My family and I got treated to an awesome weekend in my hometown of Austin, Texas; it was all thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation. When my brother was receiving treatment for his Hodgkins Lymphoma, he was contacted by the Make a Wish foundation. He wished to meet the University of Texas coach Mack Brown and go to a Texas game. His wish was granted and we got to have an amazing weekend.
When we arrived at the airport baggage claim in the Austin airport and there are a ton of huge guitars that are painted for different things that are important in Austin. This one caught my eye and seemed very fitting for our trip. It was a Livestrong guitar in honor of Lance Armstrong who calls Austin home.
When we were in the parking lot there were three red mustangs all parked next to each other; it made me laugh because it seems like Texas would be the only place that that would make sense.
We arrived at the hotel and they had some really cool artwork including this cool longhorn in front of a Texas flag.
For dinner we went to a local favorite, Shady Grove. Shady Grove is the home of the Keep Austin Weird shirts, and it has a very hippie feel to it. I decided that it would only be fitting to order the hippie sandwich which was a bunch of vegetables and cheese all melted together into a delicious melody of yumminess.
On Friday, we got up and went to get one of our favorite breakfast items, kolaches. We can't get kolaches here in North Carolina, so we jump on the opportunity any chance we get. My favorite were the Sausage, Cheese, & Jalapeno. A kolache is just a piece of meat and other items inside of bread.
After breakfast, we went to go see the house I was born in. The house hasn't changed much since we moved out 17 years ago.
Next, we went to campus, so I could tour and get the feel of the school.
Afterwards, we did a little shopping at the Co-op and I got to take some pictures with a cardboard cutout of my favorite boy Colt McCoy.
After we toured, we went to lunch at a restaurant called Threadgills. We got fried green tomatoes for an appetizer and they were so good! For my meal I got the grilled salmon with sides of broccoli and green beans. I am a sucker for fish and get it any chance I can, and I can say that this was up there on the list of good salmon. The crust on it was perfect because it left the inside perfectly moist and flaky. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
After lunch our day started getting really exciting. Greg's wish was about to be granted.
We were picked up at the hotel by the Make A Wish representative and driven to the University of Texas Football Office in a limo.
We got to tour the lobby area while we waited to go into Mack Brown's office. This is me and Greg with the 2005 National Championship trophy. It was pretty dang cool!
There was a hallway full of trophies and another room designated just for awards and such. My favorite of course was Colt McCoy's.
Now it was time for Greg to meet Mack Brown!
Coach Brown greeted Greg with a signed hat and a customized jersey. Then he gave Greg the grand tour of his office, which was more like a museum. Greg even got to try on some national championship rings.
Don't forget the Heisman Trophy.
Family shot with Coach!
Me with the mounted longhorn in Mack's office.
Coach Brown and I.
After the tour we were given an even more in depth tour. There is so much I saw that I can't fit it all in the blog, but I will share some of my favorite parts.
There was a wall full of magazine covers with Texas players. The one with Colt caught my eye immediately.
There was a wall with all of the NFL franchise helmets that have Texas players playing for them. It was pretty cool to see the number of professionals that the University of Texas' football program produces.
Just another picture of my boy (:
The film room was set up just like a classroom, but the seats are much better than any classroom. They are leather with longhorns embroidered on them.
The last thing we saw on our tour was the horns that the players touch before they go out on the field.
Greg also got to hand out lanyards to all of the players as they left the locker room. It was pretty cool.
Later that night we got to eat dinner with the players. They had a huge pasta bar and a bunch of other dishes. Man, those guys can eat. After dinner, we took a picture with Case McCoy; it may have been my absolute favorite part of the weekend.
On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to head to the football game against Texas Tech.
We got to go onto the field!
The players were warming up right in front of us. We were close enough to touch them.
BEVO!
Halftime! We were killing it!
We won! 52-20 Eat it Tech!
After the game we went to Chuy's for some real Tex-Mex food!
I ordered the quesidillas.
My dad ordered an enchilada type thing. I can't remember exactly what it is called, but it's a Chuy's classic.
The tower on campus lights up orange after every football win, so we had to take a picture in front of it!
The last thing we did on Saturday night was go to Amy's Ice Cream. I got the cop flavor; it was a coffee flavored ice cream with pieces of doughts in it. It was delicious.
On Sunday, we headed home, but we had a few more things to eat before we got on the plane.
For breakfast I had french toast at a little cafe near the hotel.
Next we went to a little cupcake place because I love cupcakes.
I got the lemon flavor.
My brother got the chocolate on chocolate.
My mom got the red velvet with cream cheese icing.
And last but not least, my dad got the pumpkin spiced cupcake.
We had lunch at the airport, and I had to get Tex Mex one last time. I got the nachos, and they were good!
