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Originally Posted by Sapphire  Next month I'm going to Austin, TX for 3 days for work. My friend is going with me and we are going to rent a car and take a "road trip" back home to Oregon. |
OOOHH!! That sounds sooo great!!! I live in Austin so I can give you some tips about your stay here and a few hints beyond.
While you are in Austin (and you may be too busy with work to do anything here, but just in case.... The LBJ library and museum is a great view as is the Texas Historical Museum. There's an IMax at the Texas Historical museum. There's also a museum of natural science on campus which is pretty nice.
A drive out to the Oasis restaurant on Lake Travis is a great experience.
http://www.oasis-austin.com/ If you take your binoculars, you might get a peek at our nude beach - Hippie Hollow.
Stubbs (on Red River - same street as Erwin Center) is legendary for BBQ and music. The warehouse district (4th street) or south Congress Ave have lots of funky little cafes and shops and should be plenty entertaining.
Sixth street is the "live music capital of the world" - not sure if you are into the "club" scene, but if so, that is the place to be. We are smoke free so if you are not a smoker, then you will enjoy the clubs.
Another pretty drive for GREAT BBQ is to Driftwood to the Salt Lick - great scenery (about a 30 min drive from Austin) and wonderful BBQ.
If you like the out of doors, you can go to Barton Springs park - the gardens there should be spectacular at this time of year. There is a natural swimming pool at Barton Springs pool - spring fed 68 degrees year round.
If you want a pretty drive, take Loop 360 west around the city - it's a completely different view than you will see in other parts of the city.
Great Mexican food can be found almost anywhere in Austin. Chuy's on Barton Springs (close to downtown) is one of my favorites. We have loads of great restaurants - as usual in most cities, avoid the chains and eat local and you won't go wrong.
When you leave Austin, if you hook up with I-10, it will take you through southwest Texas and through El Paso, the area around El Paso is beautiful. The Guadalupe mountains and Big Bend (a dip down to the border) is really nice. If you go that way, I would definitely angle up northwestward through New Mexico after El Paso. That is my favorite vacation state. If you stay on I-10, then you miss most of NM and you have to start angling to the northwest anyway to get to the Grand Canyon. I'd take the suggestion to go to Carlsbad caverns. I'd go up I-25 and see White Sands, Albuquerque, and stay on I-40 or maybe just south of it through New Mexico (just depends if you want to travel an interstate or the backroads). There is so much to see in NM. Just get a New Mexico travel guide and see what you can. Actually northern New Mexico is much prettier, someone mentioned Red River, a GREAT little community. Taos is wonderful as is Santa Fe, but it just depends on what type of scenery you want to see. Southern NM is more arid and the mountains are more rugged. Northern NM is greener (more trees). Northeast Arizona is beautiful. Page Arizona is absolutely wonderful - just a few miles from Lake Powel. The Chinle Arizona area is wonderul. But the same can be said for southern Arizona too, so I guess it is a toss up!
Have a wonderful time!
If you need any more information about Austin, don't hesitate to ask!