Keep Austin weird, is the slogan of the capital of Texas. Austin is a town currently going through a boom in culture and creativity. It’s one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. due to the tech industry and over 100 people moving here everyday. The city continues to defy what everyone thinks of Texas, by being open and welcoming. It is also famed for it’s outdoors, with plenty of watering holes and green spaces. Also known as the live music capital of the world, so much going on that the airport has six stages for live bands to play, so you have some authentic music on arrival.
We want to stay at the Hotel Saint Cecilia and Hotel Ella
For a compact city there are a huge amount of quality hotels in Austin. We can only cover two, so we’d like to stay at Hotel Saint Cecilia and Hotel Ella.
Hotel Saint Cecilia opened in 2008 and is named after the patron saint of music, the Saint Cecilia. Set on a 1900’s estate which features five suites in the original victorian-era house, six poolside bungalows and three studios all of which feature turntables and the hotel also has a music library of vinyl records. There is a lap pool which has bean bags dotted around it and also bicycles for exploring the city.
Similarly, on another 1900’s estate sits Hotel Ella. Located on the southern edge of the University of Texas campus. The hotel blends modernity with its history and has beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces covered in Texas Modernist works. There are 47 rooms all decorated individually with custom furniture and some downstairs interior facing rooms have private patios with a gate which leads to the pool area.
We want to eat and drinkLambert’s and Houndstooth coffee
As you’d imagine in a burgeoning city there is a lot of places to eat at. One honourable mention goes to Franklin’s BBQ which we’d like to try, but it’s allegedly so good you’d have to wait hours in line to get some. Another great place situated downtown is Lambert’s BBQ. This stylish place situated just off second avenue has an outdoor patio, serves up steaks, and various other gourmet offerings including Texas BBQ. However, one of their staples is on the appetiser menu which we’d like to try – the wild boar ribs, which come with blue cheese dressing and look incredible.
Being a hip town there is no shortage of coffee locations in Austin. One place, that has a few shops dotted around town is Houndstooth coffee. This place is situated in an ideal location within the iconic Frost Tower and serves up a great flat white with many different blends and some roasted locally.
We want to workout at Hyde Park Gym
Apart from enjoying the outdoors we’d like to workout at Hyde Park Gym. A proper old school weightlifting gym located on Guadalupe in the northern part of the city. This gym has some really old school machines we’d love to try and also a lot of weight lifting platform and an outdoor area to flip tyres in and do pull-ups!
We want to visit The Lakes
Austin is full of fun outdoor places and a lot of this includes lakes. We’d love to boat on Lake Travis and then Lady Bird Lake, floating past all of the skyscrapers downtown.
Are you a resident of Austin or visited the area? What locations would you recommend we visit? We’d love your feedback. Let us know in the comments below.
