#107 Go to a Dive Bar

Yep, it used to be an old church! Courtesy: myspace.com/littlelonghornsaloon

When I say “dive bar”, I mean your hole-in-the-wall, only serves beer and the lead singer of the band is pushin’ 80 kind of bar! It’s always a good time to hit up the trendy places like 6th street, especially the West 6th area, but every now and then being able to go to a place where you can enjoy a beer and laugh at the fact that the bartender looks like your grandma is definitely a good time, too!

A couple of weekends ago, we decided to try Burnet Road where we visited Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon and Lala’s. First of all, Ginny’s is a small honky tonk bar at 5434 Burnet Road and was owned by a husband a wife team. Don Kalmbach passed away in September 2002, according to their website, leaving the little bar to be run by the witty Ginny herself.  There’s never a cover here and they have Domino Night on Mondays. You can hear all kinds of country/ southern rock artists at the saloon most nights starting around 9, except for Sundays where bands play from 4-8pm.

#106 Grow a garden

In an ideal world, I would be eating off a garden I’d be tending. Perhaps this would entail me to live far away from the city, in a ranch or townhouse that has enough land to grow different types of foods. Maybe I would have to live a country-side style of life where I would devote my entire day to nurturing nature. But my feet on the ground tell me that in reality I wouldn’t be able to live this way, I’m very much a city girl so I wish I could find a middle-ground.

My favorite seasoning: cilantro. Photo by Michael Lehet under Creative Commons License.

A garden with tomatoes, onions, celery, cilantro, parsley, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, and rice is all I ask for. With strawberries, apples, oranges and bananas, that can’t be too difficult right? Perhaps they might be a little too much, but these or any other fruits and vegetables would suffice, as long as I could in fact live off the fat of the land.

#105 Try to Two-Step

I cannot believe I haven’t done this one yet! This is probably one of my favorite things to do and will never say no if someone asks me to go. I am definitely not a pro or anything, but I just love to two-step, waltz, half-step; you name it, I’ll TRY it!

My roommate teaching an out-of-towner to Two-Step

This is one of those dances that I think every true Texan, or visitor to Texas, should try at least once to say that they did it. And you have to get the full effect of going to a honky tonk bar with lots of smoke and you must have a beer, I’d recommend Bud Light! (My beer of choice.)

I already did a blog about two-stepping for an earlier class project because I am just a big supporter! I know a lot of people do not know how, but it’s really pretty easy. Keep reading to watch a video I found a while back to help teach the basic two-step.

#104 Watch a Sunrise/Sunset

View of the sunset at a friend's ranch near Gatesville

You all know the sayings, “stop and smell the roses” and “enjoy the simple things in life.” Well, even though our blog has had many suggestions of adventurous and extreme activities, some of the most enjoyable and essential things in life are the simple things. When was the last time you just sat and watched the sunrise or sunset? If it’s been awhile, take advantage of the autumnal skies to soak in a beautiful sunrise (if you’re an early riser) or sunset.

Best places in and around Austin to watch the sunrise/sunset: