ATX - Bat City - The Capital City - Blueberry in the Red State
My first visit to Austin was in 2002. This was a Father-Son trip for the first Austin City Limits Festival. The lineup was impressive and included Los Lobos, Jimmie Vaughn, Robert Randolph, and Joe Bonammasa.
Since that first trip, I have been to Austin many times, mostly with a group of cyclists to participate in the Livestrong Challenge charity bicycle ride. This group is the Livestrong chapter of Team Kermit, a longtime Pan-Mass Challenge team. The Livestrong Foundation is the primary sponsor, and Lance Armstrong was affiliated with both the organization and the ride until his fall from grace.
Austin is a great cycling city, and the group cycles various routes in and out of the city. Austin is also a great barbecue town. Dinners typically emphasized ribs, brisket and sausage, with some Tex-Mex thrown in for variety. Team Kermit-Austin definitely attacks both cycling and barbecue with relish. A few favorites include the Saltlick, Le Barbecue, Stubbs, Styles Switch BBQ, Terry Black's, Rudy's, Green Mesquite, Manuel's and Guero's.
You can certainly visit Austin and concentrate strictly on cycling and barbecue. But Austin is also a music city, and has some of the best small music venues in America. It's also the home of the Moody Theater and Austin City Limits. I haven't been to either Memphis or Nashville, but have seen live music in New Orleans, Chicago and New York City. Austin is in the very select group of great US music cities.
Traveling with a cycling group, I was often faced with a tough decision: go out with the group for more barbecue, or head over to the Continental Club, C-Boys Heart & Soul, Antone's or the Saxon Pub. Actually, this was an easy choice. The music always wins. Not an anti-social thing, but I can always eat barbecue. There is an element of "been there, done that". Live music never feels that way.
My last trip was in 2022. Bonnie had never travelled to Austin, and that needed to remedied. And over a long weekend visit, Austin was checked off her bucket list. Austin is often compared with Boston, and there are similarities: university centers, state capitals, and liberal city politics. I neglected to point out that Austin is a great walking city, with extensive trail systems. Although appearing to be a river, Lady Bird Lake sits in the middle of the Austin, and offers miles of walking trails. It was a very active trip with a lot of walking balanced out with great food and music. And where else can a horseman saunter up South Congress Street?
Bình luận