On The Road

Well, my two week vacation with Brain is drawing to a close. I leave for North Carolina tomorrow where I'll spend the next 4 days working in the ICU before beginning my new life as a full-time student in Winston Salem. Knowing that the next 2 years will be incredibly rewarding, yet wildly stressful, I've done everything in my power to make sure that these last couple of weeks were both relaxing and memorable.

Mission: Accomplished.

The majority of my time was spent with Brain at his house outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The past two weekends, however, we left the state in search of adventure... and a radio station that plays something other than Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley tunes. Because regaling you with stories from both trips would far exceed the length of a manageable post, I'll discuss our trip to Texas now and save our California adventures for later. Es okay?

First up: Austin, Texas...

Brain attended the University of Texas in Austin (Hook 'Em Horns!) and I've had to fight that town for his affections ever since. If you haven't been to Austin, you really must go. The music scene is unbeatable, the food is out of this world, and the offbeat locals ensure that your stay will be unique! We stayed at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, located in the heart of downtown, and enjoyed drinking our way through the city with the help of Brain's best friend, Joe, and his fiancée, Bethany. And, man, do I love me some Joe and Bethany!

Joe, Bethany, Awesome... err, I mean Amy, and Brain

As if that wasn't enough, Brain took me to dinner at his all-time favorite restaurant, Vespaio, which was out of this world. I also drank the best mojito ever created (made with Bacardi Dragon Berry rum and muddled strawberries!) at the South Congress Cafe. The following day, I treated Brain and his buddy to a Hey Cupcake! delicacy ("whipper snapped", of course). Diabetes, here I come!

Now don't be fooled... this trip wasn't just about imbibing with friends and consuming calorie-laden confections (it wasn't for Brain, anyway). For the past 2-or-so years, my boyfriend has spent a considerable amount of time researching his dream car: the Acura NSX. While deployed, he found the exact car he wanted and it just so happened to be located in Austin! So after spending some time with the current owners, Jose and Monica (side note: I'm really good at quickly identifying individuals that rock and I'm telling you, I want to stalk Jose and Monica, they are THAT AMAZING), we sped off to spend time with Brain's parents as well as my sister and her husband, all of whom live in Dallas.

Roxanne: The newest edition to the family

Jose had mentioned to Brain that I needn't worry about the car catching the eyes of women, stating "girls could care less about an NSX. It's 18 year-old boys who are going to gawk and stare... this this is a pedophile's dream!" After the 11 hour drive home to Nashville, I can assure you that Jose was 100% correct. Recent high school graduates struck up conversations about Roxanne at every gas station we stopped at. Grown men giggled and pointed as we passed them on the interstate. Heck, we even lost count of the number of people who took pictures with their camera phones as drove by. We were virtual celebrities! And gosh darn it, being a celebrity - virtual or otherwise - is fun.

Speaking of celebrities, stay turned for the next installment: Los Angeles!