Trip to Austin, TX

[AgustusM]

My wife and I are coming to Austin in March for a combination business trip and mini-vacation.

We have 4 kids, but the 3 older ones (6,7&8) will all be in school and staying at home. We will be bringing our 1 ½ year old with us.

Also more background, we live in California and have most of our lives, but tend to be “country” people – most people’s concept of California is LA or SF – but we live in a small rural former farm community about an hour outside of San Francisco – our long term plan is to move when all the kids are off to college. Why? Where we live is DAMN expensive, tons of traffic, too damn hot, etc.

My wife’s first choice to move to is Austin, TX – has she ever been there, no. But that is where she wants to move – now we are talking almost 20 years from now, so who knows a lot can change between now and then.

But I digress, the point is the upcoming trip. I know we have quite a few current and former Austin residents here and I wanted to ask a few questions:

1. Weather – what kind of weather is typical in mid-march?
2. Things to do with kids – my wife will be at meetings all day for 3 days and I will be left alone to entertain the 1 ½ year old. I do see the Austin Children's Museum is a few blocks from the hotel – so I expect we will spend one day there. But what any other suggestions for me toi take the little one during the day
3. Nightlife – we are getting a co-workers teenage daughters to babysit a few nights – where should be go at night? I hear 6th street is the place to go – any recommendations specifically? We both like all kinds of music, but prefer country.
4. Explore / see –Austin – we will also have a day and a half of all 3 of us in the day to check things out – I remember hearing something about bats – is that something we should do?
5. San Antonio – It seems as if everyone I talk to tells me the river walk in San Antonio is THE place to go – it looks from Google that it is about 1.5 drive from Austin – is it really worth the 3 hour round trip drive???


Any other suggestions, recommendations, things to know???

[cartman]

I'll do my best to give you a little insight. I'm sure others will respond as well. You would not be making as mistake to move to Austin from Cali. Cheaper cost of living was the exact reason I moved back. Anyways, here goes:


1. Weather – what kind of weather is typical in mid-march?

There really isn't typical weather in mid-March, especially since this is an El Nino year. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. I could be 70 degrees and sunny, or 40 degrees with massive thunderstorms.

2. Things to do with kids – my wife will be at meetings all day for 3 days and I will be left alone to entertain the 1 ½ year old. I do see the Austin Children's Museum is a few blocks from the hotel – so I expect we will spend one day there. But what any other suggestions for me to take the little one during the day

I don't have any kids, so I'm not sure on this one. There are a bunch of museums and stuff to see downtown, but I'm not sure any of it would interest a toddler. If you want to pick up hot co-eds, you can take your kid to the UT Campus. :)


3. Nightlife – we are getting a co-workers teenage daughters to babysit a few nights – where should be go at night? I hear 6th street is the place to go – any recommendations specifically? We both like all kinds of music, but prefer country.


6th Street is definitely the tourist spot for music. It is mostly the college age crowd there. There will be tons of live music playing, and in mid-March you'll be smack in the middle of South by Southwest. Pick up a copy of the Austin Chronicle when you get to town. It will have listings of all of the shows scheduled, broken down by music type at the different music venues around town.


4. Explore / see –Austin – we will also have a day and a half of all 3 of us in the day to check things out – I remember hearing something about bats – is that something we should do?

The bats live underneath the Congress Street bridge, on the south edge of downtown. It is an impressive sight to see them all stream out at sunset to go feeding during the night. I think March is when they are set to return from Mexico, so they should be there when you are here.


5. San Antonio – It seems as if everyone I talk to tells me the river walk in San Antonio is THE place to go – it looks from Google that it is about 1.5 drive from Austin – is it really worth the 3 hour round trip drive???


The Riverwalk is a neat experience, and you can hit the Alamo while you are there as well. However, it is not everyone's cup of tea. There are a ton of great restaurants along the walk. I wouldn't recommend going just to see the Riverwalk. I'd combine it with a few other thing, like the Alamo, the Mercato, and going up in the Hemisphere tower. If you take the back way (Hwy. 281) on the return trip, there are a bunch of Texas vineyards you can visit along the way.

Any other suggestions, recommendations, things to know???

Austin is a pretty eclectic town. And so is the area called "the Hill Country" which starts about 20 minutes outside of Austin. That's where I am. There are tons of places to listen to music, a lot of great places to eat. If you think of more questions, let me know.

[GoldenEagle]

I think the RiverWalk is way overrated. I would spend the time on Lake Travis instead, which is an awesome lake. I would also skip out on 6th Street and go to the bars around 6th Street instead.

[Senator]

Drive around to as many little towns around the Hill Country as possible. I was going to make a list, but thought someone might have made one a little more comprehensive.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=things+to+do+in+austin

[Lorena]

One of the reasons we left So.Cal and ended up here in Austin was because of the cost of living. I heard on the news that about 40,000 people will be moving into the city this year alone!

You asked about what to do with the kids. You can visit Zilker Park (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zilker/) where they have the Nature and Science Center (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/ansc/). They have nature exhibits and a dino pit for the kids. All they require is a donation and it's an awesome place... our kids love it.

We also take them to Gattiland (http://www.gattiland-rr.com/) in Round Rock where they have an arcade, all you can eat pizza, salad, and pasta, and depending on when you go, they might even have a movie.

A similar place to Gattiland is Austin Park and Pizza (http://www.austinspark.com/) where they have all you can eat pizza and salad. They have miniature golf, bumper boats, and batting cages. The food isn't as great as gattiland, but the attractions make the price worth it. When we went, they had a buy 1 get 1 free special; I'm not entirely sure if it's an ongoing thing or what. I can find out for you if ya want.

That's about all I can remember off the top of my head. We haven't been to many places but I'm sure there are more gems out here than we know. It's a beautiful city and you can't beat the cost of living.

EDIT: For events go Here (http://www.austintexas.org/visitors/events.php) or here (http://www.downtownaustin.com/news/thisweek/#events).

[AgustusM]

thanks for all the advise - I will take a look at these suggestions as we plan the trip and report back when we get back.

[Huckleberry]

For people with kids, i.e., not teenage maniacs or college kids, 4th street is a much more enjoyable bar experience. More pub-style places.

[cartman]

If you are going to be in Austin between March 9th and March 18th, you definitely will need to take South by Southwest into account with your planning. Hotels will be hard to come by, restaurants will be booked solid, and downtown will be a general mess. What used to be a small music festival 15 years ago has morphed into the biggest independent media free-for-all in the world. Here is a link with more info on the event:

hxxp://2007.sxsw.com/

Here are the stats from last year:

Statistics for SXSW 2006

Music

* Showcasing Acts: 1,493
* Music Venues Participating: 64
* Music Conference Participants: 10,821 (with band registrations 12,002)
* Approximate Number of Music Media in Attendance: 2,176
* Approximate Number of Music Trade Show Attendees: 13,500
* Number of Music Trade Show Exhibitors: 192

Film/Interactive

* Number of Films Screened: 230
* Film Conference Participants: 4,939
* Approximate Number of Film Media in Attendance: 556
* Interactive Conference Participants: 4,733
* Approximate Number of Interactive Media in Attendance: 580
* Approximate Number of Film/Interactive Trade Show Attendees: 10,000
* Number of Film/Interactive Trade Show Exhibitors: 133

[JeeberD]

If you take the back way (Hwy. 281) on the return trip, there are a bunch of Texas vineyards you can visit along the way.


There are lots on vineyards in the Fredericksburg area that do free tours and wine tasting. It's a fun way to pass a day...

[AgustusM]

If you are going to be in Austin between March 9th and March 18th.

wow good timing - we fly in on the 19th!!! I am assuming the people in my wife's company that live in Austin must have factored that into the timing - good news is they have already booked the room for us. the bad news it was going to be at the four seasons, but now we are at the Marriott.

again thanks for all the info and keep it coming.

[AgustusM]

There are lots on vineyards in the Fredericksburg area that do free tours and wine tasting. It's a fun way to pass a day...

my wife would LOVE to do that she is a big wine connoisseur, however we have the one year old this trip - so it probably won't work this time. thanks!