Hey Austinites, Vagney + London here. Between the two of us, we get the privilege of sharing local news, events, and conversations with readers in Austin, daily — here, and on our socials.

After a month and a half of bringing you ATXtoday, we thought we should formally introduce ourselves. Consider this us going in for a fist bump, then switching to a handshake, then settling on a hug.

Meet Vagney ✨

Q: What were the last three things you did downtown?

A: Oh, do I love a good downtown adventure. I recently enjoyed the city’s skyline from seven stories up at the Zanzibar located at the Austin Marriott Downtown, did a major grocery haul at the flagship Whole Foods market, and explored the Austin Convention Center area by foot.

Q: Hit us with your favorite piece of local trivia.

A: The Zilker Holiday Tree is made from one of the city’s remaining moontowers, which were originally purchased from the city of Detroit in 1894. Austin is the only city in America that continues to use moonlight towers.

Q: What are your tips for parking downtown on a weekend night?

A: Don’t. Use a rideshare app, walk, bike, even crawl if you have to — thank me later. If you just have to park downtown on the weekend, I find this local parking map to be very helpful.

Meet London 🪴

Q: You can only choose one local restaurant menu to bring with you to a deserted island — which one is it + why?

A: Bouldin Creek Cafe, hands down. Not only do they make a mean coffee (and I live on coffee), but their breakfast menu is one of my all-time favorites. The only challenge for me would be not eating a Breakfast Scramwich for every single meal.

Q: If you were taking someone on a tour around Austin, where are the three places you’re going?

A: If the weather was nice (which, let’s face it, it always is in Austin), I’d start the day with a walk around Lady Bird Lake on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail. After that, we’d have to stop for some tacos from Veracruz All Natural. To round off the perfect Austin day, I’d find a concert at one of the city’s famous downtown venues — Antone’s Nightclub and Stubb’s are some of my favorites.

Q: Hit us with your favorite piece of local trivia.

A: I’m from Marble Falls — a small town about an hour northwest of Austin, if you’re new to the area — so my favorite piece of local trivia has to be that the Texas Capitol was built using “sunset red” granite mined in my hometown in the 1880s. All in all, almost 190,000 cubic feet of granite was hauled into Austin on ~4,000 train-loads.