Back in the saddle after our very first South by Southwest, pouring wine at the fabulous Girl and Boy Party sponsored by our friends at Kirtsy and Alltop.. We learned it is called “South-by” by the locals. Love it when you get the insider lingo! 

We poured Purple Cowboy Tenacious Red Cab-Syrah blend and Night Rider Merlot and Middle Sister Wicked White and Drama Queen Pinot Grigio for about 600 of the interactive world’s movers-and-shakers. The evening was warm, so the whites were very popular, but many good comments on Purple Cowboy, too.

The event was held under a tent  decorated with hay bails and a chuck wagon in back of Allens Boots, which we had visited earlier that day. We were overwhelmed by the incredible selection of beautiful cowboy boots. It’s hard to know where to start when you only get to pick just one. 

We found out later from the Allens Boot ladies (most excellent two-steppers and best boots at the party) that you can actually call ahead and make an appointment with one of them for a personal boot styling session. They’ll help you make your way through the selection and find the boots of your dreams.

Trudy’s Tex-Mex. Drink: Mexican Margarita. Note: Served in milkshake cans and so potent you’re only allowed to order two. Food: Stuffed Fried Avocado. All the things that are not on your diet, fried and covered in suiza (sour cream) sauce. We split one and were full for a day-and-a-half.

 

 

 

Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar. This is a famous joint and rightly so. There’s no cover— you put your request on one of the two grand pianos with a tip and with any luck they’ll play your fave song.

 The guys simply are world-class musicians/comedians/glee club directors/entertainers. We especially enjoyed the “Don’t Stop Believin’” sing-along. The piano boys are apparently (and who can blame them)  soooo tired of this song that they force the audience to sing the whole thing. Amazing how many of the lyrics we DIDN’T know. Luckily everybody else did.

 

The Mighty Cone. Located on South Congress (SoCo) in food trailer row, we again sampled the wondrousness’ of fried avocados in the form of the Deluxe Chicken and Avocado Cone with Ancho Mayo Sauce and Mango Jalapeno. With a side of chile-dusted fries. Are we kidding ourselves when we think splitting these kinds of things make it o.k.? At least we didn’t order a Blue Bell shake.

 

 

Maya Star boutique. Who needs to eat when we’re so full of fried avocados? That was the reason we blew our grocery budget for the rest of the month on some must-have items from this shop on SoCo. Beautiful selection of jewelry, also.

 

Security at Austin airport. One of us forgot we left a wine opener in our carry-on. And since it was a very nice one, forced to go out of security to one of those crazy mailing stations were all the dumb people who leave sharp items in their carry-ons can mail them home instead. Just plain embarrassing.

Also, we never could seem to sit in the right row for some reason. Hey, it’s confusing!

All in all, a great trip. We hope that those of you we met at the party will find that Wine Sisterhood business card we forced you to take before we poured you a glass of wine and visit us. And SIGN up to join our Wine Sisterhood community. We want your opinions!