Bill and I have lived in downtown Austin for two weeks now. We spent much of the last two weeks cleaning out our house in the ‘burbs and just going to the apartment to sleep at night. But now that work is all behind us. Here’s a summary of our firsts overlooking First Street (aka Caesar Chavez). Technically our address is Colorado Street, but our apartment faces south to First.

Our first visitors were Mary and Rainbow. Both of them liked the view. Rainbow had no problem going up in the elevator but did not want to get back in for the trip down. Everyone has dogs in this building so all these dogs must get used to the elevator eventually…except perhaps the bulldog in the baby stroller. 

Our first fireworks were on Friday evening. We were treated to an unexpected 10-minute display around 9 PM. At the end, loud applause and cheering errupted from the downtown balconies. We have no idea what was being celebrated although we suspect it was related to the next entry.

Our first regatta was Saturday morning. We had noticed that red buoys appeared in the middle of Lady Bird Lake on Friday afternoon so we wondered if something would happen. Sure enough, at daylight the lake was filled with crew teams. The races lasted all day, but we couldn’t tell who was winning, or even who was competing. I need to find the binoculars…

Our first walk to a University of Texas football game took about 30 minutes, one way. It was a pleasant Saturday evening except for the game. UT is not winning this year. Bill is not happy.  This photo is from my favorite third-quarter vantage point behind the north end zone. Note that I even got an action shot.

Our first Halloween was celebrated all weekend. Costumes abounded. We walked down Sixth Street on Saturday evening after the UT game. I did not take any pictures since we were mostly walking after a boy with a bare behind which was not very appealing to photograph. Bill thought that we’d better stock up on candy since some families live in the building, but no one knocked on our door.

Our first road closure was on Sunday morning for a 5K/10K Race for the Water. This race headed north on the First Street Bridge, and then west on Caesar Chavez. (Last week’s LiveStrong race headed south from the bridge and looped around South Austin so we weren’t impacted.) Only two lanes on Caesar Chavez were closed on Sunday morning so we were able to leave downtown without any problems. In the near future Bill and I hope to roll out of bed, hop on the elevator and participate in some of these races.

Bill and I talked about what we like about living downtown so far. 
See if you can guess who picked what:

“Home is where your stuff is.” My mother gave me these words of wisdom when we moved from New York state over sixteen years ago. Well, our stuff is now on the 20th floor of an apartment building in downtown Austin, Texas! Bill is convinced that this is an exciting adventure, but then again he is from New York City.  We have a one year lease…and so we are committed to living in this high-rise apartment for the next twelve months. At the end of the year, will we stay downtown or move back out to the ‘burbs?

I’ve started this blog to record our adventures and mis-adventures – our likes and dislikes – about living in downtown Austin.

We moved into the apartment last Friday. I am going to skip the parts about downsizing/sorting/selling/donating, putting our house on the market, and the actual move. Let’s just say that it was difficult. But on the positive side, our house sold quickly and there is not much to unpack. After our previous moves, we ate from paper plates for days, but, within the first 24 hours here, we found our dishes and silverware. We also resolved the critical Master Bedroom Closet Negotiations. For the first time in 27 years, Bill and I must share a clothes closet. We reached a fair compromise (from my perspective) and should be able to coexist peacefully for the coming year. 

I must admit that our first weekend was rather exciting. We woke up on Saturday morning to see a sea of yellow shirts at the start of the Livestrong 5K race…right below our balcony. 

 Bill and I walked over to the Convention Center to pick up his packet for the Livestrong bike race. He rode 45 miles on Sunday, west of Austin in Dripping Springs.

I visited the Farmer’s Market at Republic Square Park, just a few blocks away. I hope to make this a regular Saturday morning activity.

Our apartment overlooks Lady Bird Lake, which runs through the center of Austin. Motorboats are mostly prohibited except for cruises and those boats that always seem to accompany crew teams. An amazing number of boats were on the lake this weekend. Michael says he will join me in kayaking. I’m curious about the stand-up paddle boats but fear that I am too weak to handle them.

 After dinner we decided to walk up to the state Capitol grounds. Mexic-Arte Museum was holding their annual Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) parade. This is another nearby museum to visit. 

Lots of positives in our first weekend downtown, but also a few negatives:

• I miss our neighborhood and friends in Northwest Austin.
• We can hear the live music in our living room on the weekends – even on the 20th floor! But our master bedroom is quiet.
• The bell tower below our building chimes on the hour, every hour, starting at 7 AM.  
• Bill has forgotten his building keys once and I’m sure we will both forget where our car is parked in the garage. 
• I already hate taking groceries up to the apartment.

So the adventure begins!