As two Snow Birds, after our first remote lyfe month in sunny St. Pete, we were excited for month #2 down south and began to flap our wings from St. Pete all the way over to Austin Texas for our second nest of the winter. However, we didn’t know that we were about to spend 2 days in Baton Rouge Louisiana, about 6.5 hours out from Austin, to wait out a once in a lifetime ice storm that hit Austin serendipitously the day before we were supposed to be there. We saw news stories showing Austin drivers slipping and sliding down hilly roads, and how the trees were weighed down and breaking under the weight of the wintry mix. It did not look good. Our moms advised not to go there yet and we acted as if we were gonna go anyway but actually listened to them and waited it out a bit more. By the time we summitted Austin it was still wintry, the trees looked like they needed unlimited PTO, tons of damage everywhere, and the roads were still slick. And, our new Airbnb had no power when we arrived. Romantic!
This new place was cute – not huge but compared to our “cozy” first Airbnb it was a much better layout. Our cats seemed to be in better mindsets with this new pawquarters and Pidge and I went shopping for groceries, candles and other things to get settled in with no power. The next day the power came on and the adventure began. Our Airbnb was very close to the Colorado River that runs you into the downtown and we loved having the access to boundless dream running trails along the river. Along the path, there are tons of turtles on logs bathing in the sun and you can see the whole skyline of Austin in the distance. Since we were training for Pidge’s first half marathon, we took in a lot of the city on foot and by trail, which was super nice. Austin was charming with its vibrant downtown, tons of music opportunities, and great bar options everywhere. On the flip side, it did not seem as diverse as we thought it would be and it seemed like every ‘restaurant’ was a food cart serving tacos!
We had fun with some Austin friends we were visiting, a close friend visiting us while we were there too, and we even made new friends at a coffee shop that was between a funeral home and a gas station. That was dope. In Austin, I ventured out to a co-working space for a few day passes close to us called Createscape that a fresh and funky co-working space for a very affordable price. Most days I joined Pidge working at a coffee shop. Austin was a little tough for remote working with its high prices for parking and overwhelmed coffee shops with high competition for seats indoors near plugs. We did enjoy a nice day trip to the Riverwalk in San Antonio and appreciated the spectacle of a Buc-ees, which is like a Disneyworld gas station experience – it’s huge! Overall the highlight was seeing Pidge rock her first half marathon in Austin on a super hilly course, being with friends, and the Colorado River.
Coffee Shop Roundup by Pidgette
Austin in February was to experience the electricity while escaping the winter. Overall the weather remained mild and provided sun more often than not, but rainy days in between.
The remote working community was much more saturated than probably most other metro cities with the buzz about Austin growing. That being said, take extra consideration with Austin’s coffeeshops-many have more limited seating. Supply vs Demand. We found ourselves under the pressure to beat the crowd in the morning (before 8:30 AM) for indoor seats especially on rather hotter, colder, or rainy days. To note, Austin has various spaces with coffee, food trucks and breweries with outdoor yard seating and that defines where more locals go to spend time. It became a bit more transparent though that during the more extreme Summer weather, remote working is most likely a large challenge as most of those outdoor yard seating places offer no charging plugs and leave you vulnerable to the sun.
I would say that if you are looking to spend your time at a coffeeshop in Austin, to plan weather wise. Most locals already know, but bringing your own water, charging packs, and finding shade is key to Austin for year round.
Some of my favorite Coffee Shop Locations:
Radio Coffee + Beer- 4204 Menchaca Rd
Offers the indoor seating, but also covered outdoor seating under canopy as well as natural tree coverage. Easy transition from coffee to beer whether through the workday or to meet up with friends. Very friendly staff. Food trucks on site, but with limited hours of operation.
The Buzz Mill- 1505 Town Creek Dr.
Mostly outdoor seating, but offers another coffee to alcohol transition. Has food trucks with tasty, but heavier food options.
Bennu Coffee- 515 S Congress Ave
Very surprising to have the indoor space they door. Definitely one of the remote worker hidden hotspot with bakery items, coffee, and plugs everywhere.
Vintage Bookstore and Wine Bar- 1101 E 11th St,
Okay, so it’s not actually a coffee shop, BUT it’s a wine bar and bookstore combo with seating through the location as if it could be a second house. Since it still opens before 12 PM, it still can be your remote working day spot.
Lastly, would recommend visiting the Austin Library-the coffeeshop and rooftop might just surprise you, but I will let you find that out.
