My First TR: 21 Flights in 28 Days

[QF WP]

Looking forward to the next installment already after catching up on the thread.

 

[TomVexille]

Keep up the great work

 

[exceladdict]

Fort Worth Day Five:


Day five started the same, we were very happy the coffee shop still opened at 7 on a Sunday. Despite the weather, I spent most of the day on the road exploring the wider area. I stopped by the third biggest church in America and despite bracing myself, I was still stunned by its size. After that, I continued to a mall so big it has it's own Legoland, Aquarium and Carousel in the food court:








I went to a Bose Factory Outlet and considered buying some QC20's for $220 (US) but decided to hold off - which was a major regret as they would turn out to be closed the next two days when we went back there. After this I returned home in extremely heavy rain that was a little scary to drive in. I had Mexican for a late lunch.




Shortly after we found out there was a huge storm approaching the next day. Our flight was cancelled, all details disappeared off of our record locator on AA.com and on trying to call AA, we got a pre-recorded message that wouldn't even let us go on hold to talk to an agent.


There was nothing we could do, so we had pizza for dinner at the Brew Pub at the end of the street and called it a night.

 

[exceladdict]

Fort Worth Day Six:


Our flight would eventually be delayed to 2pm the next day, meaning an extra day in Fort Worth and one less at our next destination. We had two consecutive AirBnB bookings, and our hosts agreed to extend/reduce the relevant bookings ultimately resulting in a reduced cost to us as Fort Worth was a little cheaper per night. Our car rental was only $25 to extend for an extra 27 hours (must have hit a weekly rate) and the rebooked AA flight got bumped into Y class, doubling the SC earn


Avoca was open for coffee but their food was not delivered for the day, so we had to go looking hard for somewhere to eat and ended up at the French Restaurant. I wish we'd taken a picture of the car before we de-iced it, it took me about half an hour to clear the windows. For breakfast/brunch, I had an omelette, my wife ordered an enchilada, which came out quite interestingly:




They came with 'salads' - which to me seemed like mixed lettuce from a salad bag, but was still surprisingly refreshing compared to the grease in our main meals:



We found another coffee place - Buon Giorno - which had a really cool game to play:




We then drove out to the grapevine mall for more shopping. It was about a 45 minute drive on the icy roads. Given the cold weather, and anticipating more, I bought a great coat but the mall closed really early at around 4pm (it would normally be open till 9.30 - and the bose store was closed altogether) so we headed back, and we were glad we did when we did. The ice kept falling and the roads kept getting worse, so much so a bunch of highways were closed due to crashes, and a bus spun out and took to 'perpendicular parking' across a local road, blocking off a whole direction of traffic.


After driving past about six restaurants that were all closed, we found the 'Bearded Lady', and we are so glad we did as not only did we try something different, but it was awesome. We both got varieties of the 'Build your own damn burger' - I had bacon mac cheese on side, my wife had deep fried leek (a nice twist on onion rings).





We then returned to the house to do a load of washing and pack ready to go the following morning. Ultimately I was quite glad we got an extra day in Fort Worth as it gave my wife a bit more chance to see the town.

 

[exceladdict]

Leaving Fort Worth: Day Seven


The sleet had stopped falling so the roads today were much better, though the temperature didn't rise:




With our flight looking fine, we loaded up the car and said goodbye to our first AirBnB room. We went for a final breakfast at Brewed - waffles with in my case, fried chicken; in my wife's, bacon and blueberry compote.






Coffees were well decorated too.



We made a final drive through the huge turnpikes to firstly drop off our bags for check in at DFW Terminal D, rather than leave our bags in the car for a few hours while we shopped.



We returned to Grapevine Mills for a few more hours of shopping, and found some cool things at the outlets again. Unfortunately the Bose store was again closed. Had to stick with the over-ear QC15s for now.

On the topic of this mall - if you're stopping over at DFW and don't want to go all the way into either Dallas or Fort Worth, the mall is pretty decent and would be a good place to stretch your legs and do a bit of shopping. There's also some major-chain accommodation nearby which would be good for overnighting it.


We then drove back down and filled up the tank at a Shell near the rental car facility. That place must get a LOT of business. Dropping the car back to Avis was a breeze, before a quick bus back to the terminal.


All up - Fort worth was amazing, I'd put it up there (if not at the top) on my places to consider living overseas. Would strongly recommend a 2+ day stopover if you have time to kill, especially if flying through DFW. I enjoyed it much more than I did Dallas the year previous.


Next up: DFW, Terminal D AC, and AA1365 to AUS


Other anecdotes:
- There's four pickups (utes) for every one sedan on the roads.
- There's ten empty pickups for every one that actually has something in the tray.
- Turning right on a red is terrifying at first and addictive after a short while.

 

[JohnSydney2000]

Can some one explain why american bread tastes terrible... Been 4 times and it is terrible all over country!
Breakfast in motels

Very high sugar content - probably added high fructose corn syrup.

 

[JohnSydney2000]

Really enjoying the trip report and photos. Thank you so kindly for taking the time to post.
I had a few hours in DFW in transit yesterday. It included a visit to the Admirals Club in Terminal A near gate A23. It is the only lounge in the known AA universe that has a mini-gym, including a treadmill!! Happy Travels. John.

 

[exceladdict]

Really enjoying the trip report and photos. Thank you so kindly for taking the time to post.
I had a few hours in DFW in transit yesterday. It included a visit to the Admirals Club in Terminal A near gate A23. It is the only lounge in the known AA universe that has a mini-gym, including a treadmill!! Happy Travels. John.

Thanks John, a photo of that exact treadmill coming up in a few days!

I just had half an hour there and have since been sitting on the runway for almost two waiting for de-icing before take off. The joys of travelling in winter!

 

[amaroo]

We really enjoyed Dallas and Fort Worth .... would happily return for another visit.

Terrific photos!

 

[l31gh]

Great report, really enjoying it!

 

[Valeriexray]

Hi exceladdict. You are doing well driving on icy roads. I did a lot of that sort of driving in Ireland at one time. Enjoying the comments and the pics. Will continue to follow your trip best wishes Valeriexray

 

[exceladdict]

Thanks all for the kind words. Sorry that it's slowed down a bit, I've got a bit of catching up to do! Let's get started:

12: DFW Terminal D & AA1365 to AUS


We arrived at DFW Terminal D about an hour and a half prior to the flight so had a bit of time to kill. Having already checked in, we made our way to security and found there was no DYKWIA premium line, only a General and First Class. I was surprised by this given it's a major AA/OW terminal. Thankfully, there was no line anyway so we made it through shortly.


On the other side of security, I stubbed my toe really badly just before putting my boots back on, which hampered my movement around the terminal a bit. We got a quick bite to eat before heading up to the AC, one of two in DFW Terminal D. I liked the entrance:




Lounge Dragon was in a foul mood but did not complain. Seemed like he resented OW Pax using the lounge, surprising given it wasn't full. Maybe I forgot to comb my hair?


Anyway, up the elevator to the lounge and in the main area there was a nice view of the tarmac:




There was not, however, much to eat. I couldn't even find the cereal, my wife had a chocolate cookie and some pretzels:

 

[exceladdict]

The club itself was nice and spacious and given it was a weekday, was full of business clientele.


I witnessed a man get told off by his boss for not working because he was 'on the work clock' despite being at the airport. I appreciated that there was a kids room given that at JFK there was a loud family seating near us (there was a kids room there too, but it was not used).


There were lots of business nooks, perhaps where that man was meant to be glued to his laptop.




We found a nice seating area and chilled for a while before heading to the gate which was not too far away.

 

[exceladdict]

AA1365 DFW-AUS, Y, 13A/B, 737-8

The flight itself was jam-packed full. We boarded straight away with our Priority AAccess but I was promptly joined in my seat by someone who claimed the armrest and then some. Unfortunately the only avaialble seats together were 13A/B, which were in front of the exit row so did not recline. 1/5 would not recommend. No upgrades were available on the flight either, probably due to it being so busy.


On our way to the runway - which always seems to take ages at DFW - we raced a little MD80 and won (or more likely, ATC decided in our favor).




The time in the air was brief at 37 minutes and the landing in to Austin was ok. Pulling in to our gate, it was cool to see a US Airways plane painted in the retro America West livery. Unlikely to ever see one of these again.





Next up: Adventures in Austin!

 

[exceladdict]

13: Three nights in Austin


So we finally made it to Austin, 'The Music Capitol of the World'. We went through to baggage claim to find our bags sitting in a taped off area - they had caught the previous flight in from Dallas. I was surprised, I thought that baggage could not fly without passengers being on the same plane?


A Cab to our AirBnB stay in East Austin was about $30 including tip. We were going to take a shot at using the buses, reports are the Metro Flyer is pretty convenient and very cheap, but we would have had to connect to another bus and didn't want to do it with baggage and my sore toe (thanks again, bench in DFW security).


We dropped off our bags and then went for a walk and found a nearby restaurant that had $1 beers - usual price, not even happy hour (which was on at the time). I like the trend of using Jars as water cups.




The restaurant/bar had a retro fashion, we liked the old-style furniture. Lots of condiments were for sale too.

 

[exceladdict]

My wife enjoyed oysters with I think cheese and breadcrumbs.




I had Mac Cheese with Brocolli which was nice, but very salty.




Couldn't say no to dessert, which was a blueberry-coated cheesecake,




and affogato.





We had a night in and had a great chat with our AirBnB host, I'm glad we included a few of these stays in our itinerary. Texas, in particular, seems to be a great place to get to know people.

 

[exceladdict]

Austin Day 2


Today was a bit of a late wake-up and we decided to start trying the food trucks - this time, for our morning coffee. Again, a relief to have a real espresso-machine and not burnt start to the day.



We then caught an uber (thanks for another free sign up bonus, UberCo) over to the Bullock Texas State History Museum. The museum was family-friendly but provided a nice high level overview of Texas as a Spanish/Mexican settlement called Tejas, then becoming an independent state, joining the US, joining the confederacy, rejoining the US, right through to the present.




Our uber drivers today were also really good to talk to and provided an insight into life in Texas (no state income tax? sounds good to me).


Also inside they were rebuilding a French ship, La Belle, as it is slowly excavated from the ocean.




We had breakfast/lunch at 'The Story of Texas Cafe' inside the museum. We weren't attracted by anything at the imax theatre there so we moved on to the Blanton Museum of Art, across the road. A few pieces we enjoyed:

 

[exceladdict]

A final few:




And I think this piece is the inspiration for the Big Day Out artwork from a few years back.

 

[exceladdict]

We then had a coffee at an underground cafe...



before waltzing to 'Tiff's Treats' which is a nice cookie/brownie place and caught an uber back to the place to rest for a few hours and play fluxx while eating the cookies & brownie. On recommendation from our AirBnB host we went to Micklethwait Craft Meats, a nearby food van for dinner.




These BBQ places cook a set portion of meat everyday and once it's gone, it's gone. By the time we arrived, the ribs were done for the day, but we still had a good choice - we tried the Beef & Pork Sausage, sliced pork shoulder, and barbacoa (shredded beef cheeks).




All is cooked onsite in an adjacent van. The whole set up is in a parking lot on the side of a road.

 

[exceladdict]

They also left us with a lovely parting message. I mean, the message wasn't for us specifically, but yeah.




To finish off the day we headed down to SoCo (South Congress) primarily to check out Uncommon Objects, a revered oddities store with a huge assortment of, well, uncommon objects. I bought a button from the Reagan Presidential Campaign. I would definitely recommend checking it out.



We then found Hey Cupcake:



And enjoyed 'The Standard': Vanilla Cake, Chocolate Buttercream Top. I'd say that Standard is underrating it for sure.




We had a good roam around SoCo and bought some cookies from a Girl Scout who was wheeling them around in a trailer, before catching an Uber back over the river to have a look for Gourdough's to grab a donut. Upon arrival we realised we weren't hungry (because of the cupcake) and decided instead to go for a walk up to the Capitol building. At night, it looked majestic:




Then it was time for bed so an uber took us back to our accommodation for a good night sleep before our last full day in Austin.