This has been a week of stamina.  Just when I thought I had indulged enough, this ‘eatcation’ entered into a new state of bliss.  There is no time to tell you about all the things we ate, frankly if I did you would be shocked.  But I do want to take a minute and share a couple of grand stops we made in this all you can eat tour of Austin.  As I mentioned in my previous post, my sister was in town all week visiting from Virginia, and our goal was to enjoy this awesome city one taco at a time.  However, the week wasn’t all about tacos.  We did go back and visit Tacodeli one more time.  I told you it was my favorite taco place.  And I meant it.  This time we went to the location up north on Burnet right off MoPac.  Just as delicious as we had expected.  I’m serious when I say, eat here.  Again and again.  Anyway, where was I?  Oh right, not all about tacos.  This food fest also became about hot dogs.  I know what you’re thinking……..hot dogs, but I thought you were vegetarian??  You’re right, but there are two little gems here in town who specialize in the all american hot dog and cater to the vegetarian Austinite.  The first place we went to was Frank.  If you are not familiar with this place, check out their site aptly named:  hotdogscoldbeer.com  They are located on 4th & Colorado and claim to be “purveyors of artisan sausage”.  They offer a wide variety of hot dogs and unique sausages that only carnivores can really appreciate.  But they do offer an option to make their dogs veggie.  However, much to my dismay they were out of veggie dogs the day we went.  Not to worry, I threw down with some veggie-chili-cheese fries, and all was right with the world.  They also have root beer on draft which is worth the price of admission right there.  Next time, there will be root beer floats.  My sister indulged in something called the Jackalope, you will have to check that out for yourself.  Something to do with rabbit, antelope and sriracha aioli. 

The second hot dog place we visited was Dog Almighty.  Located on S. Lamar just past Manchaca, this place is a true “keep Austin weird” dive.  And not in a bad way.  Not big, not fancy, but they offer a great menu of dogs, burgers, fries, tots and even a hand dipped corn dog.  Which is delicious BTW.  This is the kind of place you eat at and remember what food was like when you were a kid.  The big win for this place to me is that everything on the menu can be made veggie or non-veggie.  Everything.   I ordered the Classic, veggie of course.  Mustard, onions, cheese and home-made veggie chili.  And a side of tater tots.  There are other, more creative named dogs on the menu, like the Pfluger Dog, the Hyde Park Dog, or even the Hippy Hollow Dog.  You guessed it, no bun.  Even if you’re not vegetarian, I recommend that you try the veggie chili.  It has won numerous awards including back to back top pick at the Lonestar Veg. Chili Cook-off (right here in Austin) and 2nd place at the Annual Texas Veg. Chili Cook off.

Ok, that’s enough about hot dogs.  Before I go, I just want to make mention of one more place we hit up this week.  Keep in mind though, I am only giving you the highlights.  We ate and drank as if we were training for a marathon. 

Wednesday was my sister’s birthday.  And I don’t bake.  So with no birthday cake in sight we set out to find the perfect place to supplement the sweet.  We came upon the greatest airstream trailer in South Austin, serving up sticky sweet on steroids.                In a word:  GOURDOUGH’S.  In three words:  BIG. FAT. DONUTS.   Understand that this is the recommended caloric intake for a human being for like a week.  But oh man is it ever worth it.  The only problem is choosing which delectable donut to get.  With names like “Coco Loco”, “Son of a Peach”, “Funky Monkey” and “Dirty Berry” the varieties are almost endless.  I mean, seriously, they have a donut with a chicken tender on it.  No kidding, it’s called the “Mother Clucker”.  We ordered three different ones and each sampled one another’s.  The guys who worked there were so sweet, they even surprised us with some birthday candles in one of the donuts. 

All and all this one of the best culinary calendar weeks since I can remember.  I hit up some old faves and tried out some new ones.  I lost count of the calories about mid-way through the first day, but that’s ok.  It doesn’t count when you’re on vacation right?  My sister left yesterday back to Virginia.  We had a blast.  But  now we start a new week, and a new month, and I will be spending a lot time with another old friend.  Hello, treadmill.  Its been a while.