Weekend on the Water (and with Harry Potter ;)

SUCH a great weekend!  Our friends Avery and Luke were in town so I got to play hostess J.  This was amazing for two reasons; One- I LOVE LOVE LOVE when people come visit and entertaining (hint to anyone reading this!) and Two- it forced me to get unpacked last week ;)  They didn’t come in until Saturday so Friday night I convinced Patrick to go see the final Harry Potter with me - such a good fiancé! ;) It was a little easier to twist his arm, however, when I explained that we’d be seeing the show at the Alamo Draft house.  The Alamo is a chain of movie theaters in Austin that double as a bar/restaurant.  Between each row of theater seats is an aisle for servers to move between and in front of the seats is a wooden counter/bar.  So before and throughout the movie, you can order whatever drinks you’d like from their full service bar and/or food from their pretty extensive menu!  For some of the bigger movies (like Harry) they even have special event menus with food and drink items associated with the film – yes they were serving Butterbeer!  Check out the menu on the link below to see.  Once Patrick realized he could eat and drink beer while watching, it wasn’t too difficult to convince him to go with me. 

http://drafthouse.com/austin/south_lamar/Lamar_our_chef_menu/

Saturday we went with Luke, Avery and another couple Kacey and Kyle to kayak on Lady Bird Lake.  This is not an actual lake, but a huge river that runs through the middle of the city and extending outward from the middle of downtown.  There are several entry points to the water at which you can rent kayaks, paddle boats, or paddle boards.  $15 will get you a kayak for two for an hour and you can bring your own cooler as well if you so choose.  We ended up spending two hours paddling down the river and looking at the magnificent houses boarding it, sometimes getting a great arm workout, sometimes just floating along.  There are rope swings and little cliffs you can kayak out to and play on as well.  The best part is that there are literally people out enjoying this aspect of Austin All. The. Time.  Seriously, anytime you drive over the bridge into the city you will always see people out taking advantage of the gorgeous scenery and jumping in the water to cool off. 

After the lake, we went out to dinner and hit up several bars downtown.  The best thing about the nightlife in Austin is the abundance of rooftop bars and patios and naturally, the weather that allows you to enjoy them.  It’s definitely hot during the day, but the lack of humidity at night means that after dark, it’s perfect weather to enjoy being outside while out with friends.  Sunday we walked to brunch, discovered an old fashioned candy/soda shop with a generous serving ice cream for $2.17 (also within walking distance), and headed to Barton Springs for a little more sun and cooling off in the water (which is chilly!).  Grilling out that night was the end to a perfect weekend.  I made some (pretty amazing) white sangria too, recipe is below if interested. 

1 bottle of White Wine (Pinot Grigio)

½ C. Peach Schnapps

¼ C. Sugar

¼ C. Sprite

¼ C. Vodka

Cut up mango, peaches, and half grapes.

Prep: Stir all ingredients together, toss in fruit and let chill for several hours or overnight.  Add additional sprite or vodka/water to taste (depending on how strong or how sweet you like your sangria).  Serve over ice… and enjoy the fruit!