Sweet Willie

this was fantastic, we really enjoyed this:-:^:-:
as easy walk up from the parking area and the views are wonderful (don't just stay at the first viewpoint area, walk to both the left (for a view of the downtown) & the right for a view up the Colorado river (this was my favorite).

We also:

Went to Juan in a Million for breakfast, my migas were terrific, everyone else loved their breakfast as well. www.juaninamillion.com
We were very lucky, as we went for breakfast on a Sunday and arrived just after 10am, there was parking right on the street, just to side of the restaurant and a table was ready w/in a minute. Shortly after there must have been 30 people outside waiting for a table, sure got lucky with the timing here.

In the afternoon, we walked around the SoCo (south Congress) area. One of my nephews got some great shirts from Allens Boots www.allensboots.com We also spent a bit of time at the Continental Club, what a great vibe and it was fun to see all the couples of all ages dancing two-step (I think) to the live music, this was soo much fun !!! www.continentalclub.com

Ended up dining at Magnolia Cafe, food was good but I think this would be a better breakfast place than lunch/dinner spot, especially seeing as it is a 24 hour place, but our dinner was good enough. http://themagnoliacafe.com

Unfortunately we only had one day in Austin and late that evening after getting back to the hotel from the SoCo area, one of our family had a medical issue that kept us at the hotel, so we never did go out and party on 4th or 6th. (but after our fun filled day, we will for sure make it back to Austin)

I've asked my nephew who now resides in Austin to look into boat rentals for this summer, it would be a hoot to be down on a weekday (when the river is not busy like I can only imagine the weekends are) and ski/party/cruise the various 'Lakes" that make up the river. BTW when we were on Mt Bonnel, looking down on the river, we saw some guy riding one of these http://www.airchair.com/ wow did it look fun !!

On a side note, Austin is not far from Lockhart where we ate at Smitty's Market BBQ http://www.smittysmarket.com
The atmosphere of Smitty's is a carnivore's dream, large smoke pits filled with all different cuts of meat, with open fires just outside the pits, smoked being sucked into the pit. Awesome^^
The BBQ was hit n miss with our group, the brisket was some of the driest we've ever had (such a bummer), the pork ribs were much better than they usually are in Texas, the links we thought were killer, the prime rib was great (can prime rib really ever be bad????)


Thanks to all the suggestions in this thread, please keep them coming as we'll be back.

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