Things to do and see in Austin
 

I'm heading to Austin to stay with family for 2 weeks over Easter. I've been once before but it was for a family wedding so there wasn't too much time for sightseing etc. I have quite a few friends and relatives around the area but most of them will be working during the day so I'm looking for ways to fill my time.

If anyone has any recommendations of places to visit / things to see / restaurants to go to that would be great. My parents (in their late 60's) will also be there for some of my stay so anything that would also be suitable for them would be fantastic (they're pretty spritely but my Dad has some problems with his leg so nothing too physically demanding). We will have a car so places a bit further out are fine too.

Many thanks in advance :D

The state capitol is nice,there is the Texas State History Museum, you can watch the bats come out of the Congress Bridge, to name a few.

Also a day trip to San Antonio is possible since its only about an hour drive away.

There's a possibility you'll be too early for the bats. They arrive late March through mid-late April, it just depends.

However, Austin never runs out of things to do:

1) Great music, not just on 6th Street but in multiple venues around town.
2) Take a tour of the highland lakes.
3) Bluebonnets will be starting to erupt everywhere - Burnet has their bluebonnet festival (small but cute) April 9-11.
4) Educate yourself about BBQ, Texas style. Take a trip East to Taylor for Louie Mueller's, south to Lockhart for Smitty's (my fave), Kreuz's, or Black's, a bit farther south for City Market in Luling, or west to Llano for Cooper's.
5) Visit the State Capitol
6) Have a drink in the lobby bar at the Driskill
7) Visit Zilker Park and see the botanical gardens or take a dip in the Barton Springs Pool (cold even in summer)

Check Austin 360's website to check music/entertainment in the area as well as restaurants and events.

Things to do in Austin
 

Yes, you have to see a live band, eat some barbeque and watch the bats.

Thanks for the great suggestions everyone ^ (more welcome of course).

I've already seen a few lives bands in Austin but looking forward to seeing plenty more. I'm also well aquainted with Zilker Park and Barton Springs (as they are just a stone's throw from where my family live), both beautiful places I look forward to seeing much more of :D

I've been in a canoe under the bridge during the day but am yet to see them at night, fingers crossed it won't be too early for them.

My question is what to do this weekend?
 

Great thread. I am off to AUS this weekend. I think I have bbq and tex-mex covered, as well as a day trip to San Antonio.

My question is what to do this weekend?

Probably too cold for bats and swimming. I have a two year old too.

Any ideas?

In addition to the Texas State History Museum, another Austin museum well worth visiting is the Blanton Museum of art, very near the History Museum.

Also, a day trip to the hill country may be of interest. Some places to visit include Lyndon Johnson National Historical Park, Fredericksburg (a quaint and touristy German town), and the wineries. This is all about 1.25-2 hours West of Austin.

Go to Scholz's and drink beer with the ghosts of the past. That's J. Frank Dobie settin' over in the corner of the backyard. Mosts there have been there often, some over many decades.

Walk up (or down) Guadelupe. Go to Dirty's. Have another beer or two. Eat a burger.

Go to Cisco's for breakfast. Occasionally the famous and more often the infamous will be there.

There used to be a great model airplance collection in the Tower, now likely hidden away. Even more deeply concealed is the Kinsey Collection of pornography which includes all the great 40s and 50s stuff owned by former Egyptian King Farouk who had money and furrin' agents to purchase and send examples to him in the Diplomatic Bag. Hell of a library of "8 Pagers", classic 'Merkin porno from the Golde Age.

You've got to know somebody, a real somebody for access.

There are several great, and free museums on the campus of The University of Texas. You can see original local dino footprints, an original Gutenberg bible, and the first photo ever taken, for example. Plus various collections of art. However, parking on or near campus is not fun/cheap.

Ciao,
FH

Check out the Oasis Restaurant on Lake Travis. It has some amazing views over looking the lake. Or at least it did, it burnt down a few years ago but was rebuilt.

http://www.oasis-austin.com/

I agree, sunset at the Oasis on the deck with a margarita in hand is wonderful. Food: mediocre at best, but the view is great.

open question to this thread, is there a better website to search local music.

Both websites quoted in this thread are VERY limited in listings.

1) what are the good music venues in town? (I realize good music can happen anywhere but some venues are known for producing more of it than others)

2) anyone done the Sunday gospel brunch @ Stubb's ?

Heading the Austin this coming weekend.

Thanks !!!

I am taking Mrs_E to see Elton John on April 10th at the John Frank Erwin Events Center, that is with the 2-weeks mentioned by the OPs timeline.

Good if you like that kinda stuff.

This seems like a major venue, I was looking for a listing/ranking of the smaller Austin joints.

good music venues

the continental club
momo's
saxon pub
antone's (home of the blues)
the cactus cafe (UT campus)
Stubb's
Threadgill's
The Broken Spoke (for country dancing)
the hole in the wall

are among my fave's
here's a good link
http://www.austinmetro.com/
have fun,
dan

detailed link^ thanks.
Triple Crown must be a large place as they have 3 acts scheduled for the same time/same night.

See if these two get you better results:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/
http://www.austintexas.org/musicians/

The music scenes in Austin are so vibrant. Country, indie, Blues.. you name it. Not to skip Antone's if you are into Blues. Live concerts at Hill's Cafe on South Congress Ave gets syndicated over the radio all the time.

I would have recommended you the 19-year-old local radio station, KGSR, to sample some local tunes. But it appears KGSR has changed since 11/20/09 and everyone misses the old KGSR. The changes escaped me since I'd checked out from Austin months ago. :(

KGSR is still around and still plays some local music.
Another good station is KUT 90.5

365 things to do in Austin
 

http://localism.com/blog/tx/austin/p...5-Things-To-Do

There's a facebook page with similar activities.

Some other things:
View from Mt. Bonnell
View from 360 Bridge
Austin Restaurant Week (on this coming week)

here's our Austin mini-trip report (went in early March 2010)
 

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.

--

Go to Perlas in Soco next time you are there. have dessert. You will thank me. :)

Perla's website: www.perlasaustin.com

Looked at the dessert menu online, the fried apple pies with sharp cheddar and caramel ice cream made me drool:)

Expensive raw bar at least compared to what we paid for a 1/2 dozen oysters in Houston.

NYTimes: Tacos in the Morning? That’s the Routine in Austin