Welcome to a new year at Linen and Lavender. New year, new adventures and our next one is gonna be good. We have decided to move to Austin! When I left seven years ago, it was the student life I left behind. A city for schoolwork, dorm rooms, free buses, the student union. The next time around I hope to take full advantage of what the city has to offer: excellent food, walking trails, dog-friendly culture, and hopefully a beautiful texas hill country home (fingers crossed).
Testing the waters of our new city, I have provided a partial walking tour. You could walk the whole thing but for the lazy (like me), you can drive between the areas. Let’s start with the old haunt: UT Campus. Even if you are not a student, the university is a sight to behold and the longhorns are the lifeblood of the city. Hook ‘Em!
This is a mural that you’ll find on the Drag (aka Guadalupe Street). Walking around this area you’ll find student staples like the University Co-op for your longhorns gear, Kerbey Lane for some late night queso, and let’s not forget the Scientology Church to get your free personality test! (just kidding, don’t go in there).
I would recommend walking East from the Drag through campus. Make sure to walk through main mall to get your picture with the tower and then meander through the buildings and tree covered walkways. Walk all the way to the southeast corner of the stadium and you can get a good look when everything is empty.
This is where you could either walk from campus to downtown which is about 1 mile or you could drive. Next stop is the Texas State Capitol aka where Saracen and Riggins throw a frisbee around in Friday Night Lights. Also a beautiful architectural display and you know where government stuff happens. You can go in for free and see the supreme court chambers and senate.
At this point you can walk straight down Congress Ave. taking detours and pitstops to see or eat whatever catches your fancy.
The beauty of Austin is that there are bits of nature right in the city’s backyard such as Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park, and Barton Creek. It’s at this point that I like to walk down to the footpath around Lady Bird Lake. The 1st Street Bridge is also where you will catch the bat spectacle during certain times of the year; something I have yet to see. Again, you can cross the Congress bridge by foot or car and let’s head over to the adorable neighborhood of SoCo (South Congress).
The story of this street is crazy knick knack shops, some of the best food in austin, and iconic photo ops like the “i love you so much” wall – one of my personal favorites.
And a trip to SoCo is not complete without some Home Slice Pizza. This is my second favorite pizza in the world (second only to Artichoke Basille’s in NYC) and I always order a red sauce pizza with artichoke hearts and ricotta. It is seriously the (second) best. Or I suppose you could always cross the street and get one of the best burgers you’ll ever have at Hopdoddy. It’s a win win and either way it’s the perfect ending to a perfect Austin Day.
Hope you enjoyed the walking tour! What are your favorite spots in Austin?