Tag Archives: Austin

The Battle for Texas: An Anniversary

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This is Part 2 in a series about the 2014 Texas gubernatorial race, The Battle for Texas. Read “Part 1: Meet the Democrats” here.

Yesterday marked three months until Election Day 2014 in the United States, and in Texas that means a very important race: the gubernatorial race between Democratic darling state Senator Wendy Davis and her Republican opponent, current Attorney General Greg Abbott. The Texas Democratic Party has never been more energized, and as both campaigns are preparing to go into full swing coupled with the national attention on Texas politics for the first time in a long time, the 2014 race could never be bigger.

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This past month, I had the opportunity to see Texas politics up close and personal. From June 26 to July 16, I attended the University of Texas National Institute of Forensics (UTNIF), a three week debate camp in the heart of Austin. While it wasn’t explicitly related to politics—although all of us stayed in touch with big political events, especially the disappointing Hobby Lobby Supreme Court ruling—my journey in Texas politics officially began around the same time UTNIF started.

The Filibuster Anniversary

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Austin’s South Congress Street: a (short) photo journey

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While in Austin for a few days in December, I had the chance to eat at some great food trucks! Austin, the most eccentric city in Texas, is known as the live music capital of the world, but it also has a growing food truck population! South Congress Street in downtown Austin is another food truck hub within the city, with food truck “parks” dotted down the street, selling everything from Indian dosas to Texan barbecue. Austin has definitely been growing in its foodie status.

(The area we went to is extremely close to the Hyatt Regency Austin.)

To celebrate another Foodie Friday as well as Phoneography Month, I decided to share my photos of the food trucks and restaurants we stopped at! I took a few photos with my dad’s Nikon D5000, but the rest were from my iPhone 5 since I didn’t want to lug around a big camera with me all day. Either way, enjoy!

Austin is an incredibly exciting place, especially if you don’t consider yourself part of the mainstream. Austin is very dog-friendly, as well as vegetarian- and vegan-friendly. Nearly every single food truck and restaurant in downtown Austin offered vegetarian or vegan options—not just one, but normally an entire menu! Nomad Dosa, one of the best food trucks on Congress Street, didn’t even offer meat! (It’s like a vegetarian/vegan heaven!)

Austin proudly proclaims its slogan of “Keep Austin Weird,” standing as the major center for liberal politics in Texas and a safe-haven for the nontraditional, including the artistic, LGBT, naturalist, environmentalist, and intellectual communities. It holds a desire to protect independent and local businesses (as opposed to large corporations).

Austin is actually a really cool place, and if you’re ever in Texas or even the southern half of the United States (yes, the crazy part), then be sure to stop by! You won’t regret it—as long as you’re willing to keep Austin weird!