Austin is my newest all-time favorite city. I heard so many good things, so I knew I had to make the 10hour drive down there. Austin is basically an island of modern hippies in the middle of conservative Texas. Imagine if everyone at a music festival decided to build a city. There’s a reason their motto is “keep Austin weird”.
The People
The demographic of Austin seemed to be mostly younger. Driving around different parts of the city for about 4 days, I hardly saw anyone over 60 years old. People were out walking and biking everywhere. Every restaurant had some sort of outdoor seating, so after 5:00pm people were outside eating and talking under string-lights.
We even met a guy walking his ferrets , and people acted like it was somewhat a normal sight to see!
Besides age, the population was super diverse. Walking down a street you could hear several different languages and see people from all walks of life. People wore all kinds of things. A lot of it was festival outfits. If you haven’t been to a festival, I’m talking basketball jerseys. High waisted shorts with tucked in tank-tops. Crop-tops with sneakers. Yoga gear. etc.
The Arts
There were tons of theaters and art galleries to see. Austin is a place that celebrates the liberal arts. Hope Gallery was such a place. Walls only for graffiti work. (it’s gonna be open until June, and will then relocate) In addition, Murals were scattered throughout the city and were treasured.
Even the buildings were an art form. Nothing looked the same. The subdivisions weren’t cookie cutter. Every apartment building seemed to outdo the other one on a different architectural technique. Even the restaurants went out of their way to be strange.
Outdoors
As I said, the people of Austin practically lived outside. There were parks everywhere. One could hike different trails for hours. We even found a community yoga festival on accident. People ran. walked their dogs. biked. skateboarded. ate outside. drank outside. listened to live music outside.
Part of this was the beautiful weather, but the biggest influence is it sits in the middle of a natural landscape. From The city being hilly. To a river and lake winding through it. The city provided tons of bike rentals and bike lanes. Boats weren’t allowed on certain parts of the lake to allow swimming and kayaking. Plus, If you drive on the outskirts of Austin, Mount Bonnell offers gorgeous views of the city.
Dogs, Everywhere
The only other place I’ve seen cater to dogs so much was Western Europe. Every shop had dog treats. Restaurants provided dog water bowls. Almost every person walking had a dog alongside them. Tons of restaurants had dog seating. Even the kayaking place had a special discount if you brought your dog.
The Restaurants
Any food you can think of is here. I saw more food-trucks than I have in my life. There were tons of small food-truck squares around the city. Cafes and coffee shops in cute houses were all the rage. Juice bars were on every corner. And almost every restaurant had a sign about being able to cater to vegans and vegetarians.
The only downside was if you waited after 5pm to eat towards the weekend, you had an hour wait for many places.
Transportation
We drove around pretty easily. Especially if we avoided the interstate. Finding parking was a pain at times, but we always managed to grab a free spot. (Mostly by parallel parking). Uber was also very prevalent and easy. Walking can be done if you are in certain parts, but if you want to travel from one side to the other, it’s too long. Several times we turned the GPS off and just explored by walking a driving. I never found an area that made me feel unsafe. I’m sure the area existed, but it was nowhere near the popular areas.
I expected there to be more public transportation, but people seemed to mostly ride bikes everywhere. We didn’t try this, so that may be a suitable option.
The South Congress stretch, Barton Springs Rd, Lamar Ave and 6th St. were full of cool things and people. They were the most popular streets and easy landmarks for driving.
This city has found a special place in my heart!!!
Casually,
Cecily
Casually Cecily 