The newly-renamed Lake Lady Bird (which is really a river) just south of downtown has a nice hike and bike trail where at the Congress Ave bridge the nation's largest bat colony flies out every night, which can be fun to watch.
Sixth Street has the bar scene where there's a lot of people walking around and a lot of no-cover places competing for your attention with their live bands, although it's more of a frat-boy type of area.
South Congress has a lot of boutique shops and antique stores and little eateries.
There's a restaurant called Oasis a little west of town where you can get a great view of the hills around Lake Travis (which is really a lake).
Don't eat any boring food. There are tons of great local chains for every kind of food you could imagine. Zen for Japanese food, Thundercloud Subs for sandwiches, lots of pizza choices, etc.
Kim suggested South Congress Cafe to me and it had regular prices and food that rivaled much more expensive places.
Tacodeli makes all sorts of wonderful handcrafted tacos and they have a lot of good vegetarian/vegan options.
Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World so you will have no trouble finding a million bars and clubs with someone live playing.
People go swimming at places like Barton Springs (I've never been).
There is a great supermarket called Central Market with all sorts of interesting food and stuff (I still haven't been) and there is also the flagship Whole Foods Market downtown at 6th and Lamar.
The Alamo Drafthouse is the nation's best movie theatre as rated by Entertainment Weekly. It's irreverent and they holds lots of special showings of indie stuff and kitschy stuff, and they serve beer and meals while you watch. They have a thing where live comedians make fun of the movie you watch sometimes.
These lists of things always come across food-centric, but there are also a lot of local events. Be sure to check listings like the Austin Chronicle or do512.com
Thanks for all the great suggestions, Grant! I forgot that you're in Austin. Are you going to Maker Faire? I'm flying to Oklahoma in October and my mom, my sister and I are driving down. I think we'll be spending most of our time at the fair, but we've all heard good things about Austin, so we're looking forward to exploring while we're there.
Comments
There are a great many things to do here.
The newly-renamed Lake Lady Bird (which is really a river) just south of downtown has a nice hike and bike trail where at the Congress Ave bridge the nation's largest bat colony flies out every night, which can be fun to watch.
Sixth Street has the bar scene where there's a lot of people walking around and a lot of no-cover places competing for your attention with their live bands, although it's more of a frat-boy type of area.
South Congress has a lot of boutique shops and antique stores and little eateries.
There's a restaurant called Oasis a little west of town where you can get a great view of the hills around Lake Travis (which is really a lake).
Don't eat any boring food. There are tons of great local chains for every kind of food you could imagine. Zen for Japanese food, Thundercloud Subs for sandwiches, lots of pizza choices, etc.
Kim suggested South Congress Cafe to me and it had regular prices and food that rivaled much more expensive places.
Tacodeli makes all sorts of wonderful handcrafted tacos and they have a lot of good vegetarian/vegan options.
Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World so you will have no trouble finding a million bars and clubs with someone live playing.
People go swimming at places like Barton Springs (I've never been).
There is a great supermarket called Central Market with all sorts of interesting food and stuff (I still haven't been) and there is also the flagship Whole Foods Market downtown at 6th and Lamar.
The Alamo Drafthouse is the nation's best movie theatre as rated by Entertainment Weekly. It's irreverent and they holds lots of special showings of indie stuff and kitschy stuff, and they serve beer and meals while you watch. They have a thing where live comedians make fun of the movie you watch sometimes.
These lists of things always come across food-centric, but there are also a lot of local events. Be sure to check listings like the Austin Chronicle or do512.com