austin must do's for 4 days?

[Naomi Manischewitz]

Originally Posted by atxcio

If you were going to check out the Governor's mansion, why not check out the Capitol Building instead?

Sept 3rd is First Thursday on South Congress! You should definitely check that out First Thursday * SoCoDistrict.com (http://www.socodistrict.com/1stthursday.html - broken link).

Also, just FYI... Saturday, September 5th is the opening home game for the Longhorns! Hotels may be hard to find, and bars and clubs may be extra full (but not as bad as SXSW). There will be acres of tailgaters around the campus area.

thanks i will check that out.

oh we booked in advance on hotwire and got the holiday inn town lake. i heard good things about that place. we wanted to stay at the austin motel, but the workers were beyond rude to my friend and i on the phone. they also lied about info on their website. (dont want to get into it lol).

any recommendations for things walking distance from the hotel if you are familar?

[AustinExPat]

Elisabet Ney museum:
Welcome to the Elisabet Ney Museum

Thursday night swing dancing:
Austin Swing Syndicate - Thursday Night at the Fed

Saturday night international dancing:
Austin International Folk Dancers

[AustinTraveler]

Originally Posted by Naomi Manischewitz

thanks i will check that out.

oh we booked in advance on hotwire and got the holiday inn town lake. i heard good things about that place. we wanted to stay at the austin motel, but the workers were beyond rude to my friend and i on the phone. they also lied about info on their website. (dont want to get into it lol).

any recommendations for things walking distance from the hotel if you are familar?

The Holiday Inn isn't really the best place to stay. It's east of downtown and right on I-35. Have you tried the Radisson? Walking from Holiday Inn to downtown is doable but not really great. Don't do it at night.

[CarnivalGal]

I agree about the Holiday Inn. It's not really downtown and is in a sketchy area. It's on the side of Town Lake that no one uses.

As has been mentioned, it's hot. Hottest and driest summer ever. So, yeah, you'll want to wear shorts. Jeans and 105 degree heat don't really mix.

And because of the severe draught, a tubing trip down the Guadalupe will be more like a hike since the river is so low right now. I strongly recommend tubing the Comal. It has a steady flow.

[Naomi Manischewitz]

i cant change hotels. its already done. we are renting a car so we dont mind driving. the hotel also has a shuttle that takes people into downtown so that will be nice if we go out for the evening.

okay so the guadalupe is pointless now huh? we should do the comal?

[atxcio]

Lustre Pearl is not far from the Holiday Inn (on Rainey Street)... supposed to be a pretty hip but laid back place, but I've never been.

Lustre Pearl Bar - Austin Texas

The Holiday Inn is on the very southeast tip of downtown, still on the west side of the highway though... probably not too sketchy to someone from LA. But you'll need to walk or drive a few blocks west to be in the part of downtown that has lots to do... you can also take the hike & bike trail, the hotel is right on that -- but it is the less used part of the trail, should be perfectly safe during the day but at night there won't be anyone there. At night, you should probably take a pedicab or something back. Just to be safe.

BTW the Holiday Inn is an exact clone of the same hotel in downtown San Diego... except ours is painted some southwestern colors now.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Naomi Manischewitz

i cant change hotels. its already done. we are renting a car so we dont mind driving. the hotel also has a shuttle that takes people into downtown so that will be nice if we go out for the evening.

okay so the guadalupe is pointless now huh? we should do the comal?

Yes, definitely the Comal. The Guadalupe is great when there is ground water flowing, but the Comal is spring fed and much better right now.

[Naomi Manischewitz]

ok so we know on thursday to definitely do 1st thursday on south congress. what time does 1st thursday start? thats probably a really stupid question to ask.

we also would like to see bats that same day. is it better we take one of those bat cruise tours, or is there a free place where we could see bats?

[orbius]

If you want to experience old Austin flavor. Consider a visit to the Broken Spoke honky tonk on South Lamar. Also I wouldnt worry about that Holiday Inn. I've heard its been recently totally remodelled.