headed back to the hotel to pack for our 7am flight back to NY.

Austin trip is one of the memorable trips Ajo & I have done together.
There are a couple of reasons:
1) Despite Ajo's fear of flying, he wanted to attend the wedding in Austin and the Lord calmed him during the flights.
2) Ajo & I had some good times together - talking, laughing, and the least amount of arguments
3) We witnessed my cousins wedding, a long awaited end of day especially for her.
4) We experienced fellowship with Ajo's cousins. At times in life, people humble you and I experienced that when I met them.
5) Our first trip with my one and only nephew. He is not always going to stay in his terrible two's and therefore Ajo & I cherished his tantrums and his cuteness.

With the top 5 reasons I end this blog post.
One more thing, if you are ever in Austin, try Tex Mex, & Barbecue.