This week was spring break in Austin. The schools plan it around SXSW so that people can get away from town if they want to, and I wanted to.
But Hannah, it's your first time in Austin for SXSW. Don't you want to see what it's all about?
Not really. I recognize that SXSW is a really great showcase for musicians and there are a ton of shows you can go to for free, but large, drunk crowds of people singing along to bands I'm vaguely familiar with isn't top on my list of priorities. The interactive part at the beginning of the week was really cool and offered some interesting things that I did sign up for, but that doesn't last nearly as long as the music does. So I left town.
I went to New Orleans with a friend for a couple of days, narrowly avoiding St. Patrick's Day and the drunken revelry and hiked hotel prices. This was the third time I had been and her first. We went with a loose schedule made up of a few tours, restaurants that we wanted to go to, and other things we would do if we had time. I've wanted to go down since I moved to Austin and learned that it was only 8 hours away (much closer than the 15 that it was from Indiana).
So we left obnoxiously early in the morning and made it right in time for check-in. We went on three tours (ghosts and vampires, garden district, and what was purportedly a saints and sinners tour but turned out to be a disenchanted chick reciting facts that I had already heard), ate (mostly) great food, and did a bit of drinking. Much to the relief of anxious mothers, we were not kidnapped, drugged, raped, or offered candy from any strangers in vans. The garden district tour was, by far, my favorite tour. I hadn't spent any time there before, and the adorable old grandpa who showed us around told us all sorts of secrets he learned from his gardener. We passed Sandra Bullock's house, John Goodman's house, and Anne Rice's old house, as well as a 15 thousand square foot house that sold for 2.4 million. I decided I could probably raise that on Kickstarter or IndieGoGo.
My favorite part of the trip though, was probably the psychic we went to on the last night there. I'm not the strongest believer in much of anything, and you're not going to find spirit crystals anywhere on me, but I do think that some of it is valid. The reader was amazing and super pleasant. I struggle with people who come off as too airy and "may peace and well-being light your path..." and she didn't at all. Long story short. I'm going to start meditating and working to make that woman my best friend. I'm sure it will work perfectly.
Look for me in New Orleans when I'm made my millions, or married into money, because that's where I'm setting up camp.