Austin, nice to meet you: week 2

Friday is for New Finds will be consumed with learning Austin for the foreseeable future.

Come along, y'all! It's gonna be fun!

[picking up where I left off last week]

4.  Paramount Theater , Congress Ave. (aka, "Austin's only movie palace")

Friends offered two of their extra tickets to one of the closing films of the summer film festival, Lawrence of Arabia.  I have never had the privilege of watching this film in the 70mm projection format and what a, well, huge difference!  We enjoyed every moment of this 227-minute(!) epic.  From the time we chose our seats in the beautifully maintained glamour of an old-timey movie house, waiting for the massive red velvet curtains to  pull back for the opening credits through the intermission and to the very end, this was a beautiful experience.  Thank you, Mark & Terri!

Oh, I almost forgot another delightful tidbit.  When we pulled up to the theater (husbands kindly dropping off before going around the corner to find parking), we were greeted by these two lovely little hosts (hostesses?)

Really, how can you beat this for a Saturday night?

5.  Z'Tejas Southwestern Grill, 6th Avenue

Wednesday afternoon my new friend Karen picked me up and whisked me downtown for a delicious, semi-indulgent mid-afternoon lunch.  I say, indulgent, because I added a margarita to my order.  (please don't tell my kids.  they're teasing me enough about being a stay-at-home-mom now without them knowing I've been taking to drink by lunchtime!)

this picture was actually taken when we were done eating;
 notice how I cleverly placed my mostly-empty margarita glass in front of Karen.

I ordered a spinach and mushroom enchilada (plus that margarita) and loved every bit I could handle after splurging on the tortilla chips, homemade fresh guacamole, salsa and warm cornbread. Delicious!  

Speaking of fresh guacamole, they actually brought the raw ingredients to the table and made it to order right in front of us.  

6.  Central Market, North Lamar


I spent a breezy Thursday morning sitting in the outdoor courtyard.  I did a little bit of shopping (fresh blueberries? yes, please!)  but mostly I sat outside close enough to the bustling children's playground to hear the happy buzz of children playing, but far enough to feel a sense of solitude.  Add to that a tasty breakfast taco, perfectly brewed cup of Texas Pecan coffee and free wi-fi were the perfect ingredients for a mid-week recharge and inspiration to write a poem.  I'm definitely going to make this a regular downtown writing spot.


Looking forward to a new week of discovering Austin!