My best friend Tracy is not an average bride, and I mean this in the best way. She is constantly trying to make everyone’s lives easier and better (not only when she is a bride), but we really wanted to make her bachelorette weekend special, because she makes all of our lives special pretty much all of the time. She’s also not the average bride in that she would never want us in matching swimsuits or donning flower crowns for a photo op (NOTHING wrong with this – just not her style). I was nervous to even pack a veil or sash, because I knew she wouldn’t want to be the center of attention, even though she deserves all the free drinks and attention!
As co-maid of honor I tried to plan a bachelorette weekend in Austin that would match her non-center of attention vibe. Her only request was that we spend an afternoon on a boat, and of course days before we all flew down, our boat cancelled due to extreme flooding in the Austin area. I was likely way more upset than her, because I wanted this weekend to be perfect – and in the end it kind of was!
Friday
· Hillside Farmacy– We sent the bride and some of the other bridesmaids to this cute lunch spot which is conveniently across the street from Juana Taco – a bar with excellent margaritas. This kept her occupied while we did a grocery store and liquor store run and decorated the Airbnb.
· Urban Axes Austin- From 5:00 to 7:30 we went to Urban Axes – a BYOB axe throwing establishment. We packed up a little cooler and spent a few hours laughing so hard from how bad (and how good) some of us were at this activity. The staff here was great and kept the whole activity really entertaining and creating a tournament for us.
· Black’s BBQ– There was a short line at this place but definitely no longer than 15 minutes. We got here around 8 PM and all ordered bbq and sides to share on one of their long picnic tables. Absolutely do NOT skip the mac and cheese. There are a lot of great bbq places in Austin, this one was fantastic, but you are guaranteed to find a good one close to where you are staying or going out.
· Rainey Street Bars - The first night we pretty much exclusively spent time at the Container Bar– a bar made entirely out of shipping containers. The music was exactly what we needed – AKA top hits from the 2010s we could sing along to. Rainey Street in general is chock full of options you can just walk up and down the street and choose somewhere new.
Saturday
· Torchy’s Taco’s -The bride’s sister and other MOH had been to Austin earlier in the year for a 30thbirthday weekend and recommended we get these for breakfast. We ordered fried avocado tacos, bacon, egg and cheese tacos and potato, egg and cheese tacos. This was a fantastic choice because not only were they delicious but it gave us the time to get ready slowly and enjoy breakfast at our leisure.
· JW Marriott- I was devastated that we couldn’t accommodate the bride’s only request and take a boat out so I tried to recreate the “chill by the water” plan by booking a cabana at this hotel rooftop pool. This ended up being so fun – the cabana was gorgeous and fully stocked with a huge T.V., speakers, plenty of comfy lounge furniture and a very instagrammable wall. The pool was beautiful and we had a gorgeous view of Austin. The drinks were so delicious (get the Texas sipper) and we even ordered food from the hotel restaurant up to our cabana. We took full advantage of our cabana rental and spent from 11 AM to 5 PM there. If you’re in Austin during the week, there are plenty of rooftop pools you can get a day pass too.Given that it was a Saturday, the JW Marriott was one of our only options, but it was a great one.
· Grizzelda’s– We had a late reservation at Grizzelda’s for dinner and it was a really cute spot – full of quirky décor details. The cocktails had fun names like “Queen Bey” and some drinks were served in a disco ball.
· Icenhauers and The Lustre Pearl - Both back on Rainey Street, these two bars were a hit. Icenhauers had a cocktail menu with every popular girls name from the 90’s. I was obviously partial to the Emily. The Lustre Pearl down the street had a great backyard with cornhole and hula hoops. This was an awesome spot and we ended up staying there til close!
Sunday
· Bangers– This was probably my favorite spot in Austin. A full backyard stocked with picnic tables, a live band and 100 beers on tap, there was nothing I didn’t love about this spot. The service was so friendly and we ended up enjoying a late, boozy brunch here. The man-mosas, were a hit, a full bottle of champagne and OJ poured into a beer stein that was Oktoberfest sized.
· I love you so much mural – We took our obligatory mural pics here and got coffee at Jo’swhich is what the mural was painted on. The pics were adorable and the coffee was delicious. The Belgian Bomber was one of the best iced coffees I’ve ever had.
· South Congress and the Yeti bar– We stopped at a few adorable boutiques on South Congress before stopping for a cold one at the Yeti Flagship store. This was a unique vibe- half store and half very cheap very nice outdoor bar. Coming from NYC, buying a cider for $3.00 was a nice surprise.
· Lingerie before the Launderette- As I said before Tracy is an amazing friend to all of us so we wanted to do something nice for her. The bridal party all brought a lingerie set to give her on the last night since and we had a great time gifting the sets and getting glammed up for our last night.
· Launderette- This was probably my favorite dinner and it was an ideal spot for a bachelorette group. There was a lazy susan in our circular table that allowed us to share everything we ordered. The food was incredible and our waitress even offered us special pink shots. The vibe here was classy and cute and it used to be a Laundromat! We played a fun Tracy Trivia game at dinner which revealed some hilarious high school and college stories.
Trace invited friends from all over the country so I actually ended up making a wixsite after a suggestion from a co-worker and it kept us all pretty organized. Check it out here.