Austin: Day One

We got in late Saturday night so when Sunday morning rolled around, we were hungry. First stop?
Whole Foods, of course! Not only is it the perfect place to stock up on some fruit and kombucha for the room, the salad bar is always a good bet for a hearty vegan-friendly brunch. This is not your typical Whole Foods, however. This is the 80,000 square foot flagship store and it is amazing. So much vegan stuff - rows and rows of donuts, cakes, ready-made entrees, etc., and all clearly marked....








See? I wanted to move in. There's even a dressing room to try on the clothes! Sadly, they don't take renters, so we got our goods and headed out into the sunshine. That afternoon we walked around town, took a duck boat tour, and generally just familiarized ourselves with our surroundings. I know that if you look on a map, Austin is clearly in Texas, but I assure you this town feels more like San Francisco than anyplace in Texas I've ever been. Case in point?

Toy Joy. Where else can you find a vegan-friendly ice cream parlor (menu above) in the middle of a toy store filled with tons of toys, collectibles, stickers, and other joyful things? It's genius. And the ice cream?

















It is delicious! That's me with my soft serve cone (note happiness) and next to that is my mom's cup with flaked Chik-O-Stik (I had no idea that was vegan!) and chocolate syrup. Yum.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Before we indulged our inner child with toys and ice cream we had a proper dinner at the Wheatsville Coop. My good pal, The Urban Housewife, insisted I have the Popcorn Tofu Po'Boy from the deli counter here, and boy am I glad I did. Look at it!

Cajun-spiced fried tofu gets put in a hoagie roll with cashew tamari sauce and lettuce, tomato, and sprouts (or whatever veggies you want) and arrives upon your taste buds with a BANG. This was one of the most savory and tasty sandwiches I've ever had. Ike's needs to make this! Seriously, if I lived in Austin I would be eating at Wheatsville very very often.

Ok, that covers our first day. Believe or not we kept up this pace for the next 5 days, so stay tuned for more.... and for a guest blog coming soon which will cover a just-opened all vegan restaurant in Pennsylvania. Exciting!