Things To Do in Austin Before and After the 2009 Keller Williams Mega Agent Camp
I just returned from the 2009 Keller Williams Mega Agent Camp in Austin, Texas. It was my first visit to Austin so I was excited. Time, however, was limited. In a short three days with very little unscheduled time, I was able to tour the city and get a good feel for its sights and sounds. Austin certainly didn't disappoint.
Day 1 - A Brief Tour of Austin - Texas State Capital and Warehouse District
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
We arrived in Austin at 3 p.m. at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. It is less than 10 years old, is clean and welcoming, and created a great first impression of the city. Given that Austin is the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital" and offers so many great restaurants, it wasn't surprising to see music and food as a focal point of the airport with a number of restaurants at the airport offering live music as well as good Texas BBQ and Tex Mex. Now, I always knew that Kansas City, St. Louis and Memphis had some great barbecue. However, before we departed on Day 3, we tried the Salt Lick Restaurant. It has a small (but crowded with long lines) kiosk serving a limited BBQ menu right along the concourse to the gates. It was worth the 15 minute wait for the BBQ sliced brisket sandwich with potato salad and slaw. From the colorful piano on stage to the painted Gibson guitars, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport provides a quick sampling of some of the reasons that make Austin a great place to visit - namely, great food, live music, and eclectic artwork. Whether you call Austin the "Live Music Capital" or "Guitar Town", you didn't have to look far in the airport to see the role that live music plays in this town. Like the city, the airport was easy to navigate and it took only a few minutes to get from the arrival gate to taxicab.
Four Season Hotel - Austin Skyline and Hiking & Biking Trails 
The drive from the airport was uneventful. However, as we turned on to Congress Avenue, we saw the Austin skyline. It offered a nice mix of historic structures to high rise skyscrapers of glass and metal. We stayed at the Four Seasonslocated on San Jacinto Boulevard 2 blocks East of the Congress Bridge and 2 blocks West of the Austin Convention Center on the banks of Lady Bird Lake, which is a great location for real estate agents attending the Keller Williams Mega Agent program to stay.
Although I didn't use the hotel pool and spa, they definitely were inviting. The terrace of the lobby bar overlooks Lady Bird Lake (or maybe its Town Lake). The lawn from the Four Season to the boat dock on Lady Bird Lake was dotted with hammocks on its landscaped grounds. For those interested in a long walk, run, or bicycle ride along Lady Bird Lake, the Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail runs along the Four Season property. For the record, I don't have a clue whether there is one, two or three lakes in Austin as it seems that the water outside my hotel was alternately called Lady Bird Lake, Town Lake and Lake Austin.
In addition, the accommodations at the Four Seasons were excellent and the service was impeccable. If you ever have a question or need assistance, just ask for Sara at the front desk. She definitely gets the idea of customer service and made things easy.
Walking Tour of Downtown Austin
After checking into the Four Seasons, the large group from St. Louis headed to the hotel restaurant for lunch. Given that the trip was fully booked with events, my business partner and I decided to take a walking tour of Downtown Austin. When in a city as beautiful as Austin, there is no way that my wanderlust would let me stay to eat at a hotel restaurant. So, we set off for a nice walk of Downtown Austin.
For those who are new to Austin like me, Congress Avenue serves as the East-West dividing line and Lady Bird Lake serves as the North-South dividing line. There may be more districts. However, it appeared that Downtown Austin was broken into a series of districts or zone like the Warehouse District located parallel and adjacent to the Colorado River, the Market District just West of the Warehouse District, Soco or South Austin across the Colorado River along Congress or the other North-South arteries, and Sixth Street.
So, not knowing the area, we headed North and meandered a bit West. Once we hit Congress Avenue and saw the Texas State Capital, we stayed on Congress Avenue. Congress Avenue appears to be old town Austin with few new skyscrapers and more than a few architecturally significant buildings.
Art Museums
Along the route, we discovered the Art House at Jones Center/Contemporary Art for Texas and Austin Museum of Art. The Art House featured a number of contemporary artists with unusual pieces of art work. The Austin Museum of Art featured the photographs of Chuck Close which combine photos, poetry, and woven tapestries. Unfortunately, the Austin Museum of Art doesn't allow photos. It did however have a great children's art room and an interesting museum store. Justin, a young lady who worked in the museum store, was a great ambassador for Austin and gave us some great restaurant and live music venue suggestions as well as a detailed map of Downtown Austin. We were short on time so we didn't make it to the Blanton Art Museum.
Texas State Capital
The Texas State Capital is one of the most architecturally significant state capitals in the United States. It is located North of Downtown Austin and South of the University of Texas at Austin campus and commands sweeping views of Austin. The Texas State Capital was constructed in 1888 and is primarily built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. It is noted for its height and the red granite exterior from local quarries. In 1993, the an underground annex was built. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Texas State Capitol was ranked ninety-second in the "America's Favorite Architecture" poll commissioned by the American Institute of Architect and ranked number-one for state capitols in a subsequent poll. A state law protects the public view of the Capital's dome by prohibiting the construction of buildings that obscure its sight.
Although the Texas State Capital is an imposing structure, its lawn surround the Capital is over 22 acres in size and includes an interesting collection of 17 monuments such as a tribute to the Ten Commandments, the Heroes of the Alamo, Volunteer Firemen, Confederate Soldiers, and Terry's Texas Rangers.
Just inside the State Capital, there are free tours of the Texas State Capital that are simply fantastic. Although time did not permit a full tour, I did take a short detour to see the rotunda and to take the stairs to the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives chambers. While in the Texas Senate, I had the opportunity to view paintings of the Battle of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto Valley. The battle of the Alamo resulted in the deaths of famous frontiersmen Davey Crocket and James Bowie. It also resulted in one of the most patriotic messages sent when commander William Travis wrote in his final dispatch "I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country. VICTORY OR DEATH." For 12 days, a small force of 200 Texans held off a superior force of 1800 Mexican army soldier until they were overrun and slaughtered leaving all 200 Texans dead and 600 Mexican soldiers dead (approximately one-third of their entire force).
The second portraits shows the Battle of San Jacinto. The battle of the Alamo, instead of causing the demoralization of the Texans, only provided stronger incentives for the volunteers to join the Texans in their revolt to Mexican rule. At San Jacinto, a force of Texans led by Sam Houston attacked a Mexican encampment during the siesta hour and, although outnumbered six to one, killed 700 Mexican soldiers and wounded 750 Mexican soldiers in a battle that last only 18 minutes. With this decisive victory, Texas secured its independence from Mexico.
Although I wasn't able to take the full tour, I enjoyed the history lesson regarding the Texas Revolution and was fascinated to learn that the Texas Legislature meets every other year for 140 days. It was a great tour and I would highly recommend it. In addition, we planned to visit the Texas Supreme Court, but were unable to do so due to our arrival at the Texas State Capital so close to closing time.
St. Mary Cathedral
After we visited the Texas State Capital, we proceeded along Brazos Street and viewed the massive and intricately designed St. Mary Cathedral. Surrounded by offices and government buildings, it was an interesting architectural sight. As we walked past the Catholic cathedral, we then saw its neighbor - an all glass building that caught the reflection of the adjoining all brick building.
The Austonian
After a short walk on West side, we cut over to Congress Avenue and took refuge in Starbucks as respite from the heat and to refresh our tired legs. Although I typically prefer a local coffee shop, it was located on the street that we were searching for the new construction display for the Austonian. Although the display office closed early for the day, the builder's representative was helpful over the telephone. For those not familiar with Austin, the Austonian located at Second Street and Congress Avenue is now the tallest building in Austin with 56 floors and over 350 residential condominiums.
Warehouse District
Before heading back to the Four Season, we toured the Warehouse District. After visiting Sixth Street, I can tell you I enjoyed the upscale and even trendy feel of the Warehouse District over the gritty feel of Sixth Street. The Warehouse District featured restaurants and club converted from former warehouses. I may have preferred it based on its older, more tame crowds or just because it was closer to our hotel. We initially visited Oilcan Harry's and the Spaghetti Warehouse. Later that night, we enjoyed Qua with a group from Keller Williams which has a dance floor over a shark tank and later enjoyed tapas at Saba. Saba is a great people watching place because it overlooks an outdoor music venue featuring the Spasmodic every Wednesday night. This band was fabulous and Saba allowed you to watch the show without venturing into the human moshpit of twenty somethings. We ended up finishing the night by listening to bluegrass music at Six which has a rooftop deck overlooking the Austin skyline.
Bats at Congress Bridge
In early evening, we went back to the hotel to change before heading out with our Keller Williams group to the Warehouse District. At 7:30 p.m., we saw what seemed like thousands of bats stream from the Congress Bridge heading West over the Colorado River.
So, in the course of several hours on our first day, we saw the Texas State Capital and explored the Warehouse District, which are two the best sights in Austin.
Day 2 - A Brief Tour of Austin - Sixth Street
Chuys - Lunch with AR Member Jason Crouch, Steve Rosenbaum and Garreth Wilcock
On our second day in Austin, we had very little free time. Most of the day was spent at the 2009 Keller Williams Mega Agent program, tech expo, a short speaking engagement and the National Association of Realtors' technology seminar. However, we were able to have lunch with ActiveRain membersJason Crouch, Steve Rosenbaum and Garreth Wilcock. After a terrifying cab ride that featured a cab driver lost in Austin looking for a restaurant he had never heard, two near misses on the road, and a poor pedestrian who jumped out of the crosswalk, we had a leisurely lunch at Chuys. As much as I enjoy their blog posts, these guys were even better in person.
Sixth Street
After a long day of seminars, speaking and more, I then headed to the Old Pecan Café on Sixth Street. Although I arrived almost two hours late for the cocktail reception and dinner, I did have the opportunity to briefly speak with Jay Papasan, co-author of the book The Shift. It a very nice dinner sponsored by the Keller Williams - Kirkwood Office and Chris Fox - Realty Mortgage. As the group headed out to Sixth Street, I called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Sixth Street is a bit younger and a bit more crowded than the Warehouse District. It was a long day and I had little energy left.
Movie Stars - Robert DiNiro
When I returned to the hotel, I was asked whether I was a "special guest". Well, I thought everyone staying at the Four Seasons was a "special guest." Later, I discovered that Robert DeNiro and Jessica Alba were in Austin filming Robert Rodriguez action movie "Machete." As parts of Congress Avenue were blocked off on Thursday, the filming apparently had started and the stars of the movie were staying at the Four Seasons.
So, on our second day in Austin, we got to meet several authors, radio personalities, and some superstars of Activerain.
Day 3 - A Brief Tour of Austin - SoCo
Before we left Austin, we decided to visit SoCo or South Congress. It seems that every visit to Texas or Arizona has resulted in a purchase of a pair of cowboy boots so I was determined to find Allen's Boots to purchase a boots as my grand finale. So we walked to South Congress and headed for the SoCo shopping district. The area definitely offers a wide variety of eclectic stores from vintage clothing to trendy designer stores to street merchants peddling screen print and much more.
So, as you can see, Austin, Texas is a great long weekend destination for St. Louisans looking to escape the cold weather of St. Louis.
Interested in relocating to Austin, Texas? Contact Ryan Shaughnessy at PREA Signature Realty at 314-971-4381. I would be happy to refer you to some great real estate professionals in Austin, Texas to assist you with your home search in Austin, Texas.
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