While on vacation in South Carolina I decided to head out and look around town for some new clothes to bring home. After searching on the internet and reading some reviews, I choose to seek out Stability Skate Shop. This locally owned and operated skate/surf shop is a perfect place to pick up all your goodies for dropping in on the concrete waves or taking to the real waves. Along with their vast selection of skateboards, surfboards, longboards, and all the apparel and safety gear you could imagine there is a full on skatepark behind the store!! $8 bucks for the whole day, which isn’t super steep compared to a lot of parks in Texas. The park is outdoor and is equipped with a street and transition section. I was able to cruise around late one night after they closed to check it out and will be definitely going back before the end of my trip. If you are ever in the North Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina and need to get some new kicks or clothes stop by and check them out!
Play It Again Music Center is Austin’s true Mom & Pop music shop. Owner, Carol Scarlett, is an encyclopedia of musical knowledge and is ready to share it with you! Located in Central Austin since 1986, Play It Again has continued to offer the lowest prices and quickest turn-around for instrument rentals, while providing lessons for any skill level of musician. As a bonus, if you need to get your instrument repaired or tuned, you are offered a free rental during that period to keep your musical skills in-tune. On top of rentals and lessons, Play It Again is home to books, videos, and gifts for any music lover.
Rob from RobAquatics
1) What inspired you to start your own blog?
I initially started my blog as a way to keep myself motivated to workout. I was a swimmer growing up but took a 10 year break after high school. I started to swim again at a local gym by myself and figured the blog would keep me honest. After a while the blog grew quite a bit and became a big part of my life. I’ve made a lot of friends through it and it’s given me a good excuse to travel all over the country. Years later it still remains as one of my major motivations to get out and work out regularly.
2) Do you have a favorite post on your blog?
I have a couple personal favorites. One that was just kind of silly and fun was my fake news announcement of a Rob Aquatics video game for the Nintendo Game Boy. Another is my by the numbers break down of my 2010 U.S. Open Water Swim tour that took me all over the country to various races.
3) What is your favorite hobby besides blogging? Why?
My blog and my hobbies blend together quite a bit. I really like to be in the water, especially the ocean, and generally blog about all my aquatic adventures. Swimming, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, stand up paddling, and kayaking are all things I really enjoy doing and writing about.
4) If you could narrow it down to one answer, what do you love the most about Avila Beach? Why?
Avila is the perfect California small beach town. It’s compact and mellow with beautiful weather, great views, and a semi protected patch of ocean that’s excellent for swimming.
5) What does “being local,” mean to you?
I think being local means appreciating what you have and taking care of where you live. I love Avila Beach and spend a lot of time selling my friends on coming out to visit. Once they visit they’re typically hooked :) I also think that as a local you should spend some time finding ways to better your town. In the winter when the weather is bad we get a lot of debris washed up onto the beach. I try to go out regularly to pick up trash when I can to make sure my beach remains a nice place to be
6) What are some of your favorite local independent establishments?
The Avila Grocery is the only grocery store in town and it has a kitchen in the back that serves up some pretty good, reasonably priced food. It’s a popular post swim hangout for my swim buddies and I.
SLO Coast Kayaks rents kayaks and stand up paddleboards as well as offering tours and instruction. The couple that runs it is super fun and enthusiastic.
The Seaweed Express offers Zodiac boat tours of San Luis Bay. Last year they provided boat support for my polar bear marathon swim from Avila Beach to Pismo Beach (http://robaquatics.com/2011/01/2011-pismo-polar-bear-10k-swim.html)
Centrally located, Pilates Studio Ann Arnoult is one of the most well known studios in Austin. Across from the Wheatsville Co-Op, Ann Arnoult’s studio is open 7 days a week and holds a variety of classes to meet your personal needs. With group classes and one-on-one sessions, the skilled trainers are there to motivate, encourage, and guide you down a healthy path. As well as promoting this method of body conditioning to her clients, Ann also helped bring Pilates to the Austin dance community after being appointed as the Director of Pilates at Ballet Austin from 1998 until 2007.
Tom Chandler from The Trout Underground
1) What inspired you to start your own blog?
A professional copywriter for more than two decades, I wanted an outlet for my non-commercial writing. As a mad fly fisherman, the subject matter was easy.
The Trout Underground took off like a rocket, and the cumulative effect has been startling. I’ve been interviewed on TV and my reviews have blurbed book covers. Most importantly, a community has grown up around the site, and if I don’t write about Wally the Wonderdog or one of my fishing buddies every couple weeks, I get emails demanding an update.
2) Do you have a favorite post on your blog?
You’d think a fly fishing blogger would choose some sort of two-fisted, giant fish post, but I’m looking to a pair of posts about my adopted daughter, with fly fishing playing a supporting role:
2. A Year In The Life Of A Fly Fishing Dad
3) What is your favorite hobby besides blogging? Why?
Oddly, I don’t consider blogging a hobby; I’m a writer, so it’s more an example of a compulsive behavior based on my fly fishing hobby.
4) If you could narrow it down to one answer, what do you love the most about Mt. Shasta, CA? Why?
The lack of crazy. I lived in the Silicon Valley for 15 years, and one day realized I was doing a lot of bizarre things to avoid the reality of an overcrowded, over-cranked, over-hyped environment.
When you’re shopping at midnight to avoid crowds and refusing to leave the house after 4:00 pm to avoid traffic jams, something’s out of balance. In Shasta, I fish, cycle, ski and hike literally minutes after I leave the front door.
That’s the opposite of crazy.
5) What does “being local,” mean to you?
It means loving where you are so much that you immerse yourself in it.
6) What are some of your favorite local independent establishments?
The Fifth Season is a serious outdoor gear store; no fly fishing gear, but plenty of ski, outdoor, backpacking and cycling goodies.
Do you think you are the chili master? Come test your skills at the 2011 Pflugerville Pfall ChiliPfest! Competitors from all over will be showcasing their chili in a chili cook-off. Along with the Chili competition there will be live music from Rotel and The Hot Tomatoes and a washer tournament. The FREE festival is open to people of all ages and is located on the 100-300 block of East Main Street in Pflugerville. So come on out and show off your chili cooking skills or just sit back and taste their chili masterpieces!
Jeff from TX Wine Lover
1) What inspired you to start your own blog?
My girlfriend and I started drinking more wine and visiting Texas wineries starting in January 2010. We still are developing the ability to describe the aromas and tastes of wine, but since we have visited over 100 Texas wineries, we thought we could at least tell of our experiences at the wineries. We thought this could help other people trying to decide on which wineries to visit and also help the wineries with some free promotion.
2) Do you have a favorite post on your blog?
The most fun we had was creating our very first TX Wine Lover Awards giving “awards” in different categories to the Texas wineries we had visited, like Best Tasting Room, Most Unique Wine, Best Tour, etc. It received a lot of positive comments from readers and the wineries themselves.
3) What is your favorite hobby besides blogging? Why?
Hmm, drinking wine? It obviously goes well with talking about Texas wine and wineries.
4) If you could narrow it down to one answer, what do you love the most about Houston? Why?
Since Houston is so large, the ability to be able to do and find things in your own area of Houston without having to travel to other parts of the city.
5) What does “being local,” mean to you?
Being local to us means supporting local businesses instead of chains and especially if those business are using local products such as food and beverages.
6) What are some of your favorite local independent establishments?
Los Cucos Mexican Café - which has now expanded into other parts of Texas. Their happy hour prices can’t be beat
Raoul’s Italian Grill – great Italian food
d’Vine Wine Bar – nice wine bar with good food.
Held on the beautiful grounds of Fiesta Gardens in Austin, TX. The Austin Celtic Festival has been the largest congregation of Celts in the Central Texas Area and has continued this amazing tradition for the past 15 years. Along with masters of traditional Celtic music, Highland Games, and cultural dancing, the Celtic Festival also allows guests to be involved with workshops, lectures, stories, and a special Celtic animal display. So come on out and see what all the noise is about on November 5/6, 2011 from Noon to 7:30PM.
Jen Strickland from Home Slice Pizza
1) What inspired you to create Home Slice with your husband and friend?
I SINCERELY LOVE PIZZA AND WAS MISSING THE KIND OF PIE I GREW UP EATING IN NY.
2) If you were a pizza, what kind of pizza would you be?
PEPPERONI AND MUSHROOM BECAUSE I CONSIDER MYSELF BOTH SPICY AND GROUNDED AND EARTHY AT THE SAME TIME. ALSO MY FAVORITE TO EAT — YUM
3) What is your favorite hobby or activity in Austin? Why?
EATING OUT AT ALL THE GREAT RESTAURANTS IN TOWN AND COOKING AND ENTERTAINING AT HOME
4) If you could narrow it down to one answer, what do you love the most about Austin? Why?
THE FRIENDLIEST PEOPLE ANYWHERE
5) What does “being local,” mean to you?
BEING MOM AND POP AND NOT CORPORATE, MAKING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR CUSTOMERS AND NEIGHBORS, GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY
6) Were there any local establishments that influenced or inspired the creation of Home Slice? Why?
THERE WASN’T EXACTLY ANY PIZZA INSPIRATION IN AUSTIN BUT WE WANTED TO BECOME AN AUSTIN INSTITUTION A LA CHUY’S, AMY’S, THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE, ETC.
