Well, that happened – Austin Edition
By Matt Warman
Wow. Just wow. When watching from home a loss like that is devastating. On the road? Not so much. I know it sounds weird, but it has to do with the travel.
This post mostly deals with going to an away match. If you haven’t gone, it’s a different but rewarding experience. There are basically 3 types of away travel: vacation, business trip, and super mega ultra!
A vacation away travel means you came in a couple of days before the match and stay a couple of days after the match. This gives you time to really explore a city. You get to talk to locals, find the good places to go, and are usually the welcome committee for everybody else.
The business trip is coming in the day before and rolling out the day after. There’s fun to be had, but it’s not a vacation
Super Mega ultra is coming in and leaving as close to game time as possible. I am in it for the game!
Regardless of your selection, the best part of the travel is the bonds you make with your fellow orange and blue fans. Of course, there are stories, which I will get to, but just hanging with people you may not know, but already have a common interest.
Sheila and I booked our Austin flight shortly after the schedule came out. My thought was central Texas will be warm! Wrong! I believe it was warmer in Cincinnati. Upper 30s with drizzle and a cold, Northerly breeze. The weather didn’t change from Friday evening until Sunday morning. we were business trip travelers but met Tom Beversdorf and his friend Tristan on the flight down. We went to hotel, dropped off the bags, and grabbed some Tex-Mex. A pro-tip: If you want to meet up with away supporters, put yourself out there on FCC socials. we found out that RD and Sarah Kraft were at an Irish bar nearby(score!), so the six of us hung out at Jack and Gingers. Great band and very diverse crowd made for a fun evening.
Another pro-tip: organize an event to meet people. I pre-ordered Brisket at Terry Black’s and it did not disappoint. I got 5 other people to chip in and we got the small family meal. Picked it up and ate it at the meetup bar the picture should make you hungry (and jealous!) . our supporter meetup bar was Adelbert’s. They had some good beer and mead! There was an epic table tennis match, darts were flying, and metal music in the background. We did some chants and marched to the stadium. Usually, they want you to be early, but Austin didn’t seem to care. Away supporter sections are also general seating. Our section was partially filled with Austin fans but there wasn’t a problem.
Most times the home supporter groups will invite you to tailgate. This is fun to hang with the “opposition”. They invited us to a chili cook-off, but most people hung at our place because of the weather (and likely because no one brought Skyline). After the game the fans were very nice. Sheila and I made our way to a ramen shop which was delicious! Really anything warm after standing in that weather would have been nice. We made it an early night and came home on Sunday full of fond memories and hope to return sometime.
I hope to make this a regular occurrence. If anyone is going to an away match and could write about your experience, let us know!