A week in Austin, TX - Day 4

Wednesday, October 27, 2010
By myself again, I chose to walk the opposite way from yesterday, past the Capitol to the Texas State History Museum.

Performance Art was under way when I got there, and I spent a little time in the museum before I made my way up to the University of Texas campus.

This campus is just plain gorgeous, and I spent quite some time trekking around admiring the architecture and artwork placed all around the grounds.

When I was ready to make my way back to the hotel (approx. 28 blocks), I again visited the Capitol grounds, including the Texas Peace Officers Memorial

and the official visitors center. I enjoyed the walk back.

After George got out of class, and after another visit with Darrell, we went to Bess Bistro (Sandra Bullock's restaurant) and as soon as I hit the bed, I was out. Too much walking...

A week in Austin, TX - Day 3

Tuesday, October 26, 2010.
George started class on Tuesday, so I had a chance to get out by myself and explore Austin. I started by heading the opposite way from downtown on Congress, passing by the famous rotating bat,

and continuing down Riverside to the Auditorium Shores Park.

My sole reason for heading this way was to see the Stevie Ray Vaughan Memorial, a tribute to the hometown boy who could make a guitar sing.

I walked the busy trails that run along either side of the "lake" (this is one fit population) and turned north to make the trek to my second destination of the day, the Austin Whole Foods Market and corporate offices.

I ate lunch there on the rooftop dining area, and then walked back toward the hotel. Behind the hotel, matching trails ran along the banks, and while walking the trails, I ran across the Austin Rowing Club headquarters. Rowers are a continual presence on the "lake."

When I got under the bridge, I spotted some of the resident bats - swimming!

Finally, George was out of class, so we ate dinner, toured around a little,

worked out at the hotel, and called it a night.   

A week in Austin, TX - Day 2

Monday, October 25, 2010
George's classes did not actually start until Tuesday morning, so we got to spend the first day sightseeing in Austin.

We left our hotel, grabbed some breakfast and started down Congress Avenue towards the Texas State Capitol.

Along the way, George grabbed some shots of the local artwork (remember the bears in Cherokee?).

When we got to the Capitol grounds, we spent some time at the memorials, including the Confederate soldier memorial

the Texas Volunteer Firefighter Memorial

Heroes of the Alamo (including Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie).

We then went inside the Capitol and took the free tour, including the Rotunda (of course, George had to give props to George W.)

and the Senate Chambers (phenomenally beautiful with original desks and floor to ceiling windows).

After the tour, we headed to lunch, and then to the hotel for conference check-in. After a trip to the concierge desk (I made friends with Darrell who is awesome!), we went to the historic Driskill Hotel for a snack. This hotel is the oldest in Austin and holds a lot of history. It also houses the 1886 Cafe and Bakery, and the hotel itself is gorgeous.

We continued to walk around the downtown area

until dark, when we headed to the Congress Ave. Bridge (just behind our hotel) for the nightly Austin bat show. 4 million + bats exit the spaces underneath the bridge every nights, and it is a 30-minute show that folks line up on the bridge, and the banks, and in boats to see.

George also got some great shots of the Downtown Austin skyline. 

Afterwards, we grabbed some dinner and settled down for the night.

A week in Austin, TX - Day One

Sunday, October 24, 2010
George and I left for Austin, TX on Sunday morning for the CI Technologies, Inc. IAPro Conference (George as an attendee and me as a tag-along).  Neither of us has flown since 9/11 and we planned a lot of time for airport security. After George's pat down at the Tallahassee airport, we waited for our plane to get there. Don't we look excited?

Our trip included a short hop to Atlanta (and lunch at the airport) and then the larger flight to Austin (my first trip west of the Mississippi!).

By the time we got to the hotel (The Radisson Town Lake) and ate dinner (see Austin food blog after the last day's post), we were ready to get some sleep.