great takes on family travel in the U.S.

Know the best dive bar in New Orleans, the most romantic spot to watch the sunset in San Diego, a place to buy a cowboy hat in Dallas, or what to pack when visiting Boston in spring?

The beauty about travel is that anyone can be an expert or a valuable and trusted source.

Most people have a place they know inside and out –a place that they can speak of with both authority and enthusiasm–whether it be their hometown or favorite vacation destination, frequented year after year. We here at the UpTake blog embrace the collective wisdom of the traveling community and recognize that this is made up of the unique and personal experiences of individuals like you!

So, we have invited friends and bloggers from across the country to share their expertise…give us the “inside scoop” on different travel destinations. We hope you enjoy this insider’s look at Austin, Texas. It is the first installment of many!

Interview with UpTake Employee and native Austinite: Alison Osborne

1. Give five adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Austin and its residents?

natural, funky, creative, liberal, and vibrant

2. What is your favorite neighborhood/area of Austin?

There are a lot of great neighborhoods in Austin—Hyde Park with its pecan tree-lined streets, old porched houses and small neighborhood restaurants, is terrific. There is also the funky South Congress area with hip restaurants, great antique and clothes shopping. But, I would have to say, my top choice is Clarksville. It is a small pocket of residential on the edge of downtown Austin….you can ride your bike downtown or to Zilker Park and the lake. The houses are small, full of character, and surrounded by old gnarled oak trees. There are small neighborhood shops like Fresh Plus grocery and Nau’s pharmacy, where you can sit at the soda fountain in the back and eat a greasy cheeseburger after you buy your Advil and Band-Aids. Or you can walk to one of Austin’s finest restaurants, Jeffrey’s, and sit next to Mac Brown (coach for Texas football), local politicians, or whichever celebrity happens to be in town. Best of all, you are a five minute walk to the flagship Whole Foods (it started in Austin) and this location is the largest (and best) one in the country.

3. Which cuisine do you think Austin does best? What is the runner-up?(feel free to share your favorite restaurant)

Austin has excellent food, across the board. There is a big focus here to support small local businesses, so you don’t get many chain restaurants and you do get a lot of unique and creative food establishments. Hence the city motto- “Keep Austin Weird”. That being said, Tex-Mex and BBQ are most prevalent. My favorite thing to do when I come back home is get a big Mexican breakfast at either Cisco’s or Las Manitas, downtown. Freshly made tortillas are my bench mark for a good Mexican restaurant and there are plenty of establishments that make their own here. As for BBQ, everyone has their favorite joint. I would pick House Park or Green Mesquite in town and Salt Lick if you are willing to drive a bit further out.

4. What is the best free thing to do?

During the day—Zilker Park and the hike and bike trail that circles Town Lake (10 miles of trails). You can people watch, feed the ducks, visit the Botanical Gardens, swim in Barton Creek, or go for a hike. In the evening, make your way over to Congress Bridge where over 1,000,000 Mexican Free-Tail bats have their home and depart every evening at sunset. It is a sight to see! Sit on the grassy lawn of the Four Seasons and bring a picnic. The bats stream out for quite some time and their swarming masses resemble a Chinese dragon, undulating across the evening sky.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?

I often take it for granted…but, Austin truly has an amazing ‘live music’ scene. On any one night you can find live shows all across the city. There are some great venues downtown along Red River, 6th Street, and the Wharehouse District. (Stubbs, Antone’s, La Zona Rosa) But, there are also some great dives along South 1st , Lamar, and Congress. (Saxon Pub, Continental Club, etc.)

6. List the best family friendly activity?

Most of the year, Austin is either warm or hot. So, swimming is a great family activity. The two best places for this are Barton Springs Pool, in the middle of Zilker Park. (probably better for older kids). This natural spring gushes out of the ground at 68degrees year round and has been made into a giant pool with grassy hillsides and towering pecan trees for shade. It has a very natural feel, resembling a river or creek rather than a pool. Deep Eddy Pool is off of the Town Lake hike and bike trail. It is also a natural spring, but looks more like a traditional swimming pool and has a large shallow end for kiddos. During the summer, they have movie nights where kid’s movies play on a giant projector and you can sit in the cold water to watch the film. (Austin nights are HOT in summer, so this feels great!).

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?

Dinner at Jeffrey’s or Fino. Stay at the Driskill, downtown or Hotel San Jose on South Congress and then see a comedy show at Esther’s Follies, or have a glass of wine by the pool in the dreamily lit courtyard at Hotel San Jose.

8. Describe the perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about? In three sentences or less.

Migas breakfast at Cisco’s. Lay-out and swim at Barton Springs. Dinner outside on a restaurant deck with a margarita, served ‘on the rocks’.

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go whether it is in the guidebooks or not.

Ok, I have to pick two(of the dozens I want to mention). One is Shoal Creek Saloon—great neighborhood restaurant and bar on a creek and greenbelt. You can sit on their back patio and drink $2 Pearl Light beer, eat a fried crawfish po-boy or chicken fried steak and watch a Longhorn football game. The other is the Lauterstein-Conway Massage Clinic…..graduating massage students give these surprisingly good massages for $30/hour (no tip allowed as they aren’t yet certified). I don’t know where else you can get a massage this cheap, outside of Southeast Asia! My back and neck miss it immensely!

10. What question did we not ask that we should have (and answer it, of course!)?

I would ask, “What did you not get to mention in this interview that you wanted to talk about?

The East Austin art movement. East Austin is an old and beautiful part of the city that has been a bit run down and dangerous for the last several decades. In the past, you only ventured there for some of the best Mexican restaurants in town. But, there is a big movement to refurbish this area. This movement has been brought about by Austin’s vibrant local art scene. Many galleries and studios are popping up everywhere (and housing prices are going up). The East Austin Studio tour is something not to be missed. Organized by the artists themselves, over 200 artists from 100+ studios from East Austin participate. It is free and occurs every November. It’s a wonderful way to keep up with the creative side of Austin.

Want to share your local expertise. Send us an email or tell us in a comment and we will be in touch.