We had the opportunity to visit Austin, Texas, and enjoyed the opportunity to have some good barbeque, country-western music, and wonderful hospitality. Congress Street in downtown Austin has a variety of restaurants, shops, and music venues, which makes it the perfect place to stroll. Austin is the capital of Texas and the tourist section of Congress Street starts or ends there depending upon how you look at it. At the opposite end of Congress Street from the capital is the Congress Bridge, which will take you across Lady Bird Lake, which is a river-like reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin. There is a nice park and walking paths to enjoy.

We only had one day downtown as we were there for a work trip, so we made the most of our time walking the streets of downtown. We started our day in the Red River District and made sure to get some beef brisket before heading towards the capital, which seems to be the most photographed image of Austin. The grounds of the capital are quite beautiful with several statues and you can even take a tour of the governor’s mansion depending upon when you visit. After walking in the Texas heat for a while, we decided to stop in The Driskill Bar and Grill, which is located in the historic hotel. The inside of the hotel is quite beautiful and it was an elegant place to sit and relax before continuing to enjoy downtown Austin.

We couldn’t leave Austin without listening to some country-western music and oddly enough we found an Irish pub with a live band that met our needs perfectly. It was almost a family affair as different members of the band joined at different times, so the music was constantly changing. It was quite a lively atmosphere and we enjoyed it very much. Afterwards we continued to walk around downtown Austin looking at the varying architecture, which is a mixture of historic and modern buildings sitting side by side.

After having some seafood for dinner, we made our way back to our hotel. We definitely enjoyed our time in Austin and are looking forward to visiting again in the near future. There is more to see than what we were able to do in such a short period of time, but what we did see left us wanting to see more.