Up Lady Bird Lake With One Paddle

The Mavens are all set to join some friends on a Paddle Boarding excursion at the Texas Rowing Center on Lady Bird Lake.  It's located at 1541 W. Cesar Chavez St. Austin, TX. This place rents out kayaks, canoes, and SUPs (stand-up paddle boards) all day, every day (until about 8:30pm) and no reservations are necessary because they state that they have over 100 SUPs so there should never be a wait for a board.

Everyone in our group is excited about trying it as we have never paddle boarded before - except for Richelle, she's sort of a pro and will be our instructor. Hmmm, not sure if we should be happy or scared about that.  It's a weekday, so Richelle had to go into work for a few hours - while there, she texts Jenn some instructions for the day 1.) be here at 3:00 2.) bring me a towel and 3.) BRING WINE and plastic cups! Jenn is pretty good at following instructions especially when it involves wine, but sometimes she can be a little over prepared. She packs 2 bags: one is a cooler with wine, ice, and plastic cups and the second has towels, sunscreen, a picnic blanket, hats, aloe vera gel, lip stick, body spray, 2 dresses and shoes. The dresses, lip stick, and body spray are a few extra things she threw in just in case we finish early enough to make a gig, near by, where hubby is playing. Our friend Becky volunteers to drive so we get to kick back and relax as we sing along with the radio. Great tunes by Daft Punk, Robin Thicke and Bruno Mars are pumping out of the speakers and puts us all in a happy mood until we drive by a bank and it's electronic sign flashes that it's 102 degrees outside - "YIKES!" Yells Richelle, "a 102 freakin' degrees? oh man I need a 'drink' - Jenn, pass me a 'drink'." Jenn obliges and passes her a 'drink' then pours one for herself as Richelle asks, "what kind of cups are these?" Jenn says, "you know what they are. They're the stemless, Govino wine cups. 

I brought six, one for each of us while we sit by the lake on the picnic blanket I brought and sip wine." Richelle responds, " I said to bring plastic cups." Jenn says, "they are plastic dummy."  "I meant inconspicuous ones," says Richelle. "Oh well you didn't specify, you just said plastic and these are cute and classy," Jenn says. As we roll on down the road, Jenn starts talking about water moccasins (a venomous aquatic snake) 

and how she hopes there aren't any in the lake where we will be. She continues with," If there are, I hope we don't fall off our paddle boards into a den of them because if we do, we're dead meat, they will eat us alive." Richelle says, "JEEZ Jenn, thanks for scaring the shit out of us. Man, Texas seems to be the Australia of the United States with all it's deadly creepy crawlers."  "Yep you're welcome," says Jenn as she laughs out loud. We pull up to our destination, get out of the car and walk over to check in, sign a waiver, and pay.  As Jenn reads over and signs her waiver a little diddy pops into her head - It's an old Eddie Rabbitt tune 

called "Drivin' My Life Away," but she puts her own spin on it and sings, "ooooh I'm signin' my life away".... as we all continue to sign our waivers. She ain't right in the head sometimes. Then we assess the situation as we wait for the others to arrive. Come to find out, there's really nowhere to leave your stuff. You are given a 4x4 box to put your personal things in (like keys and a phone) which they keep behind the counter but that's it. Anything else you bring can be left on the dock, but at your own risk - meaning it could get up and walk away while you are out on the lake. And we can't very well give them our cooler of beer and wine, now can we? Especially since we just signed a waiver that states no alcoholic beverages allowed for liability reasons. And what about the picnic blanket Jenn brought with visions of grandeur? There's no where to use it either, as there is only a dock to get on and off your boards - no lakeside land area where you can sit and relax. So Richelle says, "come on, let's head back to the car and have some wine until the others show up." Once at the car, we open the door and the heat pours out and slaps us in the face. It feels like 200 degrees inside from the sun, so Jenn pulls out her picnic blanket and says, "let's cop a squat over there in the shade while we wait." Richelle responds, "over there in the weeds next to the bushes where god knows what is lurking?"  "Yes. Do you want to drink your wine in the shade or out in the hot sun?" Jenn asks. "Besides, whatever's in those bushes is more afraid of you than you are of it. Just make some loud noises. Unless it's a wild boar and then well, kiss your ass goodbye."  Damn! There you go again, says Richelle."  "I was kidding about the boar," Jenn laughs. The shade by the bushes won out.

"You made fun of me for bringing a picnic blanket and it's a damn good thing I did. You can never be too prepared," said Jenn. As we are sitting there Richelle says, "OK one of two things can happen right now: One, some snake or spider is going to come out of those bushes and bite us or two, we are going to get arrested if a cop drives by because we are drinking wine across the street from a school and I think you have to be so many feet away... Roar Roar."  Jenn looks at her funny and replies, "well, we are far enough away from the school and it's summer so school's out - but let's turn our backs just in case so no one can see us. And what's up with the roaring?"  Richelle says, "You said to make loud noises in order to keep the wild animals away." "Oh OK," Jenn laughs again. Just about that time, the friends we were waiting on pull up into the parking lot and Richelle screams out, "hey we are over here chugging some wine before we go in," as people are passing by. "Way to be really inconspicuous, dude," Jenn says. "Tell the whole world why don't you? That in itself was loud enough to scare away the wild animals AND get us arrested." Then we both have a good chuckle. So now that the gang is all here we walk back over to the rowing center, grab a life vest and head on over for a pole evaluation (they adjust them according to your height).

Then we are given a board (Richelle requests pink of course), a quick verbal lesson and demonstration and then it's time to get out on the water and paddle.

We are told to stay on our knees and paddle as we push off the dock, until we get a few feet away and then we can stand up. Same thing goes for when we paddle back in - stay on your knees. So here we go...

We are surprised at how easy and fun it is and how we are able to stand up right away without falling in ... for now. Of course Richelle, the pro is out in front and leaving us all in her dust or is it her wake? It must be the wine she "chugged" before hand - Ha Ha. We all seem to be getting into the groove. We are having a good time learning to balance, stand up and get back down on our knees or rear ends.  After a while, Paul falls off his board into the water and loses his sun glasses. He almost caught them in his hand but they slipped though his fingers and probably sunk to the bottom of the lake. Unless they landed on a fish swimming by and then it would be one stylin' fish 'cause his glasses were cool. It sucks because it is so hot and very bright outside so this is not the day to be without them - but he is super chill and like, oh well and jumps back on his board. Jenn is on a silly mission to not fall off her board because she doesn't want to get her hair wet in case we go out later. Do you think she will pull it off? We paddle all the way to the Lamar Street Bridge and take a rest underneath it in the shade. Richelle and Paul decide to have a paddle board race against one another and Paul wins by a foot, but she gave him a pretty good run. As we were watching the race, Steph realizes she no longer has her hat on and must have lost it when she fell before we got to the bridge. Dang, that's the second item lost today - it's a good thing Jenn didn't bring her camera phone because she doesn't have a waterproof case and that thing would have been ruined or lost, for sure. She really wanted to have photos of all of us on our boards and to document our fun day on the lake, but unfortunately it's not to be (so there will be no pictures of our lake adventure). We chill a while and then decide to get going again.  This time we will paddle all the way to the next bridge (1st Street Bridge) and back; but before we set out, Richelle attempts to do a head stand on her board as we all anxiously watch. Oh man, she didn't quite make it and tumbles into the water, but she gave it a good try as that is not an easy thing to do. Jenn really wishes she had her camera for that stunt. On our way to the next bridge we notice that the water is much more shallow and covered in seaweed type stuff that kept getting caught on the bottom of our boards slowing us down. The further we get towards the bridge, the heavier into the "stuff" we get. No wonder not many people are paddle boarding down this far.

Along the way we saw many turtles with algae growing on top of their shells which we compared to over-sized chia pets. Jenn claims she saw a clam and tried to scoop it up with her paddle then decided against it when she almost fell in. She also saw a huge fish that she says looked like a small shark, but we assume it was maybe a cat fish. We would take turns helping to remove the seaweed stuff off of each others boards. It kinda looked like we were dragging feather boas so it looked pretty cool, but it was really making it harder to paddle. It took us approximately 40 minutes to paddle to the bridge where we stopped a bit for a break. By then we were all hot and thirsty (more like dehydrated) and ready to head back. We were on a mission to get to the dock a.s.a.p, but Jennifer (our other friend) was in the lead and clearly the winner because she reached the dock first. The sun was really beating down on us and sweat was seeping into our eyes and burning them. Our lips were chapped and Jenn mentioned she all of a sudden felt like she was in an episode of Naked and Afraid a Discovery Channel show about two people (one male and one female) who have to survive in the wilderness naked and afraid for twenty-one days without anything. They are only allowed to bring one thing with them that can help with their survival for example: a knife, fire starter, cooking pot, etc... Of course our circumstances were nothing of the sort, but for a brief moment Jenn was like, "oh man I couldn't survive on that show if I'm already worn out from this heat - especially naked - with bugs, sand or dirt getting in your butt crack."  Then 30 minutes later we were all back at the dock, our arms and legs shaking like jello, from our three hour paddle boarding excursion. What a great way to spend the day with great friends. We had a blast and are looking forward to the next time. 

By the way, in case you were wondering and placing bets,  Jenn never fell off her paddle board and was proud of this achievement. 

We were happy that we finished up in time to go see hubby play his gig at a brand new bar called CU 29 which is the symbol for copper. Becky was kind enough to drop us off downtown in front of the Driskill Hotel which is right down the street from the bar where we were headed. We are dirty and disgusting from sweating all day and stinky (thank goodness for the body spray Jenn brought). We decide to dash into the hotel and use their bathroom to freshen up (Thanks Driskill) as best we can (throwing dresses on over our bathing suits) and then walk up the street a block to the bar. It's the Grand Opening and they are offering free food all night - Yee Haw! - because we are starving. As we walk in, hubby is playing and we spot two of our very good friends so we sit down at their table.

We apologize right away for our no make-up, dirty, sweaty selves then ask the waitress for a pitcher of water and chug three or four glasses before ordering our first glass of vino. Hubby finishes playing a kick ass set and comes to sit and join us. Up next is an amazing Blues guitarist named Alan Haynes.  He came over and serenaded our table several times.

It was so cool because the guitar he was playing is very old (1960) and was previously owned by the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. We found out this same guitar has been played by other guitar greats: Eric Johnson, Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top), Carlos Santana and Johnny Winter. Pretty Awesome!

As we are sitting there getting lost in the music and really enjoying ourselves, Richelle asks, "why is it when we look our worst that we usually end up having the best time?"  The Grand Opening was a success and the appetizers they served were very good, but we needed a full meal after being outside all day so what is our favorite go-to food??? You guessed it, Mexican, so we were hell bent on making it to Guero's before they closed... which we did. 

We enjoyed yummy food and margaritas. We were so happy that we were finally full - almost in a food coma. As we were waiting to pay the bill, this kid walks by and Richelle says, "that's Jared Leto (an actor and musician)."  Jenn replies, "No it's not. I don't think he would be working at Guero's, but he does resemble him." As he passes by again, Jenn says "hey Jared" and he turns around and walks over to our table. Richelle proceeds to tell him that he looks like Jared Leto and he said he gets that a lot. Come to find out, his name is Jared too.  That's why he said he turned around when we called, but we didn't believe him and asked him to show us his drivers license for proof. He leaves then returns with his license in hand and we ask him to sit down with us while Richelle proceeds to read it. Yep his name is Jared. Too funny; so of course Jenn had to get a photo (or two or three or seven - Ha Ha that's an inside joke for Randy) with him and Richelle to add to the collection of the days adventures. 

We pay our bill, thank the staff, say goodnight and walk out of the restaurant feeling totally satisfied and ready for bed. It's been a long day and we are beat, but it's been wonderfully fun and eventful. Thank goodness we were up Lady Bird Lake with one paddle instead of up Shit Creek without one. Until our next adventure...

NYC in the ATX House

Recently we got together with some dear friends who came to visit from New York City. New York City? Get a rope. You're probably wondering what the hell we are talking about? We wonder that too, most of the time; it's usually a mystery to us as well, but this we can explain. It's a line from an old Pace Picante Salsa commercial that aired in Texas (you can you tube it) about some cowboys who will only eat salsa made in San Antonio, TX and won't eat salsa made in NYC. So every time we hear someone say New York City... that commercial just automatically pops into our heads. The fact that we still remember this from so long ago (circa 1994) is funny to us because we can't remember really important things most of the time, but we remember this? Hmmm, guess it shows the power of great marketing - either that or we are just sick in the head - Ha Ha - which is probably more accurate. Speaking of San Antonio, our friends actually stayed with friends there but drove to Austin for the day to meet up with us.

It's hot and humid as HELL ... not even sure why we took showers because we're dripping in sweat anyway and FORGET about our hair. As soon as we walked out of the door it either fell flat, frizzed out, or both so we said screw it and decided to leave our appearance up to the weather god.  But somehow we must have pissed him off because Sam was NOT our Champion today. We met our friends for brunch at a cute little place that serves Mexican food called Takoba (on E.7th and Onion). Richelle had the Chilaquiles (eggs scrambled, pan fried corn tortilla strips, onions & a red chile sauce, topped with queso fresco and served with breakfast potatoes and re-fried beans) while Jenn had the Queso Fundido (Oaxaca & Monterrey jack cheeses, roasted poblanos & chorizo with warm flour tortillas). Although Richelle liked her meal, we both agreed that the Queso Fundido was awesome! The margaritas were good, but the real go to drink for our table was the Michelada (a spicy beer cocktail featuring Dos XX beer, spicy tomato juice and black pepper). The first thing out of our friends' mouth was, "Thank you for saving Richelle's life, Jenn. How scary was that? and tell us all about it" (See Black Box Maven Almost Down for all the details). It's nice to know that our friends read our blog - along with two or three other people out there in the world;) So they bought us a drink to celebrate, as we both chimed in with our recollection of what happened, and then we all toasted Richelle's life. Then we started talking about our lobster roll quest in Austin (see our blog Perla's, Pets and Painting) and failure to find one as good as Mary's Fish Camp in NYC. They have been there with us many times and told us that Mary's recently opened one in Brooklyn. Richelle and Jenn start planning a trip to NYC & Brooklyn as it's been too long since they have been to the big apple. Jenn has decided she will approach MFC about opening one in Austin and by approach she means beg and plead. After brunch we head to SOCO (South of Congress) for Amy's Ice Cream (the line was around the building because it was so damn hot) and some window shopping, while a few of us made our way to Doc's Bar & Grill for a bathroom break, to cool off and have a cold beer.

As we walk out of Doc's, it starts pouring down rain while we pack in one car and head to no other than, Rainey Street - a cool street lined with old houses converted into bars. Most people just walk up and down the street, but we managed to almost get run over by a segway tour zooming by.

Our stops along Rainey Street were Bar 96 and Lustre Pearl. Lustre Pearl has a huge backyard area where they have picnic tables, live music, ping pong and hula hoops. That's right hula hoops and you know we had to hoop it at least once.

The table we sat at was less than desirable, though... look at it! It was caddywhompus as all hell, Ha Ha - but we still sat there (or tried). At least our drinks were level - that's what mattered most.

After the fun at Lustre Pearl, our last stop was the "Come Together Food Trailer Park," located at 74 Rainey Street. It's a cute outdoor space, lined with food trucks, that's family friendly (kids and dogs are welcome) and offers picnic table seating. You can go from trailer to trailer ordering different & exciting foods all without having to leave the area. Their hours of operation vary, but are somewhat consistent, and right now they are: Tuesday-Thursday 6pm-12midnight, Friday-Saturday 6pm-3am and Sunday 6pm-12midnight. They are closed on Mondays.

We have been on a mission to try the tacos at La Fantabulous (follow them on Face Book @ LaFantabulous and Twitter @ LFantabulous) and are happy to report that we finally get to accomplish it. La Fantabulous is a cute cabo style taqueria and the brain child of Josie Paredes. Josie is a chef in her own right and has worn many hats over the years. To name a few: she was the chef at J. Blacks on sixth street, part of the menu planning for Santa Rita Tex Mex and Blue Star Cafeteria, pastry chef for McCormick & Schmick's (on the East Coast) and lead cook for Eddie V's Prime Seafood. She is more than accomplished and if she doesn't deserve her own food truck, then no one does.

She whips up the most delicious tacos, on either flour or corn tortillas, all made from the freshest ingredients which can change often according to what's available from farm to market. We didn't hold back and tried a little bit of everything: Bean & Cheese topped w/queso fresco & avocado, Fish (salmon or red snapper) topped with your choice of Avo green salsa or sweet peppers & mango, Shrimp pan seared and topped w/cabbage, red onions, orange segments, sweet peppers & queso fresco, Bistek (beef fajita) with grilled onions and poblano peppers topped w/cilantro & queso fresco, and Pollo Anchiote (chicken fajita) in a light citrus marinade with grilled onions, pineapple, cilantro & queso fresco. We thoroughly enjoyed them all and left nary a crumb ... in other words we ate every single bite because they were so fresh and delicious!! They were some of the best we have ever tried. Definitely not your average taco. We will absolutely be back.

Thanks Josie and La Fantabulous for filling our bellies with delicious tacos. Now we can go home fat and happy and enjoy a glass of wine or two. It was a fun-filled day spent just the way we like it - with great friends, delicious food, cold drinks and lots of laughter. Until our next outing, The BBWM's are signing off ... May your life and your glass always be full - and if your tummy is too, it's a bonus.