Eric Highland - The Austinot

Win Tickets to the Austin Food & Wine Festival Via Coolhaus

April 24, 2012 by Eric Highland 4 Comments

Coolhaus is taking Austin by storm! This is one of those Austin food trucks that you really need to check out. The heat is upon us and, short of hopping into the cool waters of Barton Springs, there are few better ways to cool down than with Coolhaus Austin!

With 4.5 stars on over 61 reviews on Yelp, why not check this place out and be entered to win tickets to one of Austin’s great festivals?

This is not a normally scheduled blog post for the Austinot, but we didn’t want our readers to miss out on a chance to win free tickets to the Austin Food & Wine Festival!

Our friends at Coolhaus Austin are giving away tickets and all you have to do is TASTE & TWEET. But you have to [Read more…]

Where Is the Best Thai Food in Austin?

April 16, 2012 by Eric Highland 57 Comments

Editor’s Note, February 26, 2014: Titaya’s is back! It took forever and I seriously lost hope that it would ever open up again. But it has and – in renovated form – it is absolutely beautiful! I tried it out to make sure the quality of the food didn’t bite the dust with the demolition of the old space. I liked what I saw and tasted. The world is right-side-up again.

Editor’s Note, September 20, 2013: To our immense disappointment, Titaya’s shut down for “temporary renovations” in December 2012 and has yet to reopen. Our hopes of tasting Titaya’s tempting cuisine has faded over the past months, and we’ve found ourselves hiding under the eaves of Thai Cuisine for solace.

At the Austinot, we are always searching for the next Austin gem. Just recently, we were wondering the answer to this question:

Where is the best Thai food in Austin?

I’m going to share my pick with you in this post. I know that our readers might disagree, but let me challenge you to comment if you disagree, and tell me your favorite. We’d be happy to go check out your recommendations because we love Thai food. And to say that we love exploring new restaurants in Austin would be an understatement.

Ready for my thoughts on the best Thai food in Austin? Check this…

So the other night, Brittany and I had a hankerin’ (this is Texas, you get hankerin’s ’round here) for some [Read more…]

Parkour in Austin – There’s a Reason It’s Called Freerunning

April 11, 2012 by Eric Highland 7 Comments

My sons Darius and Javen are obsessed with freerunning, or parkour as it is known. So when they came to visit me during Spring Break, I searched on the web for parkour in Austin and ran into Matthew Lee Willis through my surfing.

More on Matthew in a second, but what is parkour? And why are my sons and so many others obsessed with this rapidly growing movement?

If you aren’t familiar, it may be tough to explain. Parkour is like gymnastics without a gym, skateboarding without a skateboard, and rock climbing without gear, all rolled into one.

Visually, it is reminiscent of those fantastical moves that Jackie Chan does in the movies – where he bounces off walls and slides standing up down a rail [Read more…]

Startup Weekend Austin: 54 Hours That Could Change Your Life

March 29, 2012 by Eric Highland 2 Comments

Strap yourself in, Austin, for 54 hours that could revolutionize your life, and quite possibly the world.

Very few cities boast the creative power that Austin, Texas does. Creatives from all over the world find their way here, as if there were some sort of mystical Pied Piper leading the way. Once they get here, the networking opportunities available to these folks are endless!

Whether you are a developer, business manager, philanthropist, marketing guru, graphic artist, investor or simply a startup enthusiast, you won’t want to miss the event taking place this weekend in Austin.

What am I talking about and what makes this networking event different from the rest?

I’m talking about Startup Weekend Austin and, simply put, there is nothing quite like it.

This isn’t your traditional networking event. Startup Weekend is 54 hours of some of the most focused work that you’ll ever take part in. [Read more…]

Son of Sandlar Renaissance Boots and Garb

March 27, 2012 by Eric Highland 21 Comments

Have you ever run across a merchant artisan or vendor that you wish you could share with the world?

No, this is not a paid advertisement; we’ve not been compensated in any way for this post. We’ve just found a gem, and are so impressed that we want to share it with you.

Every artisan has a story and at the Austinot we love to hear these stories. Recently, we met up with Arik Helman at the Sherwood Forest Faire and asked him to share his story with us.

Arik is one of the driving forces behind Son of Sandlar, perhaps the finest provider of Renaissance boots for Renaissance faires and Live Action Role Play (LARP) events in the country, and quite possibly the world.

How can we make such a bold claim? The Helman family has been perfecting the craft of cobbling since long before anyone reading this post was around. They’ve been in the cobbler business for six generations.

How do craftsmen keep a legacy like this alive? Three words: [Read more…]

BrouHaHa Serves Up Non-Traditional Renaissance Fair Fare

March 19, 2012 by Eric Highland 9 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I really love traditional fair food: roasted corn, scones, turkey legs and funnel cakes. Just thinking of these things makes my mouth water, and I immediately want to pack the car and head to the nearest fair.

But what if I told you that perhaps the most popular dish at the Sherwood Forest Faire, named one of the country’s best Renaissance fairs and located just 35 miles east of Austin on Hwy 290, was not any of these traditional favorites…but – instead – an Ogre’s Toe.

Would you dare eat an Ogre’s Toe?

What if I told you that for 3 weeks, by far, it was the most widely talked about food item that I heard of while walking around the 25 acres of the Sherwood Forest Faire? Would you give it a try then?

Never in a million years would I have thought of an Ogre’s Toe as fair food, let alone something that I’d consider putting in my mouth. But read on my friend…if you want to try some of the best Renaissance fair fare ever invented, [Read more…]

Way South Philly Possibly The Best Philly Cheesesteak in Austin

March 15, 2012 by Eric Highland 6 Comments

When it comes to filling food for the working crowd, the party crowd, and the foodies in Austin, very few places compare to Way South Philly.

Possibly the best Philly Cheesesteak in Austin has been discovered by the Austinot.

First let me just say that if you know of a better Philly Cheesesteak joint in Austin, I’d like to hear about it. Until you prove me wrong, I’m going to have to give the nod for best Philly Cheesesteak in Austin to Way South Philly.

Located in a food truck lot on East 6th and Waller, just east of I-35, is a little red food truck. This little red truck packs such an authentic Philly flavor, it will have you humming the Rocky theme and looking to ring the Liberty Bell.

What makes this little truck so unique? Well honestly the lengths that Willy and Rich have taken to bring you the authentic Philly Cheesesteak experience. Check this out… [Read more…]

$50,000 Up For Grabs In Worldwide Scavenger Hunt During SXSW

March 8, 2012 by Eric Highland 1 Comment

Claim your share of $50,000 in a worldwide scavenger hunt during SXSW! It is pretty simple to participate, and this post will help you PWN the competition!

The scavenger hunt is put on by Freelancer.com. But before you go jumping to their site, read on for some quick tips to help you get ahead before it even starts.

I’ll be providing some good info on how you can get a leg up on the competition in this post.

But first, the basics:

Sign up and create a team
Complete as many tasks as possible
Team with the most points wins

Here are the prizes:

Grand Prize: $25,000
Second Place: $10,000
Third Place: $5,000

Also there will be ten $1,000 daily prizes.

Now for the inside scoop on how you can get a leg up on your competition: [Read more…]

Sherwood Forest Camping Weekend with a Renaissance Fair Clan

March 6, 2012 by Eric Highland 33 Comments

You’ve never been camping until you’ve camped with a Renaissance fair clan.

A clan is a group of people from different walks of life who, over many years, have formed a unique bond with one another. Through the magic of the Renaissance fair, they have become a true family.

Recently, I had the extremely rare opportunity of being a blogger who was allowed to camp at the Sherwood Forest Faire with an established clan. I could have camped in the general camping area, but I wanted to get the “full experience.”

So it was suggested to me that I ask a clan if I could camp with them.

To understand why this was such a privilege, remember that clans are a family and relatively private to outsiders. Allowing a stranger to pitch a tent in your clan’s campground is akin to allowing a complete stranger into your home to sleep.

Out of respect for their privacy, [Read more…]