Austin - Keeping it Weird

"Keep Austin Weird"

I don't know if I have ever been to a city that has more lived up to its tagline than Austin. Austin is a weird place but in such an interesting & unique way.

Austin is hot! I'm pretty sure that I am still re-hydrating myself from this trip. Not even exaggerating it was about 95 and 95% humidity every single day. There was no break not even the daily rain showers provided any relief (it rains once a day for like 10 min here). Every bit of clothing that I brought with me ended up covered in sweat. So note to self bring a hat next time and don't even worry about being gross with sweat it's going to happen.

I started every morning with a hot hot run. Besides the heat Austin is a really cool city to run in. Downtown has some great trails and parks to run through but I will say for the heat it really is lacking water fountains. The trail I ran most was the "Ann and Roy Buttler Hike and Bike Trail". This trail goes along the river, along Lady Bird Lake, through various parks and through downtown. It a beautiful way to see Austin. The trail has different turn off points but it is THE trail to run in Austin. It trail shows you how much variety there is in Austin.

People from Austin are incredibly nice and so proud of where they come from. The people here are genuinely pleased to have you in their town and it is really refreshing. There is this thing about Texas...people LOVE being from here and it showed everywhere I went. I've never been to a place before where people were this proud to be from where they are. It was actually kind of nice to see.

I walked about 15 miles a day every single day I was there. I get it that is a lot for normal people but my point is that the city is very walk-able, nothing is actually that far away I just walked a lot of places.

Must Do's:

1. Eat out as much as you can - I find it a disservice in a city with this much incredible food to

not try to explore as much of it as possible

- The food I mean all I can say is almost all of it left me speechless

- The Snack Bar on South Congress : Oh My! I even included a picture I mean just

unbelievable, I can't remember what the dish is called but I have never had anything like it

before TO DIE FOR

- Find a food truck. Austin is known for their food trucks

2. South Congress Street

- Get a taste of Austin with amazing restaurants

- Locally owned shops (the people in the stores are normally the ones creating everything in

the store)

- Live music all day

3. Congress Ave Bats

- Every night between about May-Nov thousands of baby bats take off from under the bridge

at sunset

- It is beautiful and you can't miss it because the bridge is lined with people every night

4. 6th Street

- An Austin landmark

- 6th street is where you go to remember your glory days, party until you can't remember

your name and buy incredibly cheap drinks

- It is a must do for a night out

5. Barton Springs

- A natural spring fed pool in the middle of a park downtown

6. Graffiti Park

- This a beautiful park on the edge of the city that is covered in graffiti

- See it from the bottom

7. Book People

- Book lovers this is a must

- Try to refrain yourself from getting stuck here for hours like me

Things For Next Time:

1. Staying downtown is a must if you don't rent a car

- Even though I was staying only a few miles out of the city public transportation is not great

to get downtown

2. Don't plan on shopping

- This is almost no shopping downtown

3. Skip the capital

- It is like any other capital building you have seen

4. See UT's campus

- By the time I walked here I was too tired to walk around but the front looked nice

5. Hiking

- There are a lot of beautiful hiking trail surrounding Austin

6. Lake Travis

- The party lake

So Austin keep doing you weird thing and I will absolutely be back for more!