Austin in a Shoestring Welcome to the Live Music Capital of the World! But don’t be deceived by the city’s official slogan, there is more to it than live music. Let me give you a bird’s eye view of what you can do in a weekend without burning a hole in your pocket. authorial magazine | 48
How to go around Exploring downtown and all its nearby offerings can be done on foot, using scooters, bikes, pedicabs, bus or train. Alternatively, for further distances, you can always get a Lyft, Ride Share, Uber or taxi. The most efficient way to commute around Austin is through CapMetro, this is Austin’s Public Transit. You can easily plan your trips by visiting their website or by using their app, all you need to do is input your destination and you will get the information on which bus to take, which bus stop to take it from and its schedule. If you are downtown, you can easily rent a bike using the bike stations found in Central Austin, you can rent it for an hour or up to a day. If you prefer to get a mountain bike, since you might want to hit the trail and not just downtown, there are a lot of bike rental places. I personally recommend Bicycle World for any of your bicycle needs while in town. What to do There are a lot of things you can do in Austin. Almost every month there is a convention, every week there are happenings. Your guide for the latest and upcoming happenings in the city can be found at Do512. They have a list for weekly and daily events, even for the local bar’s happy hours. The two biggest annual events that people line up and pay for are the SXSW Conference & Festivals happening in March and Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival in October. SXSW is the gathering and convergence of the interactive, film and music industries, while ACL is a-two consecutive three-day weekends of music, with multiple stages where bands from different genres perform. These festivals are costly, so you better plan ahead. Another thing that you can spend time with is to go brewery hopping as Austin is also known for its craft beers. You will be amazed at the array of beers you will find. In most restaurants, they offer beer on tap for you. If you don’t know what kind of beer to get, always ask your bartender, they will be more than happy to help. I love going to PintHouse Pizza, The ABGB or Easy Tiger, aside from the great selection of beer on tap, they’re food is spot on. But now let me help you with what you can do in Austin for a weekend. You can start by going to the Greetings from Austin Mural, it is located in 1720 S 1st St, Austin, TX 78704. Then you can walk towards South Congress Avenue and start your leisurely stroll from Torchy’s Taco, there will be a variety of stores selling just about anything and food places. Take a moment to visit Tesoro’s, a distributor of folk arts and craft plus other items, then you can go down one side of the street towards downtown. If you are a book lover you will love South Congress Books. Further down, if you have seen the movie Chef, you will see where Chef Carl Casper parked his food truck, right by Guero’s Taco Bar, you might even catch a band or two or quench your thirst with a glass of beer too. Then as you pass Jo’s Coffee, take a moment to stop by the I Love You So Much Mural on its northfacing wall. Cross the street here and to your left, you will see the <strong>Texas</strong> Capitol. On the other side of the street you will have more food places and you have to stop by Amy’s Ice Cream. You then go up and just browse through the different offerings this side of the street have, you might even spot have performers on the side street. authorial magazine | 49
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