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Austin

Places : Southwest Region : Texas : Austin

Introduction

The logical place to begin a visit to Austin is downtown, where the pink-granite Texas State Capitol, built in 1888, is the most visible manmade attraction. The Colorado River, which slices through Austin, was once an unpredictable waterway, but it's been tamed into a series of lakes, including two within the city limits. The 22-mile-long Lake Austin, which lies in the western part of the city, flows into Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake), a narrow stretch of water that meanders for 5 miles through the center of downtown. The sprawling University of Texas, one of the largest universities in the United States, flanks the capitol's north end. Among other things, it is home to both the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art (which reopened in a new building in 2006) and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. In the late afternoon hours, locals grab their sneakers and head to Zilker Park for a jog or a leisurely walk.

When the sun sets on summer days, attention turns to the lake's Congress Avenue Bridge, the location of the country's largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats. The bats make their exodus after sunset to feed on insects in the surrounding Hill Country, and put on quite a show in the process. Wherever you go, be on the lookout for art: by some estimates, Austin boasts the 6th highest per-capita concentration of artists in the nation. Tangible proof of this are the more than 150 pieces of public art on display around town, from bronze statues of Southern statesmen to oversized, colorfully painted electric guitars to sleek bats that twirl in the wind. Got a taste for history? There is, of course, a wealth of well-known museums and archives in this capital city, but remnants of the past are scattered around town in some of the most unlikely places.

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