What to do in Austin, Texas during a long weekend?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ll be in Austin next weekend with a small group of friends. It’s an annual get together of old friends that is tied to the NCAA tournament, as a sort of pretext. Personally, while I enjoy March Madness to some degree, it’s a lot more about spending time with these friends, most of us now scattered across the United States.

Anyway, will be in town for about four days, roughly 1/4 of which will be filled with basketball attendance. We’re staying on 15th Street, between the Capitol and Campus, and probably won’t have a car directly available.

Any suggestions welcome.

2

Unlike most Texas cities, Austin has a semi-decent bus system (thanks to being a college town) so the lack of a car isn’t immediately an issue.

Are you looking for outdoor-sy stuff? Museums? Restaurants? To get shit-faced with undergrads?

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Actually pretty wide open. A couple of the guys are interested in running some kind of beer related 10K (not sure exactly how that works). I read about a BBQ place called Franklins that sound intriguing if not a bit time intensive for a lunch.

Just kind of stuff where, if I didn’t do it, I would hear later from someone who knows the city, “I can’t believe you went to Austin and didn’t…”

4

For places easily reachable by bus or inexpensive cab ride:

Esther’s Follies on Sixth Street is an Austin institution offering live sketch comedy and magic. Lots of fun. You’ll probably need to reserve your tickets in advance. Combine it with a stroll up and down the length of Sixth Street, just for fun people-watching.

Zilker Park, just across Lady Bird Lake (actually a river) from downtown, is a terrific urban park. You can swim in Barton Springs, although the 68-degree water makes for a cold swim. Great hike-bike trails, nice botanical gardens.

Food-wise, barbecue and Tex-Mex are the quintessential local cuisines. For centrally-located barbecue, Franklin’s is probably the way to go. The original Chuy’s on Barton Springs Road (right near Zilker Park) is decent and certainly iconic Tex-Mex. Other good places not far from where you’ll be staying are Hut’s Hamburgers (Sixth Street a few blocks west of downtown), Hoover’s (home cooking, on Manor Road a few blocks east of I-35), and the Eastside Cafe (just good food, across from Hoover’s).

Bar-wise, the Warehouse District (centered around Fourth Street, west of Congress) has several good bars that cater more to the 30-and-up set. I also rather like The Tavern (12th and Lamar), although it’s more of a bar-restaurant hybrid.

If you do history stuff, the Capitol, the Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History just north of it, and the LBJ Library and the Harry Ransom Center at UT have a lot of interesting things going on- all are cool.

If you’re willing to rent a car for a day or pay for more expensive cab fare, Mount Bonnell provides a beautiful view of the city to the east, Lake Austin (also a river) directly below, and the hill country to the west. Terrific place to watch a sunset. As is the Oasis at Lake Travis, if you want to have a drink or a so-so dinner while doing so.

Enjoy your visit!

5

See the bats leave their roost under the Congress street bridge. They’re supposed to come out of hibernation in March, so that might have already started.

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While checking out the bats, you can walk down the path a bit and pay your respects to Stevie Ray Vaughn.

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If you’re going over that direction, I’d go down Lamar to Matt’s El Rancho rather than go to Chuy’s. Matt’s is better, IMO, and definitely more old-school.

Good luck with Franklin’s BBQ… the line is always huge, since it’s an “in” spot right now.

For you guys, I’d consider Uncle Billy’s Brew-and-Que over near Chuy’s on Barton Springs- it’s a combination microbrewery / barbecue place, and the last time I went there a year or so ago, both the beer and the barbecue were very good, if not awesome.

I’d also try and visit Hill’s Cafe down on S. Congress south of Ben White Fwy (71)- great chicken fried steaks and hamburgers.

For breakfast, I’d hit up one of the Magnolia or Kerbey Lane Cafes- they’ve been around forever and are pretty good.

8

Walk down South Congress. There are food trucks, Hopdoddy’s (a burger place), Guero’s (tex-mex), Home Slice (pizza), as well as a lot of hipsters to snicker at.

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The Oasis is a good place to eat while watching the sun set over the lake, even though it’s been low for awhile now.

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You could go to the Austin Postcard Mural, take a picture of yourself standing in front of it, print it out and mail it to someone as a postcard.

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So… what did you end up doing?