What to do in Austin, TX - Whirlwind Edition

So the wife and I are flying out tonight to Austin. We are going to go see a reunion show for a friend's band Saturday night, and are leaving ass-early Sunday, but will some time tonight, and all of Saturday before the show to get around and check things out. No car, but we are staying downtown and can cab it.

What would I be sad if I missed?

GO!

Gimp wrote: So the wife and I are flying out tonight to Austin. We are going to go see a reunion show for a friend's band Saturday night, and are leaving ass-early Sunday, but will some time tonight, and all of Saturday before the show to get around and check things out. No car, but we are staying downtown and can cab it. What would I be sad if I missed? GO!

• Bats at the Congress St bridge.
• Dinner and a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse Theater. The wife and I walked from Congress @ the lake to the theater, but that's on the outside of fun evening walking for many.
• Anything from 512 brewing.
• The trails and park around Lady Bird lake. Depending on the weather and availability, padding the lake is fun too.
• The shops in the SoCo area.
• El Alma Cafe Y Cantina - if the weather is good, sit out back.
• Food from a trailer.
• We discovered Geeks Who Drink on a poster at a smoothie bar and decided to take in an event. You get to mingle with brainy college students, and get destroyed by their knowledge of minutiae while having some quality beer. Of course, this isn't a strictly local type of event, but it was certainly a fun point on my Austin trip.

The public transportation is okay - I'd take a bus rather than a cab or a shuttle to\from the airport. The frequency of buses isn't great. If you have a smart or smart-ish phone, install the Google Maps app and use the public transportation routing.

My previous thread on the topic yielded a suggestion to see the F1 track.

+1 on the Alamo Drafthouse Theater

Also the Bob Bullocks Texas State Museum is pretty damn cool.

http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/

If you are a cyclist, visit Mellow Johnny's bike shop - owned by Lance. Actually a very cool, commuter oriented shop in an old building, not the Armstrong shrine I was expecting. THey do have some actual TdF bikes up which I thought was cool.

Food trailers on SouthCongress, +1.

Eat at Bone Daddy's BBQ...oh wait, you're wife's going. Scratch that.

ultraclyde wrote: If you are a cyclist, visit Mellow Johnny's bike shop - owned by Lance. Actually a very cool, commuter oriented shop in an old building, not the Armstrong shrine I was expecting. THey do have some actual TdF bikes up which I thought was cool. Food trailers on SouthCongress, +1. Eat at Bone Daddy's BBQ...oh wait, you're wife's going. Scratch that.

Bone Daddy's is fine with the wife, but warn her first. It's WAY better than Hooters! Both scenery and food. It's not trashy. I am considering making a trip down this weekend. A friend of mine is flying in from California and will be there all weekend. I'll definitely hit up Bone Daddy's with him.

You're probably right C351, as long as the wife is open to your ogling ike a cartoon wolf.

before I ate there I really didn't know they could make shorts that small.

And the food is actually really good too. Bonus.

ultraclyde wrote: You're probably right C351, as long as the wife is open to your ogling ike a cartoon wolf. before I ate there I really didn't know they could make shorts that small. And the food is actually really good too. Bonus.

had a girl that worked there bring her jetta in for a battery with her "dad's friend" when i was working at AZ, he was asking what she made in a night, apparently on fri-sat nights they can make over a grand, and weekdays they make 250-500/night (!).

as for what to see, the UT campus is nice if you get up to the texas state history museum, but not required really unless you're a fan. Live Oak Brewery does free tours and tastings on saturday mornings. they make some pretty good beer.

if you like dive bars, there are some decent ones around campus, the Crown & Anchor has great burgers, down the street from there is Posse East, on Guadalupe St. there is I think Lone Star Bar and a couple others.

for dinner, find a trudy's, there are four or five of them around town, order a (limit 2) mexican martini and try the fried stuffed avocado.

Just got back from Austin. Truck food is expensive - VERY expensive and not all that good, but there are a lot of good restaurants around. Truck food sounds much cooler than it really is.

I love the meat at the Green Mesquite @ 1400 Barton Springs.

Torchy's Tacos are very good. Both their truck and their inside dining is very near Green Mesquite on 1st, I think. Get their Jerk Chicken version but be careful with the Habanero sauce that comes with it.

Go see the Whole Foods Mother Ship (main store). It's really cool. 6 restaurants and all kinds of neat displays and food choices. Love their dessert bar. They have a skating rink on their 2nd floor.

Has anyone mentioned going out to see the new F1 track? On the bypass loop 130 at the FM 812 exit.

+2 on Alamo Drafthouse. Get the beer milkshake. Really. Deelishus.

Margie

Must get BBQ, Poke Joe's, Ironworks, Saltlick. Bat's are not in town during the Winter. They go down to Mexico. Go to Guero's. Have the El Presidente. Visit South Congress Ave.

carguy123 wrote: Has anyone mentioned going out to see the new F1 track? On the bypass loop 130 at the FM 812 exit.

Might be kinda boring and pricey without a car.

I don't have much to add. You'll be seeing a live band, in Austin (probably on 6th st.). The city calls itself the "Live Music Capital of the World", so you're pretty much doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing in Austin.

FWIW, Austin has some cool/funky shops on 6th street during the day that might be worth checking out if you're staying downtown ish. Just a few blocks north is the state capital and a few blocks north of that is the University of Texas, which is a pretty cool campus. You could get dropped off on "the Drag" (Guadalupe is the main street next to the school) and easily waste a day.

Austin's a cool place to relax. I highly suggest doing that. A great place to have lunch is somewhere on Barton Springs road. Threadgill's is awesome, down home, southern cooking and where (not in that location, however) Janis Joplin use to sing.

-Rob

Green Mesquite on Barton Springs has good BBQ. Austin has lots of good restaurants to eat at. As stated, it is a very nice place to chill. F1 track underway too.

Also Green Mesquite on Barton Springs has cool live music.

Really? 13 posts in and no one has mentioned Oasis? Actually, skip the Oasis. Go to uncle billy's brew & Q, the Lake Travis one, not the one on Barton Creek. Order the agave wheat beer, and enjoy the view. Don't order the BBQ, it sucks.

If you have your own transportation, and want amazing BBQ, visit Lockhart, TX. (The F1 track is a 5 minute detour).

If you're into rock climbing at all, the greenbelt off of 360 has some easily accessible routes. Oh, and Chuy's mexican food rocks my face off.

Oasis is kinda far out from downtown, if you are doing a quick trip to Austin. Food is not good, and if you don't get there at sunset, the view is not all that is cracked up to be. The Lake level is at a record low, so that is not impressive either. Lockhart's kreuz market is great, but really far out and you have to know where you are going. You would need more time than a day or so to do all that, but if you can and like Q -- do it

calteg wrote: Really? 13 posts in and no one has mentioned Oasis? Actually, skip the Oasis. Go to uncle billy's brew & Q, the Lake Travis one, not the one on Barton Creek. Order the agave wheat beer, and enjoy the view. Don't order the BBQ, it sucks. If you have your own transportation, and want amazing BBQ, visit Lockhart, TX. (The F1 track is a 5 minute detour). If you're into rock climbing at all, the greenbelt off of 360 has some easily accessible routes. Oh, and Chuy's mexican food rocks my face off.