The University of Texas is a perennial power in the annual listing of the nation’s top party schools, and seemingly every one of the 50,000 students was roaming the sidewalks and bars of the Sixth Street entertainment strip on this fall weeknight.
There were coeds in high heels, frat boys in cargo shorts and sandals, and couples with matching chopped orange hair and tattoos doing their best to “Keep Austin Weird.” But if you want to sample the real flavor of the Lone Star State’s funkiest city, here, based on four days and nights of exhaustive research, are the best picks of honky-tonks, restaurants, museums and other distinctly Southwestern attractions that you won’t want to miss.
Mexican free-tailed bats
BATCON.ORG
Since 1980, a colony of bats grew to about 1.5 million and the city called for the exterminators. Cooler heads prevailed. What once was seen as a threat is now a city symbol and tourist attraction. There’s a bat sculpture as public art, and the local hockey team is the Austin Ice Bats. From March through October, when the bats are visiting, folks gather on the bridge and below it to watch the stream of hungry bats exiting at sunset.
Music festivals
The city bills itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World.” Austin City Limits shows are taped at KLRU studios on the University of Texas campus. The Austin City Limits Music Festival (aclfest.com) has about 130 bands on three days each September. In mid-March, thousands of musicians and fans converge on the city for the South by Southwest Music, Film & Alternative festival (sxsw.com).
Broken Spoke
BROKENSPOKE
AUSTINTX.COM
The sign out front of this bar says, “Through this door pass the best country dancers in the world.” A small museum has cowboy hats that belonged to LBJ, Willie Nelson and George Strait. A plaque inducting Bob Wills into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame is on the wall.
Allens Boots
ALLENSBOOTS.COM
Rogelio Adame, sales associate at Allens Boots on South Congress Avenue, showed off boots made of alligator, crocodile, ostrich, African antelope, goat and calf, with prices starting at a couple hundred and topping out at $6,000 a pair.
Continental Club
More Top Picks Kneelers Plants
WWW.CONTINENTAL CLUB.COM/AUSTIN.HTML
The Continental Club also is a South Congress survivor and the granddaddy of Austin’s wealth of live music venues, serving up legends since 1957.
Austin Motel and Driskill Hotel
AUSTINMOTEL.COM, DRISKILLHOTEL.COM
The Austin Motel and Driskill Hotel are the yin and yang of lodging in this city. At the Austin Motel, rooms start at $62 and go to $137 for the two suites. At the luxurious Driskill, a package for two starts at $225 a night and includes breakfast. Beware, a couple can easily spend that on dinner in the hotel’s five-star restaurant.
Waterloo Records
WATERLOORECORDS.COM
Waterloo Records on Lamar Boulevard has CDs by every imaginable artist in alphabetical order, from ABBA to ZZ Top. Yes, it was Nirvana for a music lover.
Oasis
OASIS-AUSTIN.COM
The start of a perfect evening begins with a 30-minute drive from downtown Austin to the restaurant Oasis, which proclaims itself the “Sunset Capital of Texas.” The decks that cascade down a bluff overlooking Lake Travis have been rebuilt, and the place is once again serving terrific views with its margaritas and chicken fireballs appetizer. There are more than 40 decks, but you might want to get there an hour or so before sunset to get a good seat.