The green hills of Austin

Although ACL Weekend One was the reason for journeying to Austin, I had to step away from the festival for a bit. In my case, it was a completely new town, the new place I visited in 2018.

From the house where we stayed for ACL Fest, I could see the foreboding stone castle from the former Texas Military Institute. I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention the amazing hospitality of the Todd family, who kindly let us festivalgoers use their upstairs guest rooms and were never less than perfect hosts.

Down the street, I could spy the capitol. I was captivated, my love of state capitols reignited by the pink dome just a mile away. The first day was blocked off for the festival (see previous post) and with good music the entire day, there were no regrets. By Saturday morning, the lure of the dome grew stronger.

I had to go. If I turned the corner and walked a mile, I would reach the Texas capitol. As my friends went to the city’s esteemed Waterloo Records, I had to see the capitol. Besides, they live in Texas, and I don’t know when I will muster another Austin trip.

Uphill or not, it was a mile worth walking. The rains stopped shortly before I left. Austin institutions were everywhere along my route. Since the capitol never left my view, there was no need to check directions. The state offices buildings around the capitol were unsurprisingly quiet, but the capitol campus was not.

House chamber

I arrived to a campus quiet except for a Supreme Court protest with women dressed in outfits from The Handmaiden’s Tale. Later we would encounter a protest blocking Lamar Avenue at the Colorado River. While never crowded, the capitol was a top Austin draw and did not lack for Saturday visitors.

I was at the capitol but not there for politics. I wanted a splash of  water from the reproduction artesian fountain on the grounds (quite tasty, I must say), then wander the monuments and loiter below the century-old trees with gargantuan limbs.

Inside, I made a point to gaze at all the former governor portraits lining the walls below the dome. There is no shortage of portages on those walls. Texas hewed to two-year terms longer than most states its size and never had a governor exceed eight years prior to Rick Perry, so there are a substantial volume of portraits and scores of long-forgotten governors.

I noted Pat Neff, who famously pardoned Huddy Ledbetter (aka Leadbelly) and Pappy O’Daniel, a populist famous for his radio show and who was parodied in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (as Mississippi governor, however). Also standing out was John Connally, the governor wounded in JFK’s assassination, plus Ann Richards and George W. Bush.

Jim Bowie

The original building was constructed from pink granite donated from Marble Falls. The state bought more for the building’s various expansions. As such, Pink Dome has become slang for the Texas capitol. Despite the mass of nearby high-rises and state office buildings around the campus, the capitol still garners greater visibility around Austin.

I arrived too late to officially join the 12 noon tour. Wandering through the legislative chambers, I happened upon the group anyway, and no one minded another participant.

Part of the tour descends below the original capitol into an underground extension built in the early 1990s – skylights allow visitors to look up at the capitol from the underground levels. Vintage photos show the massive pit dug adjacent to the capitol to accommodate the new offices and two levels of parking. Along with the required paint of Davy Crockett at the southern entrance, the legislative chambers include paintings of famous Texas pioneers and the Battle of San Jacinto and subsequent surrender of Santa Anna.

After a capitol store employee mentioned the Driskill Hotel was just three minutes away, I decided to walk toward the river. After 10 minutes, I realized he meant three minutes by car. But this gave me a chance to explore a little more of downtown Austin. Across downtown, a lot of neon pokes out from first-floor storefronts. I’m sure Austin has seen business turned out as the city has grown wealthier, but unlike other towns, below the high-rises, there’s a sense of the Austin that existed before the modern high-rises soared.

A weekend loaded with tourists and festival-goers wasn’t the best time to explore vintage hotel. After a brief walk through the lobby and a peak at the packed bar, I headed out. 

I thought I would shortcut my route home but cutting through an alley only to find there wasn't one.  Instead I found myself staring at the steep cliffs of Austin’s Graffiti Park, also known as the HOPE Outdoor Gallery. The park does not end at the top of the cliffs. The alleys and fences above the park sport more tagging from graffiti artists, not all suitable for polite society. The park had ample visitors on a Saturday afternoon. The park is scheduled to close in late 2018, and soon the lot will house become condos – it’s a popular neighborhood in central Austin. In 2019, the park will move out by Austin’s airport.

Graffiti Park below Castle Hill

For now, there was no route through the park to the house, even though I could see the back of the house from the park. I stepped back down to Lamar, walked over a block and back up the steep hill. I was beat.

I was drenched and pale when I reached the house. I set out in an overcast morning that cleared into a humid, 90-degree afternoon. Setting out without water or sunglasses proved foolish. 

But lunch would help, and Maria’s Taco Express would help even more. I went with the street taco platter and downed two Topo Chicos while reveling in the tacos. While Maria’s moved from a previous location, this was the type of joint people expect in Austin – slightly ramshackle setup, a brightly painted trashcan advertised a “South Austin Free Buffet.” Next to the can stood a Jack Daniels statue in psychedelic colors.

There was no shortage of Tex-Mex on this trip, not where it is done this well. The next morning, the Austin visit ended with a trip to El Arroyo for brunch. Somehow brunch for eight, which including a handful of alcoholic drinks, barely cost $90 (take that, Nashville). This was my first experience with Huevos Divorciados (one egg in salsa verde and another in salsa roja), and hopefully not the last. You could see the same problems in Austin that afflicted Nashville.

Elsewhere, Austin was definitely swollen with weekend crowds. While the streets were broader here, these neighborhoods were being loved to death. Visitors wanted to see them. Locals wanted to shop there. In some corners of town there is no good weekend to escape the crowds. There was one short diversion from Central Austin, even though the skyline was never far away. Outside of town we ventured into some high ground. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this city park.

At first it didn’t seem like a big difference, but Mount Bonnell hid its best assets well. As I discovered on my earlier excursion, assume Austin is flat to your own detriment.

The ridgeline rises 775 feet above sea level and provides crisp views of the Austin skyline and the rippling Hill Country. One hundred steps take visitors from the streetside parking to a series of pavilions that provide exquisite views of the Colorado River Valley and the Hill Country around Austin. Several trails branch down the ridge and run further along its height points. The air was cooler and drier, and I hard no troubles staring off at those hills for as far they rolled.