We've now been living in Austin, Texas for just over 4 years. It's amazing how fast time flies. When we moved here, Kyle was only 1 year old, and Sara was only 3. (You can see pictures of our first visit to downtown Austin in 2008 here).
What's great about Austin, or any other big city as diverse as Austin, is that you are always discovering something new. Just a few weeks ago, we found out that there was a very nice lake about 15 minutes away from our house. I had no idea this place even existed until Christy discovered it while looking at a website called "Free Fun Austin".
Unlike Lake Travis, which everyone is familiar with, Lake Pflugerville seems to be hidden away, and can only be reached by driving deep in the countryside on those small farm roads. It has a nice, 3 mile walking trail around the lake, and a small, pebble beach area where people can swim. We've already been to this lake about half a dozen times, but I have yet to swim there. I'm one of those people who worry about bacteria levels in lakes like this, but I do always see lots of kids swimming there.
We also visited a restaurant recently called "Juan in a Million", a Mexican restaurant prominently featured on the cable television show "Man VS. Food." "Man VS Food" is a show about a guy named Adam Richman who goes to restaurants all over America, and challenges himself to eat enormous portions of food (a giant hamburger, a giant steak, a giant sandwich, etc.) Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes not. What's amazing is that this guy hasn't dropped dead from these challenges. He's not even obese (a bit chubby, though).
The challenge at Juan in a Million was to eat 8 "Don Juan" breakfast tacos. You can get an idea of just how big one is by looking at the picture below. Both Christy and I ordered one. She couldn't finish hers, and although I finished mine, I was full the entire day, and couldn't eat another bite until about 8 hours later. This guy from Man VS. Food managed to eat 5, although the record is 8. That's truly amazing, not to mention dangerous. As for the restaurant itself, it was okay. Nothing particularly special to me, so I don't really understand its popularity in Austin. It certainly wasn't the most delicious breakfast taco I've ever eaten. I could go on about the embarrassing nature of a show like "Man VS. Food" to the rest of the world, and how it stereotypes Americans as gluttonous slobs, but you can watch the YouTube video below and read the comments there. There are enough comments that reflect that already. Typical comment I see is "...meanwhile in Africa...."
I highly recommend to my fellow Austinites to visit Lake Pflugerville. And to anyone eating the Don Juan breakfast tacos, I also recommend the three mile walk around the lake after you're finished. :)
(Below: the "Man VS. Food" episode from Juan in a Million.
That park looks great! Glad you found it. Or your sweet wife found it. Nice place to take the kids.
ReplyDeleteThe breakfast taco challenge thing. gross! LOL
Thanks for posting again. I watch for your posts.
Such a show could not exist around here (meaning Scooterland, not here in Israel). A televised program about eating until one vomits would be as unusual to the Chinese as killing babies in the streets.
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