This was taken in the BigTop Candy Store on S. Congress in Austin. Just wanted to share the goodness with you.  Click on the picture to find more shots from the candy store and from our vacation in Austin.

Austin made me feel welcome in more ways than one.  Heck, they even named a store after my son, Randall’s.  Throughout the week folks were courteous and welcoming.

That and they kept apologizing for the weather.  Yes, when it’s below 70 something or the least bit clowdy, they think the weather is bad.  Heck, it was flooding in our neck of the woods when we left and cold too boot.

Austin brought Nanna J and I opportunities for dining experiences, cultural discoveries, and making new friends.  Simis, a photographer friend,  hosted us for the entire week. My favorite shot of her.

During our visit were were able to not just meet with Simis, but with several other contacts of mine from Twitter. We had lunch out with @Orchid8.

We had breakfast with @mikeneumann:

Dinner with Simis:

And then a whole dang tweetup hosted by Kim Haynes.

Several folks turned out for the meetup and made us feel quite welcome. We didn’t just talk about Twitter either. No, we talked about blogging, social media, photography, and social networking. But beyond that, we had opportunity to talk about each other, Austin, and food. You know that last one is dear to my heart. Ha.

As you can see, just meeting folks was a busy week. I’ll have to do another post about the cultural stuff I guess. Expect a post just about the food as well.

For a visual recap of our week in Austin be sure to check out Flickr. I’ll be adding more pics to that set over the next several days.

In summary, the trip to Austin brought me closer to folks in my network than just being virtual friends.  We talked, we laughed, and we broke bread together.  Those are the makings of a lasting friendship.  Heck, in all the excitement, I made some new friends too and so did our friend Simis.

What are you doing with your next vacation? Seeing the Grand Canyon, or closing the loop with friends? Can you manage both like in our Austin trip?

Flickr support groupOriginally uploaded by .simis.

Simis is hosting the first Austin Flickr Support Group right here in her house! It’s tough with all of us cruising Flickr and commenting at the same time. Lots of fun, and great shot Simis.

Man, do they ever!

Actually what you are seeing is a giant iron wrought butterfly.  This is one of three at the Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Tx.

My wife and I had a great time taking pictures at the garden.  The butterflies are just a bit of the unique things to see there.

Of course there were flowers as well.

And of course fairies…

All in all, a magical place to visit. Cheers.

supermodel SharonOriginally uploaded by .simis.

Portrait of my Sharon, aka Nanna J, by Simis.  Simis is one of my favorite photographers on Flickr and this week she is hosting us in Austin, Tx.

This was taken at the Loop 360 bridge on the outskirts of Austin. We did a whole photo session at the bridge. You’ll see some shots of that later. Look forward to more pictures of hers and ours to be posted here.

20080323 .Sharon and me. day147 Originally uploaded by .simis.

Two sweet ladies meet for the first time. Simis is hosting Nanna J and me in Austin this week. It’s hard to tell who is more excited.  Ha.

Look forward to more pictures of us all over this week. Please click through and show Simis’s pictures some comment love.

My wife and I are alive and well in Austin, Tx.  We had some twists and turns getting here.  Photos to come shortly.

Currently visiting with our host, Simis, from Flickr. She’s both a computer geek and talented photographer.  Please do check out her link.

Yours from Texas,

Todd and Sharon

To the left is the driving map from St. Peters, MO to Austin, Tx with a stop in Texarkana, AR.  Total estimated travel time is 14 hours 20 mins.

Our expectation is to do most of that trip on Saturday, March 22nd, stopping in Texarkana.  This drive should be fairly relaxed as we’ll be taking off before noon and make stops along the way.  Most likely we’ll stop around Memphis and around Little Rock.

My wife and I have never visited Little Rock, so we hope to stop and grab a few pictures there.

We plan to stay in Austin through till Saturday morning.  Plans may change as weather conditions change, and/or other things develop during our stay.

Do feel free to invite us to breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, photography, or whatever.  We are going to staying with a friend, and spending some evenings with her of course.

Some recommendations from friends:

Bob Bullock History Museum

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Zilker Park Rose Garden

Threadgill’s

Salt Lick BBQ

Alamo Draft House

Botanical gardens

Stretch of South Congress between the river and E. Oltorf

Guero’s Taco Bar (shrimp fajitas FTW)

Mars Bar

 If you have recommendations for eateries, hangouts, favorite tourist attraction or whatever, please leave a comment here, DM me on Twitter @tojosan, or email me tojosa/gmail.com.  If you want a postcard, email me or DM with note saying POSTCARD and an address.

Thanks so much for the recommendations so far.  Can’t wait to be in Austin, see the sites, visit with friends, take some pictures and eat at some interesting places.