I've heard a lot of great things about Austin before I finally went there for the first time in November. I became a huge George Strait fan at that time and felt particularly prepared for my time in Texas. Even though the city's slogan "Keep Austin Weird" had us suspect that the city would be just the right place for me, I had no idea how much we would fall in love with this city.
Austin won me over with its countless live music events, craft beer places, food trucks, and laid back character.
Austin unfortunately banned Uber and Lyft but RideAustin is a similar alternative. And maybe - MAYBE - your driver happens to be the tour manager of a country band (of course, duh!) and can get you on a guest list for a show at The Parish. Welcome to Austin.
Fun on 6th and Rainy
My hotel was conveniently located near 6th Street and Rainy Street, the latter with a nice view of Lady Bird Lake. On my first evening, we had to check out some bars on 6th Street. After all, this seems to be one of the most legendary areas in Austin and I was not disappointed. Besides countless live music shows I was also inhaling some "German flair" at the Easy Tiger Biergarten downtown.
Even though you can spend days of bar hopping until you can't keep your eyes open anymore, my favourite on Rainy Street quickly became Craft Pride.
The stars at night are big and bright
If you go to Austin you should definitely check out the bar scene but not only that! I can also recommend checking out the Texas State Capitol (which also has some nice trees around there for the hippies among you) and the presidential library of LBJ The library is near the university so you can also check out the campus and football stadium!
Beer & Music
On Saturday I planned a trip to Austin's Jester King Brewery (yes, it's apparently still Austin, even though the brewery is IN THE CUTS). Given that you had to drive on-farm tracks in order to get there we were really surprised how popular the brewery was when I got there. To be honest, I expected a more intimate atmosphere, but the visit was great nonetheless!
Jester King's specialisation is spontaneous fermentation but for everyone who's not a huge beer fan - there's also pizza! ;-)
In the evening I attended the Bart Crow concert at The Parish - which is one of the best indoor live music venues in Austin and I highly recommend stopping by if you get the chance.
A stroll around South Congress
On my last day I checked out the South Congress area and stopped by at Torchy's Tacos - apparently one of the best taco places in town according to my RideAustin driver. Kat's lesson learned: Tacos are totally a breakfast food :)
I also had to check out Allens Boots and I swear if there would have been any way to ship it all back to Germany at some point, I would have bought some shoes and hats. I particularly fell in love with the George Strait version.
My last stop was Austin's Botanical Garden (hippies ftw!) which offers a variety of plants and a great view of the city.
I have heard quite a bit about the State of Texas and it's culture and also about the city of Austin and it's weirdness. Even though I found it super interesting I never would have thought that I would like it there so much. Ever since I went to Austin I can't wait to go back and discover even more. Howdy, Texas, I'll be back!
Kate recommends: If you're going to Austin for the first time, a good read is Indelilble Austin: Selected Histories by Michael Barnes. The book is a collection of historical columns from journalist Michael Barnes. Austin has so much to offer and thereare tons of book about different scenes that this column might be a good first choice to learn about the whole story of Austin's past as it offers insights about Austin's diverse cummunities, politics and culture.