A weekend of writing, dining, bicycling, and prom

Okay, so Cyn and I only did the first two of those things.

We took a working weekend at the new Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, just outside Austin. The place is less than two years old and features Colorado River frontage, golf (if you’re into that), horseback riding, a winding (artificial) river pool, tennis, and various gardens. Because it’s spring in central Texas, this also means an excellent array of wildflowers.

We drove up Friday afternoon and spent a few hours in the room and on the balcony working on our current projects (Cyn was doing the graphic novel for Tantalize). Then we went for a walk along the river and changed for dinner. We ate at Stories, where I had the crispy poached egg and venison, and Cyn had the tuna tartare and lobster. Service and food were outstanding. After dinner, we had a drink at the Scribes' Club.

Saturday, we got up early: Cyn went for a spa treatment at Django Spa, and I went for a run along the river path(s). Afterwards, we had brunch at Firewheel Cafe. Chicken wrap and burger were excellent. Then we worked another few hours on our current projects and went out for a late lunch/early dinner at Sheller’s. The shrimp cocktail was terrific and the “Original cheese pie” was quite good as well, although one wonders why one needs a euphemism for “pizza.” :-)

Sunday morning, we slept in, then I went for another run along the river, and we worked on novels again, before taking a late checkout.

Oh, and the other two references in the header?

It was the weekend of the BPMS 150, the Multiple Sclerosis Society fundraising bike ride from Houston to Austin. A significant number of the teams apparently decided to do the overnight at the resort rather than in sleeping bags at the La Grange fairgrounds. (When I was in grad school, I did the event once with a group of friends and, believe me, we thought staying at a hotel rather than roughing it was the height of decadence (as well as being out of our budgets). :-))

As for prom, well, it was also the weekend of the Bastrop High School Prom. Jeepers. Was I ever that young? :-)