Wendy and I spent last weekend in Texas. Some of have commented as they followed my Foursquare and Facebook posts that it was obvious we had a host of travel problems, and that is true. The weekend was originally a two-client business trip. We had a two day project scheduled in the Dallas area followed by a Sunday morning presentation for another client in San Antonio. When the Dallas project was scuttled at the last minute, we were stuck with the flights we’d purchased and had little choice but to make the trip and enjoy a few days in Texas.

Friday we drove down to Austin to visit with my brother, Tim, who is living and working nearby. We arrived in the afternoon and went down to Austin’s famed 6th Street where we enjoyed a leisurely stroll. Even in the late afternoon the strip of pubs and bars was buzzing with activity. Texas’ roadhouse blues was pouring out of different establishments as we walked by. Wendy and I happened upon a great haberdashery called The Hatbox, and I felt compelled to support my desire to bring the hat back by purchasing a nice little brown pork pie to add to my small collection. We also found a little hole-in-the-wall cigar and coffee shop which hand rolled their own cigars, which was fun to watch (and I opted to support them as well). We also couldn’t pass “Shakespeare’s Pub” (Their motto: “Two beers? Or not Two Beers? That is the Question!” without stopping to enjoy some cold refreshment.

We met Tim at a great Tex-Mex place called Chuy’s and feasted while enjoying some catch up and great conversation. The food was gone but the conversation felt like it was just getting started, so we went next door to a mirco-brew called Uncle Billy’s. We sat out on the porch there and talked late into the night.

It was a pleasurable evening, but after that the trip quickly descended into travel hell. In Austin we were only an hour drive from Saturday’s destination in San Antonio, but we had plane tickets from Dallas to the Riverwalk city so we made the three hour drive back to Dallas in emerging thunderstorms. The storms wreaked havoc on all air travel in Texas and the DFW airport was shut down for periods of time that afternoon and evening. Long story short is that our 5 p.m. flight to San Antonio on United turned into a midnight flight to San Antonio on American. We got to bed about 2:00 a.m. before my 8:00 a.m. client presentation. Our trip home through Houston Intercontinental Airport was also delayed because of weather and in stead of getting home at 6:00 on Sunday evening it was after midnight.

Despite the time in travel purgatory, Wendy and I loved the time in Austin with Tim and look forward to a return trip when we can spend more time exploring all the town has to offer.