5/12/2022 – 5/22/2022
I hung out with Steve until Billy flew in on the 12th. After getting settled Steve drove us around and took us to The Yard Milkshake Bar. This place has some crazy shakes. Billy had a strawberry cheesecake shake and I had a pint sized chocolate shake. They had a bunch of other random shakes too.
I was stuffed after that so we went to Grandscape at The Colony. This is a big outdoor mall/event center. They had this huge indoor go cart track and arcade called Andretti Karting and Games. We walked around digesting our ice cream and checked the place out. They had one of the largest furniture stores in the country probably. The showroom is 560,000 sq ft. There was also a Scheels for those of you back home.
We decided to get a drink at Union Bear Brewing Co. that was in the area too. They were out of a couple of the beers that I wanted to try, but the waitress gave me a free t-shirt.
The next few days we kinda bummed around. Steve and Billy had to work so we didn’t do much. On the 14th Steve went to watch a PGA tournament so Billy and I went to get Chinese food, find a board game store, and go to Nerdvana. The store we found, Madness Games & Comics, was probably the biggest and most well stocked game store that I’ve ever been to. Of course they didn’t have the couple of games I was looking for. We hung out there for a couple hours then went to Nerdvana. This is a restaurant that has video games at the tables, shows E-Sports on the TV’s, and has board games to play. They only ask that you spend at least $10.
On Sunday, Steve and Billy went to church and I got to sleep in. I met up with them for brunch at DJ’s Steakhouse. Steve and his wife Aisha invited a bunch of their friends and relatives to meet us too. I had the catfish and pretty much everyone else had the chicken and waffles. The food was really good, but it was a pricey steakhouse. After brunch we went to The Daiquiri Shoppe. I haven’t seen these places outside of the deep South. They serve primarily daiquiri’s. They have some food, but I didn’t see anyone eating. They had a DJ and everyone was getting loaded off frozen drinks.
After that we went to the Concrete Cowboy at The Star. The Star is where the Cowboys training center is and there are a bunch of restaurants, bars, and shops. The service at the bar was terrible. We waited at least a half hour for our waitress to come to our table for our drink order. We watched the basketball game and took off after that.
On the 16th and 17th, Billy and I went to a couple of fast food places that he’d never been and Steve took us out for BBQ. On the 18th Steve had to work again so Billy and I went to a couple of computer stores that Fargo doesn’t have and went to the Brass Tap for lunch. That evening we went to CiCi’s for supper, said our goodbyes to Steve and Aisha, then went to a hotel. Steve was flying out early in the morning so we figured it would be easier to get a hotel so we could get out of their hair. Billy flew out on the 19th and I hung out at the hotel and went to a mall to get some exercise.
On the 20th I drove back down to Austin so i could fill up my brewery card a bit more. Before I left I went to check out the Grapevine Main Street Festival. I thought it started at noon, but it didn’t until five. I was able to get in for free at least. They were setting everything up and it was very similar to the Fargo Street Fair.
I forgot this is where the Warhammer Citadel is. I stopped here the last time I was in Dallas. They had some different things on display this time.
When I got down to Austin I first stopped at Infamous Brewing Company. They had a band playing 70’s rock that was pretty good. The beer was good too. This place was very in the boat and car racing scene and for some reason, they had a Louis Vuitton MP5 on the wall.
Next I went to the Oasis Texas Brewing Company. The beer was ok, but the view was spectacular. The Oasis is a bunch of shops and restaurants sitting on a cliff that overlooks Lake Travis. If you are ever in Austin I highly recommend visiting here. It was so nice I had to come back the next day to take some more pics.
The 21st is when I really hit my stride on the brewery tour. I started at Frontyard Brewing. This was a beautiful location on the top of a hill. They had a winery and food trucks on site. They also had pickleball courts that a tournament was being played at.
My next stop was Family Business Beer Company. They had probably the best beers of the day. There was a guy singing the Blues and playing guitar that was good too.
Next was 12 Fox Beer Co. This was a neat location and I chatted up some locals.
Treaty Oak Distilling was the next on the list. I didn’t expect them to brew beer here. There was another band playing and I took off fairly quickly.
The next stop was Fitzhugh Brewing. They had a lot of traditional style beers here.
The last stop for the day was at Twisted X Brewing Company. This was a nice venue with a campground on site. The beer I had was so bad that I couldn’t even drink it.
On the 22nd I was kind of burned out on breweries. The temp was nice so I went looking for a frolf course. The one that I found of course had a tournament going on so they were closed. I found a little course that was close that was actually at a brewery that was on my card, Live Oak Brewing Company. I decided to try it out. It was a fun 13 hole course that wasn’t very difficult. I was worried about the poison oak, but I managed to stay clear of it. I was drenched after I played all 13 holes and sent in for a glass of water and my free beer. The beer was good, they had anime on the projector, and they had a frolf shop on site.
