Stuff to do in Austin and San Antonio

[bunch_G17]

Posted this in GNG also for the quickest replies....

I'm planning a short vacation in Feb. to Austin and San Antonio. My wife and I want to get out of DFW but we don't want to go far.

Austin-
What part of town should we stay in? or not stay in
Live music - any suggestions on Feb 12 or 13?
which is better 5th or 6th street?
Food?
Other stuff to do?

San Antonio-
What part of town should we stay in? or not stay in
We want to see the Alamo as adults and go to the Riverwalk, anything else to do?
Food?










any decent ranges?:supergrin:

[cwood]

Here are some suggestions

Posted this in GNG also for the quickest replies....

I'm planning a short vacation in Feb. to Austin and San Antonio. My wife and I want to get out of DFW but we don't want to go far.

Austin-
What part of town should we stay in? or not stay in
Live music - any suggestions on Feb 12 or 13?
which is better 5th or 6th street?
Food?
Other stuff to do?
Austin is not a 'dangerous' place so don't worry too much about parts of town. Most any well known hotel/motel chain will provide you with OK accomodations.

As for live music, what kind do you like? If you want rap, metal, "alternative" stuff, I cannot help you however there is a wide variety of that on 6th street. If you want country, being there on a Tues./Wed. will limit choices as that is mostly a weekend format.

As for other things to do, it you are a "Texas" buff, take in the State Capitol Building (CHL friendly), and the Bullock State History Museum are definately must do's.

As for food, lunch might be Mandola's Italian market, or Dirty Martin's Place for burgers and onion rings, or for bar-bque/sausage run a few miles east to Elgin to the Meyers Smokehouse or Southside Market. There are many more.

For Dinner, "Austin" Land and Cattle for steaks, Treehouse Italian Grill, Evangeline Cafe for great Cajun/New Orleans fare, "Austin Unique food and atmosphere" at Magnolia Cafe.

For excellent 25 cent oysters on the halfshell and a beer about anytime, Alligator Grill and for great ribs, Artz Rib House. All of these are non-chain local places with wide local following. All are casual friendly and CHL friendly,
(Austin Land & Treehouse are OK to dress up a bit) and won't break the bank. There are many more like Katz's Deli (24 hours) and Kerby Lane Cafe.....on and on. All can be Googled.

San Antonio-
What part of town should we stay in? or not stay in
We want to see the Alamo as adults and go to the Riverwalk, anything else to do?
Food?

So how much do you want to spend on lodging? All of the river walk places are OK. For history you can try the Crockett, or the St. Anthony or the Emily Morgan (one of our favorites) Lots of La Quintas too. Also consider some of the many B&B's not far from downtown.

In addition to the Alamo, take the Mission Tour of several of them. La Villita (little town) is a group of old buildings now used for shops, Old Spanish Governor's Mansion, Hemisfair tower, SA Spur's game, Witte (wit-ee) Museum, San Antonio Zoo, Japanese Gardens. If you like Dixieland Jazz, or don't know if you do, try Jim Collum's, The Landing on the river. Of course there is also Sea World and Fiesta Texas theme parks. If you are daring, ride The Rattler roller coaster at Fiesta.

As for eating, lunch might be Shilo's Delicatessan right downtown, or Hung Fong's Chinese restaurant across from (near)Witte Museum or the Red Barn Steak house. For Dinner, try The Barn Door (steaks), Magic Time Machine (fun and great food)

There are hundreds of excellent Mexican food places...generaly the plainer and cheaper the better. The ones on the river are entertaining but not great food in comparison to the many around town.

HAVE FUN..Hope this helps










any decent ranges?:supergrin:

YES!!! Google "shooting range san antonio". Bullet hole, Blackhawk, A Place to Shoot, Texas Thunder(indoor).

[Glenn E. Meyer]

There is a shooting FAQ at www.krtraining.com for the area.

In Austin, there are two indoor ranges if that is your thing. Red's on 290 south side of town and a branch way North in Pflugerville.

Restaurants - all the chains are here but if you have time, there is a neat Austin guidebook (360 something) that you might find in the TX section of the bookstore or on Amazon. Loads of interesting restaurants.

What kind of food?

1. Steak - SA has the supposed second best but expensive steak house in the state - Bohanan's.
2. Austin has a great but expensive seafood restaurant - McCormick's.
3. BBQ - Lots like the Salt Lick on 360 in Austin. Tom's in SA and others
4. Japanese - Austin has some good ones for various price ranges. We like the Sushi Sake on 183 and Cap. of Texas highway intersection.

Gun stores:

Austin - McBrides - fun, pricey, some store commandos
Cabelas, south of town
SA - Durys - fun, nice. Nagels - attitude, expensive.

The River Walk is fun, Boudros is fun. Upscale dining - La Reve - one of the tops in the country.

Mexican, Tex-Mex - loads of them. Don't know Austin. In SA, like Picante Grill - it's in Zagat.

Hi Carl!!

[cwood]

Hi, Glenn.

Nice to hear from you. Sorry we couldn't get together at Texas Tactical this AM. I must confess, It was nice and warm with a leisurely read of the paper with a hot cup of coffee at home...but I would rather have been shooting.

[bigbear_98]

Get all the Austin/SaGTer's together for a range day.....?

[bunchok]

Good suggestions so far. As far as hotels in Austin go, I would not recommend staying in a hotel on I-35. Lots of car break ins...There are a few good and not too expensive hotels downtown...
6th street isn't what it used to be. Bunch of shot bars these days. Antones on 5th is a great bet, as well as Stubb's off of 8th st. Take a look at the austin chronicle (http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/section?name=Music)for a schedule of just about all the live music in Austin on any given night.

[dglockster]

My wife and I usually stay at one of the hotels located at the intersection of Ben White and I-35. The location gives quick access to all parts of the city.

If you want walking access to downtown, the hotels around S. Congress and Ceasar Chavez will do it for you and then downtown there is the Driscoll Hotel at Congress and 6th Street.

[jmsfmtex]

Is that true? You can carry inside of the State Capital Building?

[cwood]

Is that true? You can carry inside of the State Capital Building?

Absolutely...and most any other non-court/school govt. building. There was some talk at the end of the last legislative session that the Senate was wanting to ban, by Senate rule, concealed carry in their chamber. Yet to be determined if that will persist, but the rest of the buildingis open to CHL'ers.

[bunch_G17]

Thanks Guys!

[APD]

Stay off of I35 hotels if you can afford it. The cheaper the night stay, the more chance of the guy next door to you cooking crack or setting up a quickie meth lab. Also crackheads rip off most of the cars there too. Clarion at Oltorf/I35 is OK. The Omni of course if you can get a cheap room too.
Not a bad place over all. I am pretty familiar with the SOuth and the East side of Austin if you have anything going on there I can give you a cop outlook on the area.

SA has the Riverwalk which to me is just a mall with some funky water running through it. The Alamo right next door to the riverwalk.
Lots of good food too.

[Texas357]

Quick question, and it didn't turn up when I searched:

Is the San Antonio Zoo posted? Can we carry there?

[DriBak]

If you like Soul Food you gotta eat at Hoover's

[RyanNREMTP]

Wife and I might be spending the weekend in SA at the end of March. I'll have to see what new is down there.

[ubernoob]

Agree with everything said thus far (except Hung Fong, worst Chinese ever). In Austin, check out Mozarts on Lake Austin Boulevard for a cup of coffee, desert and some great scenery of the river.

In San Antonio, if you are downtown, walking around, and you see an underpass lit up in multicolored flashing lights, turn around. They are trying to trick you into going into the ghetto.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Hung Fong was hot for Chinese food when it was the only game in town and people didn't know better. If you want Chinese food - Austin is a better hit for it. Not worth driving around SA to find Chinese food as there are some decent but not spectacular places.

[MrMurphy]

On your way down, stop in the Texas Ranger Musuem in Waco. Right off the Brazos river, it's a massive collection of Winchesters, Peacemakers, 1911s, and other cool stuff.

[sdsnet]

In Austin you can stay at the Lakeway Inn on Lake Travis and you have a short drive into Austin. In San Antonio the Marriot on the Riverwalk is nice. New Braunfels is close (about 30 min drive) and is a nice place to go tube down the rivers (Comal or Guadelupe).