Birthday Shenanigans in the Great ATX — Day Three

 Monday ~ 19 May 2025

Today was a busy day, filled with tons of activities.

As expected, Chris texted me in the morning about breakfast plans. He had originally intended for us to go to Paperboy, but there was already - even on a Monday morning - a 45-minute to an hour wait. Screw that. We went to the Toasty Badger instead.

It was amusing to see the pattern on the plate that served my English muffin. This was the same dinnerware pattern that I grew up with. 

After brekkie, we went back to the Vbro, where I changed into my pink clothes for the next planned big activity. And back to the apartment we went.

Britney stopped by for a brief visit.

And we had a brief visit to the nearby market.

We finally got to downtown for our next adventure, which we didn't realize was going to be quite the frustrating comedy of errors.

Our adventure was a tea bus tour with Tea Around Town. Our tour was originally scheduled for Tuesday at 1 o'clock. Unfortunately, a memorial service for a much beloved coworker, whose death had been sudden and unexpected, at Ariana's workplace wound up being scheduled for the same day and at the same time. And of course, this was something that Ariana needed to attend.

Rescheduling was a bitch. And the company had this very unreasonable policy where they required a 50% surcharge for rescheduling occurrences that were less than 14 days from the originally scheduled reservation. Mind you, this was not a last minute rescheduling. Chris, who made the initial reservations, got on it as soon as Ariana got news of the memorial service. (I really gotta hand it to Chris for taking charge of the planning and rescheduling!) And it wasn't as though we could NOT go, as the reservations themselves were nonrefundable. The company was going to make its money either way, and we were left with the choice whether to lose a smaller bit of money or a whole lot of money.

Anyhow, with the rescheduling, Chris was informed that the tour bus was going to be meeting at a different location than the one specified on their website. So we took a Lyft to that location, which was the Paramount Theater on Congress. (The "FOR ALL" letters were across the street from the location.) However, when we got there, there were 2 semi tractor trailers parked in front of the theater, with definitely no space for a double decker tour bus. Not only that, there were no other folks attired for high tea.

We wondered if, perhaps, there had been a mistake - that perhaps the wrong meeting place information was communicated to Chris - and that the actual meetup place was the place that was on the website. We decided to hoof it to that spot, which was some 10 blocks away, while Chris was trying to reach an actual human being on the phone. Mind you, the clock was ticking. There was a very steep hill to descend, which would have been no problem for folks wearing sensible shoes.  

We were about 2 or 3 blocks away when Chris finally got through to a human. Thankfully, our hunch paid off. And we saw other people appropriately attired for a high tea experience around downtown Austin. Not only that, the bus was running late.

The pink-bedecked double decker bus finally rounded the corner. A fellow disembarked the bus, announcing for everyone to have their tickets ready. That was also when Chris's cellphone decided to die. The tickets were in an email - an email account that could not be accessed through Ariana's phone, because 2-factor authentication would send the access code to Chris's phone, which was dead, dead, very dead. Thankfully, the tour bus dude had all our ticket information. We were then directed to Table 4 on the upper level.

So yeah, the comedy of errors ordeal was finally over. Now was time to swill tea and nosh on fancy finger sandwiches.

Complimentary tea tumblers were included with the Luxe Tour package.

The sandwiches were tiny, but they were quite tasty. 

There was even a dessert assortment.

The day was overcast, which was a welcome break from the high heat. Would you believe that it was actually hotter in Austin than Houston?!

Here's the State Capitol.

Once we got the ordeal out of the way, the tea bus tour was quite a pleasant and delightful experience. After an hour and a half of touring and being serenaded in French (the video of which Blogger would not allow me to upload because it exceeded its allowable file size), the bus dropped us off from where we started.

As lovely as the tea bus tour was, I was more than happy to get out of my pink outfit. Pink is not my color; I never liked it, not even as a kid. (Though I will make exception for hot or neon pink.) It wasn't just the color that I was itching to ditch. My wrap pants made going to the bathroom a challenge, with all those billows of fabric to wrangle, and failing to keep it from landing on the floor. And my new sandals, which I wore for the first time, tore up my feet.

Anyhow, it was nice to change into a more comfortable outfit. 

Here we are, waiting for our Lyft to take us to our next adventure.

We were still way too early for our next reservation. So we stopped at DuMont's Down Low for a quick drink. DuMont's is reputably haunted by the ghost of Blanche DuMont, the madam who ran a bordello at this very location. I was hoping to run into Blanche's ghost. But unfortunately that was not in the cards for me. But having a tasty drink was. 

After having a drink at DuMont's, we met up with Danny, and then made our way to our reservation at Powder Room. 

Powder Room is an intimate speakeasy. I wish I could have had photos to show all y'all how amazing this place looks inside. However, upon checking in at the reception area, our phones were confiscated and locked up. Part of this was to encourage people to mindfully engage with each other, something that is not always possible when folks have their noses buried in their phones (or taking lots of photos, like I like to take.) Another reason for separating patrons from their devices is out of consideration for the privacy of the celebrities and high-profile individuals who like to stop by and be in a place where they can be themselves.

So, because I could not document our time at  this venue (or show you just how well my dress matched the decor), I pulled out of my purse a mini sketch pad and did some [not so good] doodling to keep my hands busy and to keep myself from getting too fidgety. Because, you know...ADHD...

After enjoying each other's company and a well crafted cocktail, it was time for us to start strutting about town.

Our first stop was Floppy Disk Repair Co, a sketchy front for a horror themed speakeasy called Red Headed Stepchild. This speakeasy is accessed by punching in a number code, that changes monthly, into a touchpad. This is one of the speakeasies where it actually takes some effort to obtain the code, unless you manage to slip in behind the folks who do know the code, like what happened to us, when 2 dudes slipped in after Ariana punched in the code.

(Ariana happens to know the code, and the means of access to other speakeasies, due to her gig in hosting speakeasy tours. And unlike Tea Around Town, Ariana offers free cancelations up to one day before the tour.)

Anyhow, we wound up not staying there. We could not even order our first drink. That was due to a large crowd of bogans* crowding the space between the bar and the tables. This space was also the only means of egress from the bar, which meant that they were violating municipal fire codes. Plus, I had to fight my way through the crowd just to get to the rest room. 

(* I called this crowd "bogans" because their accent was definitely foreign, and I suspected that they could have, perhaps, been from Australia. People may talk shit about Americans being uncouth and rude travelers. But this crowd proved that Americans aren't the only ones who are loud boors when it comes to international travel.)

This was simply very poor bar etiquette in that it forced the only bartender on duty to only pay attention to them, as they kept her from reaching the other guests - us. Even the 2 dudes who snuck in behind us wound up bellying up to the bar in order to get some attention.

Rather than create more work for the already harried bartender, we decided to leave and make our way to the next destination.

Thankfully at the Firehouse Lounge there were no loud boorish bogans making inconsiderate pests of themselves. The company was very pleasant, and the cocktails were masterfully concocted.

After the Firehouse Lounge, we made our way to Here Nor There, for which we had a reservation. Here Nor There is another speakeasy where you need a keycode to gain access. In this case, the keycode access has you entering an alleyway...

...which then has you going down a long stairway...

...where you get greeted by Rasputin the Bear.

Rasputin also serves all guests a glass of bubbles before we enter the bar.

This venue, which is one of my favorites, has a very delightful ambience and atmosphere that creates for a totally intimate and immersive experience.

The menu is creative and finely curated. According to the website, it's "a winding exploration of flavors and stories." (And the menu does change, as last year it was something totally different.)

Not only did we enjoy finely curated beverages, we also enjoyed noshing on caviar and mini blintzes. 

It really was a sublime tasting experience!

Danny and I got into it with the caviar spoons.

Our final stop was JewBoy Sliders, a food trailer on 6th Street. 

It's too bad (or maybe it's a good thing) that the video that Chris sent me, where I was talking in an Eastern European accent, and slinging the F-bomb way too much) was of a file size that was way too big for Blogger's liking.

After a full night of bar hopping and noshing at JewBoy, we returned to the apartment. Quincy popped in for a brief visit. It was really nice to see him again. 

And after that, it was back to the Vbro to rest up for the next day's adventures.