The Austin Bucket List

01/17/2010
Day 315 of 365: The most common thing people asked me when they found out I went back to Austin for the break was, "What did you do while you were there?". So, for those people, and for the pure enjoyment of recounting my adventure home, I prestent: The List. It includes every restaurant I wanted to eat at, every errand I needed run, and every item I wanted to buy while I was home, taking into account that I might not be back for another year, (Key: O = Yes, X = Ran out of time)

Restaurants:

Catfish Parlour - O
Taco Cabana - O
IHOP - O
Dan's Hamburgers - X
Thundercloud Subs - O
Chili's - X
Rudy's BBQ - X
Katz's - O (Ate there on Dec. 30th; closed for good on January 2nd. RIP Katz's Reuben)
Fuddrucker's - O
La Fuentes Mexican Resaurant - O
Chuey's - X (Fail)
Yogurtland - O
Gordough's Donuts - O
Long John Silver's - X (probably better for my health that I missed this one)
Schlotzsky's - O
Random Korean Restaurant in Austin - O
Conan's Pizza - O

Not on the original List but made the cut: Maudie's Tex Mex, Kerbey Lane Cafe (Kerbey Lane and William Cannon locations), Torchy's Tacos, River City Donuts

Errands/Stores:

Best Buy - O (twice)
Walmart - O (3 times)
Bank - O
Champ's - O
Howdy Honda - O
Barton Creek Mall - O
Finish Line - O
Express - O
American Eagle - O
Papa John's - O (my old job)
Costco - O
The High Ball - O
Post Office - O
Day After Xmas Shopping - O!
Tron Legacy - X (fail)

Not on the List but made the cut: The Fighter, Pitch n' Putt, True Grit (but I fell asleep), Monday Night Football (but I fell asleep), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (but I fell asleep)...jet lag got me on a few of these.

Shopping - (E = Expensive in South Korea, i = Impossible to find)

Socks and Underwear - O (not expensive or impossible to find, just my American preference)
Polo Shirts (E) - X
100% Whey Protein (i) - O
Deodorant (i)- O
US Power Strip (i) - O
Dress Shoes (black) - X
Running Shoes - X
Brown Shoes - X
Football Cleats (i) - O! (It's nearly impossible to find a size 12 of any shoe except in Seoul)
Face Soap -O (funny story about that...)
Dill Pickles (i) -O (screw Korean sweet pickles)
Nyquil (i) - O
Clif Bars (i) - O
Maple Syrup (E) - O
Vitamins (E) - X
Peanut Butter (E) - X
Under Armour Receiver Gloves (i) - O
Backpack (E) - O
Garbage Bags (i?) - X

Not on the list but made the cut: Ranch Dressing (i), a ton of American chocolate (E) for the kids (as I shove this Reese's Peanut Butter Cup into my mouth), Ranch Style Beans (i), Wolf Brand Chilli (i), Lipton's Onion Soup Mix (i), Captain Crunch (i), Fruity Pebbles (i), Bean Dip (i), Giant Marshmallows (i), Pop Tarts (i).

So, subtracting the X's from the total number of items on my Austin Bucket List, my completion percentage would be at 74.51%. However, if I added the addtional 20 items that made the cut, I would be brought up to 81.7%, which is a solid B-, just like in college. Ugh, that shoe shopping killed my average.

So that's my list. What's yours? I'm interested in hearing what some of you Austinites would do if you only had 8 days out of the year to spend in the ATX.

Next blog: Explosive Clearasil.