June 9, 2017 - Tanya's Vegan Eats Trip to Austin, Texas - Day 2 - Tanya Getting Her Cowgirl on AND Elisa's Look at Belmont Stakes

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN:
AUSTIN, TEXAS

Getting my cowgirl on!
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Well HOWDY folks!

Greetings from Austin, Texas!!!

I'm in Austin! (c)travelincousins.com

I'm sitting here blogging from Capital City Bakery - the first stop on my Vegan Food Tour of Eats and Treats in Austin, Texas - and while I won't tell you too much about it today - I will tell you this much...
I'm coming back tomorrow! HINT HINT

Instead today I will share just a bit with you about yesterday - which was an exhausting travel day...

I started off rearin' and ready to do - Austin Here I come!! I left from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California the nearest airport to home and only about 25 minutes away (without traffic that is).

On flight number 1 (c)travelincousins.com

Well as convenient as that was - it actually turned into a rather big inconvenience...

Ya see the flight had a connection through Houston - seemingly no big deal. 
But the connection had a 4 HOUR LAYOVER!

I suppose that when I bought the ticket I was just so excited that I was going that I didn't care about the layover.

But then the reality of being stuck at the airport in HOUSTON for 4 HOURS was just rather ridiculous.

With all the travel that I do - layovers aren't much of a big deal to me - usually the only time I have layovers is traveling out of the country and yet somehow those don't tired me out whatsoever - while yesterday's exhausted me... 

Side note - while on the flights I had picked up the Hemispheres magazine and noticed that the cover article was on Hangzhou, China.    Which if you've been following and subscribing along (as you should be) then you'd know that I booked a trip to China just last week and that particular trip includes visiting Hangzhou! 

Lookie what this is (c)travelincousins.com

So if you know me - which by now most of you do (unless you are a new reader to our blog and if so thanks for joining in on all the fun) then you know that I'm all about seeing "signs" of things that I consider "meant to be". 

To catch up just read check out last Thursday's post. 

Ya see, this trip to Austin was rather "last minute" for me and came together oh so perfectly - where I usually have no room in my schedule whatsoever for any last minute plans.
So of course I went for it and now I'm here!

Well with the way last week went and then seeing this magazine cover just really got me very excited about the trip here and to China totally being what and where I'm suppose to be and where I'm suppose to go.    
Anyhow I won't get all out there on you - but that's just me!
 
Related reading:
Hurricane Cruisin' & Key West Kraziness

Now back to yesterday - 

Once in Houston I had noticed that there were 3 flights heading to Austin and 2 of those were hours before my booked, scheduled and confirmed flight.

Being that I was traveling solo I figured why not get on the standby list and try to get out of Houston and to Austin that much earlier!

I came to quickly find out that the first of the two flights already had a few peeps on the standby list. I was #5 and there were only 4 seats seats to accommodate.  I was however told that the standby list would roll over to the next flight.

So I wandered on over to the next gate - which was like a mile away! LOL

I was early and there were no agents working at the counter yet. I took a seat and waited. Eventually I got up to check the standby list and was sorely disappointed to find that my name wasn't even on the list! UGH

By the time I got to speak to the counter agent I was #20 on the list. SMH (shaking my head)

Well as many of you might think that I'd get pissed off - I didn't. I maintained a very positive attitude and cheerfully waited and watched 19 standby passengers get a seat!

The agent hadn't lost hope and there was still one passenger missing who had a tight connection. But then there was a figure quickly making his way from down the hall and straight to the gate. He was the last passenger! Alrighty then.

Off to the next terminal to wait for my confirmed 11:26pm flight.

Getting delirious on flight #2 (c)travelincousins.com

A short 29 minute flight later and I was finally in Austin! Pretty sure that I coulda rented a car in Houston and got here FASTER!

I made a beeline to the car rental dest and they couldn't find my reservation. Oh the fun continued!

But the agent was super nice and hooked me up with an even better deal than I orginally had to begin with.

Get me to my hotel room!!!!

So happy to finally be checked in, throw on my robe/slippers/cowgirl hat and get comfortable!

And that was my exhausting day of traveling to Austin.

Pretty pooped (c)travelincousins.com

Today the eating begins!

Come back tomorrow to drool drool drool and see some of the sights that I might find between my eats.

It's FOODIE FRIDAY and time to get my grub on,
​-T

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 17 DAYS
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The 149th Belmont Stakes Eve

Yay!! It's Friday and sunny - the perfect combination!

I hope your week has been a great one - mine was wonderful!!

This weekend is the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival here in New York at Belmont Park.

A little bit of history about this annual horse racing event and the venue within which it takes place...
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​* Belmont Park is a major Thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont, New York, just outside New York City limits. It first opened on May 4, 1905. 

* The Belmont Stakes, are named after August Belmont, a financier who made quite a name and fortune for himself in New York politics and society and was quite involved and influential in horse racing.

* The first running of the Belmont Stakes was in 1867 at Jerome Park, on, a Thursday.

* The Belmont Stakes are the third race in the Triple Crown. 

* The venue of The Belmont Stakes has changed through the years and was run at Jerome Park from 1867 to 1889; at Morris Park from 1890 to 1904; at Aqueduct from 1963 to 1967. Not run in 1911 and 1912.
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* The Belmont is the oldest of the three Triple Crown events, predating the Preakness by six years and the Kentucky Derby by eight.  
 
* Secretariat’s 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes established the world record for a mile and a half on dirt at 2:24 and will forever be engraved into our memories. With his win in the Belmont, he became the ninth horse to capture the Triple Crown.

(credit: nyra.com)

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, June 8-10th, features 18 stakes including the G1 $1,500,000 Belmont Stakes.

2017 will mark the 149th running of the Belmont Stakes and the 106th time the event will take place at Belmont Park.  

The gates of Belmont Park open today at 11AM with events going on all day, including,  Coors Light Food Truck Village, Taste NY and Craft Fair in the 1st Floor Grandstand "Big Shot Performs" teaser act
and at 6:30PM, the "Big Shot Performance" featuring Mike DelGuidice & Big Shot - Celebrating The Music of Billy Joel.

Tomorrow, June 10th, the day begins at 8AM with the gates opening and a full line-up of attractions, food and entertainment, well into the evening.  

The excitement includes a Parachute Jump, Military Performance of the National Anthem, Longines Fashion Contest Begins, Coors Light Food Truck Village, Triple Crown Jockey Autograph Signing, a performance by Broadway's On Your Feet  and concert featuring Andy Grammar.

Of course the real excitement will be the running of the Belmont Stakes, which takes place in the late afternoon tomorrow.

This year's contenders are:
* Twisted Tom
* Tapwrit
* Gormley
* J Boys Echo
* Hollywood Handsome
* Looking at Lee
* Irish War Cry
* Senior Investment
* Meantime
* Multiplier
* Epicharis
* Patch

This year, there is no horse that will be going for the Triple Crown.  For more information, visit www.belmontstakes.com 

(credit: belmont stakes.com)

Tonight, I'll be headed into town with the kids where they will be having a Belmont Stakes Fair.  The street will be closed and there will live music and the stores will be open along with the eating establishments along the strip.

Fortunately, it is a gorgeous day, so I'm sure the weather tonight will be just perfect for hanging around outside!

Believe it or not, I'm going to start early with some excitement and watch Secretariat the movie, this evening!

Meanwhile, Tanya is enjoying her first full day in Austin and I encourage you to catch up on the recount of her travel day from SoCal to Austin yesterday!

Over and out on this end - more tomorrow!!

-E
xoxo