May 17th - May 21st (Austin: rent, house, live in)

[Megan1967]

I'll finally be coming down to visit a week from today! Any cool things happening during this time period?

I guess I should describe myself to give you an idea of what I might consider "cool." Forgive me if it sounds like a bad personal ad.

I'm a 41 year old (Thursday was my birthday!) single white female.

I don't smoke and only drink occasionally, however I will be with my sister and her friend who do enjoy throwing a few back with some regularity.

Oh, yeah, my sister smokes. I know Austin is smoke free, which I love, but is there anyplace for her to light up? Any do's and don'ts? The city I live in is also smoke free, but there is usually an out of the way area behind the restaurant or bar where smokers huddle together puffing away. Some people stand outside of bars and smoke on the street though many places don't allow smoking on their outdoor patios, located in front of the building.

I like outdoor activities, but the other two don't strike me as the outdoorsy types (I know my sister isn't) and we aren't acclimated to high temps yet as it is *still* only in the high 50's here these days (one of the reasons I want to move). In all fairness I should admit that we did have a couple of days in the high 70's in the last few of weeks, but I honestly don't think summer is ever going to start. I've been noticing that the temps crawling up in Austin lately... Will visiting next week give me a pretty good idea of what hot Austin weather is like or is this what you all would consider a slight warming trend?

Musically I'm not into country or hard rock and while I like jazz a little can go along way for me. Otherwise I'm wide open in my musical taste. I like REM, The Ditty Bops, Elvis Costello, Fine Young Cannibals (I am an 80's girl), Fiona Apple, Alanis Morriset, Howie Day, Indigo Girls, K.T. Tunstall, Sarah McLaughlin, Madeline Peyroux, Maroon 5, Morrisey, Sheryl Crow, Shivaree, U2, Vienna Tang, Willy Porter, some Kate Bush (but she can be a little too weird), Violent Femmes, B52's, Dash Board Confessional, Frou Frou, Brian Eno, Garbage, Benny Goodman, The Goo Goo Dolls, Loreena McKennitt, The Replacements, and more that I can't think of. Must confess I got out my cd collection to make that list.

I'm an animal lover and wouldn't mind visiting some shelters or chatting with local rescue people. Isn't your zoo a rescue zoo? Normally not into zoos, but that would be cool to see.

I'm just learning computer programming for the web, so I'd be interested in finding places where I can take further classes. I've taken advanced VB.Net (I know, I know *true* programmers don't consider this programming), Intro to Java, Intro to PHP & MySQL and done some intro work with Oracle databases.

I like all kinds of food. I had avoided Thai and Indian food until recently, but am even developing a taste for those. Not sure about the sister and friend though. I've read that Jeffrey's is very swanky but it has never once been suggested by anyone on this forum. Does it not live up to the hype? Not thrilled about the fact that they serve foie gras and I do struggle to maintain a veggie life style although I have occasionally fallen off the wagon in the past. I've been doing really good lately, however. I have a vegan friend who keeps me honest. It helps that she taught me to cook a little. Anyway, we probably wouldn't want to go too fancy for most of the trip just thought one night out at a fancy-smancy place might be fun. Really, I want to get a feel for the local flavor.

I can't think of anything else right now. I may edit this post if I think of anything more to add.

[Austin97]

I'll finally be coming down to visit a week from today! Any cool things happening during this time period?

Try austin360.com for a listing of events

Oh, yeah, my sister smokes. I know Austin is smoke free, which I love, but is there anyplace for her to light up? Any do's and don'ts?

Many bars have outdoor patios and smoking is fine there. This time of the year everyone wants to be on the patio so she should be fine.

Will visiting next week give me a pretty good idea of what hot Austin weather is like or is this what you all would consider a slight warming trend?

It is just starting to warm up. If you dont like this you wont survive the summer. Actually last week had one day that was 95 that was typical of the summer. Even though we do hit 100, generally 95 is going to be the typical hot summer day.

Musically I'm not into country or hard rock and while I like jazz a little can go along way for me. Otherwise I'm wide open in my musical taste. I like REM, The Ditty Bops, Elvis Costello, Fine Young Cannibals (I am an 80's girl), Fiona Apple, Alanis Morriset, Howie Day, Indigo Girls, K.T. Tunstall, Sarah McLaughlin, Madeline Peyroux, Maroon 5, Morrisey, Sheryl Crow, Shivaree, U2, Vienna Tang, Willy Porter, some Kate Bush (but she can be a little too weird), Violent Femmes, B52's, Dash Board Confessional, Frou Frou, Brian Eno, Garbage, Benny Goodman, The Goo Goo Dolls, Loreena McKennitt, The Replacements, and more that I can't think of. Must confess I got out my cd collection to make that list.

Austin has a lot of that kind of music

I've read that Jeffrey's is very swanky but it has never once been suggested by anyone on this forum. Does it not live up to the hype?

I like jeffries a lot (possibly my favorite austin restaurant). I dont recommend it because we dont eat there that often (maybe 3 times a year).

Really, I want to get a feel for the local flavor.

One of our favorite things to do is rent a pontoon boat from just for fun, boat out to a cove and have some bbq (smokey Js chopped beef at 620 and 2222) and beer while floating in the water. Ill usually float with a life preserver under each arm and sit on one like Im riding a horse.

[Megan1967]

Thanks for the info Austin97.

[TexasHorseLady]

Jeffreys probably isn't mentioned much because it's pretty expensive. It's a great place to go for a special event, though. A couple of times over the years I've gotten a gift certificate for a dinner for two at Jeffreys as thanks for something special I've done for an employer or a client, and it was extremely memorable.

[three_fish]

We'll have to compare notes after our visit. My wife and I are going down the same weekend and will be looking for fun stuff to do (especially after house hunting 8 hours each day). Looks like the weather is supposed to be pretty nice. Mid-high 80s and cooling down at night. Can't wait.