Gunternation

Sunny skies, an American Flag, a row of pickups, and a Whataburger sign–yeah, we definitely were not in Ireland!

Since the car rental desk was closed when we arrived (at 3:30AM), we had to do something we’ve never done before–take a taxi to Walmart (to visit the car rental office inside).

We had gorgeous weather for our visit to Austin. We saw 80°F for the first time in 2008. By the end of the week it was sleeting, but that’s just Texas. I was so happy to be back in an automobile, automobiling myself through the wide streets to wonderful restaurants and all my favorite shops. I ♥ Target and ♥♥♥ Central Market. And it was great to see so many friends–very refreshing to our souls! You were all so kind to accompany us to so many fine eating establishments, and to hang out at the Hannum’s and the coffee shop.

We left with our suitcases crammed full of many goods, including ranch dressing, canned pumpkin, canned chiles and jalapenos, salsa, grits, masa, chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate, cajeta, corn husks, english muffins, Hot Apple Pie Jam, pecans, Better than Bouillon, and Press’n Seal. We also significantly revamped our wardrobes from the shoes and socks on up.

It was a treat to have this trip to to visit Indiana and Austin. It felt great to be home, but we’re looking forward to the next year in Dublin as well. But we do miss home, especially Central Market.

Some things on the list for next time:

• BBQ in the Hill Country
• a burger at Dan’s
• gelato at Teo
• Kim Phung
• a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse

Til then! Good-bye, friendly State.

We were going to be in Austin for 9.5 days, which sounds like plenty of time to eat, but the list of Austin deliciousness is long, and we knew we’d have to make some tough culinary choices. What follows doesn’t necessarily represent the finest dining options in Austin, but it’s a good prescription for a serious tex-mex/BBQ jones. Listed in order of consumption:

1. Whataburger: Burgers with large, icy Diet Dr. Peppers. Bill kept saying, “This is a proper burger.”
2. Chuy’s: Texas Martinis, jalapeno ranch, steak burrito and chicka chicka boom boom enchiladas. Not only as good as we remembered, it was way better.
3. Sonic: Morning snack of cheese tots and a Route 44 vanilla Diet Coke
4. Texadelphia: Chicken Texican and Steak Texican, icy tea and Diet Coke
5. Korea House: Spicy Tuna and Alaska roll, bi bim bap and pork bulgogi
6. Jim’s: huevos rancheros with refried beans, potatoes and tortillas
7. Schlotzsky’s: roast beef on jalapeno cheese bread, icy diet coke with lemon
8. Culver’s: afternoon chocolate malt
9. Rudy’s: extra moist brisket, a whole hottie (jalepeno sausage), beans, and, oh yes! the creamed corn, icy Diet Coke
10. Jardin Carona: breakfast tacos–bacon, egg, potato and cheese & bean and cheese. We really need to import these things to Ireland.
11. Hyde Park Grill: Chicken Bacon and Guacamole with famous fries, and hibiscus tea. Real bacon!
12. Manuel’s: Queso, chicken mole enchiladas and tangy frozen margaritas
13. Galaxy Cafe: sweet potato fries, caesar salad, and fried fish wrap
14. Pok-E-Jo’s: turkey, chicken, and sausage, with potato casserole and pintos, icy Diet Coke with lemon
15. Kerbey Lane (original location): Eggs Francisco with a short stack of one pumpkin and one gingerbread pancake–a perfect combination
16. Einstein’s: pumpkin and power bagels
17. Jardin Carona: beef fajita nortena and jardin platter (taco, tostada & enchilada), icy Diet Coke
18. Kerbey Lane (new location): Kerbey Queso, lamb stew and a trio of mini-burgers: lamb, elk, and buffalo with hibiscus tea
19. Reale’s: a roasted pie, ala Reale’s with house salads–again, better than we could even remember!
20. Arby’s: roast beef sandwich with plenty of horsey sauce and a jamocha shake
21. Chipotle: steak burrito and carnitas & barbacoa tacos, icy tea and Diet Coke. Chipotle is opening a location in London, so there is hope for Dublin.
22. Austin Airport: breakfast tacos from Maudie’s and an Amy’s mexican vanilla shake. Our last tastes of Texas for a while.

Good eating: (top row, l-r) a plentiful serving of Diet Dr. Pepper, Chuy’s steak burrito, detail of Bi Bim Bap, (row 2) a man and his malt, Korea House sushi rolls, breakfast tacos, (row 3) Rudy’s fest, half chicken/half steak Texadelphia, sublime Kerbey Queso, eating a southwest tortilla in the Central Market parking lot, (row 3) Chicken Guac with Bacon and Hyde Park fries, two meat plate at Pok-E-Jo’s, short stack with Eggs Francisco, banchan at Korea House, sweet potato fries at Galaxy Cafe

As Bill and I researched the process to renew our work permits, we learned we needed to return to our home country to submit applications for new permits. Or Bill did at least. Anyway, it’s more complicated than I care to get into. The important part is we were headed for the US. We wanted to start the application process as soon as possible, so we planned the trip for the earliest gap in our travel and B&B guest schedule, November 29.

Bill needed to work while in the US, so we would be spending our time in Austin, but we decided to make one stop on the way to visit friends and a beagle in Indiana. Since we were so close to Thanksgiving, the Bockelmans graciously offered to hold Thanksgiving dinner until we arrived on Saturday. We were thrilled at the opportunity for a proper Thanksgiving dinner, even if it would be around midnight body clock time. I do miss Thanksgiving. I miss having a holiday day oriented around a special meal, a meal made special by the preparation and participation of friends and family. I like that Thanksgiving has a built-in recovery day, and that Thanksgiving starts the month countdown to Christmas. Many Irish folks have asked us if Thanksgiving is bigger than Christmas. Ever heard of Thanksgiving presents, Thanksgiving cards, Thanksgiving parties, Thanksgiving tree? That’s right. Christmas is way bigger, but Thanksgiving is pretty great.

We arrived in Ft. Wayne around 5:30 on Saturday and were met by the Bocks and both sets of their parents. Tob seemed a little overwhelmed by it all, but she was pretty much like our old girl. She seems integrated into life with the Bockelmans, and that was really good for me to see. Trevor is a great buddy. Hopefully Tob will get along with the baby!

Our meal was wonderful with two kinds of sweet potatoes, can-shaped cranberry sauce and everything delicious. I think Bill and I stayed up til around 10 (4AM body clock). It was great hanging with the Bocks and seeing their new home. Sunday morning we awoke to snowy skies. By the time we set out for church we were in a winter wonderland. A treat for these Southerners. Also, nice because the streets stayed fairly clear and we didn’t have any trouble with the drive back to Chicago that afternoon. The weather deteriorated that evening, and our flight was delayed for five hours out of O’Hare. I hadn’t put together that we were flying on a busy holiday travel day. After 2.5 hours sitting on the tarmac, we left Chicago at 1:00AM and arrived in Austin at 3:30. It was totally worth it.

We gave Lisa and Kurt a special tour of all the cold and muddy places in Ireland. When Lisa queried me on appropriate attire to bring, I gave her my stock answer–Bring layers. You never know when a warmish sun will succumb to melted iceberg. Luckily they took my suggestion extremely seriously and brought long johns and ear muffs, because our scenic trip through the Wicklow Mountains exposed us to some bitterly cold winds, and the coastal town of Carlingford was windswept as well. In addition to being cold, the Wicklow Mountains were muddy, as was the beach at Clogherhead.

The tide was out farther than we visited Clogherhead last Spring, so we could explore more of the rock formations.

Luckily we did get out of the wind from time to time to seek refreshment. And Bill did feed us a bit. You can read an account of our breakfast at Lisa is Cooking.

November 21, 2008 was the day of Lisa’s first breath ever of Irish air, although Kurt had visited the Emerald Isle once as a boy. Now, we hail from the great state of Texas, mind you, so we were taken aback by the smallness of everything we saw. The cars were all tiny, little things. We didn’t spy a single pick-up our entire time there. How can that be? And, the streets were so skinny. Those narrow lanes would spell trouble for a couple F-350’s facing off and driving the wrong way to boot. That backwards, left lane driving was as foreign as can be. We just had to shut our eyes.

It wasn’t just the cars and roads that are smaller either. Those elfin kitchens they have over there might be fine for a rumpus room, but you sure can’t put your Costco haul away in those. The elevators were awfully snug too. And, how about those drink sizes? Do they know how large a drink we usually get at restaurants back home?

Well, we realized that us Texans are just used to things being bigger, and then it dawned on us–all this small stuff had to be because of the leprechauns. Of course! We didn’t spot a single one of them while we were there, but their influence sure was felt everywhere we went.

Blip bleep blick beerp woooop Wait, we’re not quite that Texan. Here’s what really happened:

We had a fantastic time in Dublin and surrounding areas. Many thanks to Bill and Sharon for such generous hospitality and great site seeing tours. Our day at Glendalough, starting with a delicious picnic, was filled with amazing views and a nice walk around the lakes. Our next day included a very nice drive north along the coast road to Carlingford with a stop in scenic Clogherhead. Delicious meals were devoured each day including fish and chips, the picnic mentioned above, a lovely dinner in Howth, an amazing Irish breakfast by Bill, and a pub meal in Carlingford. We had a really great time, and we can highly recommend Chez Gunter for any Ireland-bound, future travelers.