I flew back home to Austin this weekend for a friend’s wedding. Knowing that I would write this blog entry upon my return, I spent a lot of the weekend interviewing friends about their favorite things to do in Austin. Everyone had extensive and varied lists, however, I did notice several themes that repeatedly surfaced: Parks, Water, Live Music and Food.

If you weave the above experiences together, you are sure to soak in all the best that Austin has to offer. So, I have had fun putting together an ideal day in Austin, combining these four themes.

I would suggest getting a room downtown at the historic Driskill or the Hyatt, which is right on the water. This way, most places are just a short drive or a stroll away.

The food in Austin truly is exceptional, from gourmet to greasy spoon and everything in between. However, Tex-Mex is one cuisine that stands out above the rest, so, begin your morning with a great Mexican breakfast at Las Manitas. It is a small eatery started by two sisters in 1981. The service is fast and the food is excellent…walking through the busy kitchen on the way to your table, grab an Austin Chronicle or a newspaper. I usually get the migas and cinnamon coffee. Mmmm.

Once breakfast is over (and you are swearing off food until dinner) grab your swimsuit and a towel and head to Barton Springs Pool. It is located downtown in Zilker Park, a natural spring that churns out water at a consistent 68degrees, year round. It has been built up to create a very large swimming pool. The pool is long and surrounded by sloping green hillsides with large leafy pecan trees. You can laze in the sun and when you are warm and sun-baked, dive into the refreshingly cold water. Doggy paddling in the middle of the pool, you can look out at the Austin skyline.

After you have soaked up enough sun, head back downtown and spend some time browsing the South Congress Avenue shops. This strip of Congress, south of Town Lake is lined with funky shops and great eateries. Then, as dusk approaches and your tummy starts to grumble, head back up to Town Lake and get a table at Shoreline Grill, which is located right on the water, next to Congress Bridge. You can nibble on Shoreline’s inspired Southwestern cuisine, sip a cocktail, and watch from the back deck as one million Mexican free-tailed bats rouse themselves and swarm out into the night, their large procession undulating across the sky like a Chinese dragon. Viewing the Congress Bridge bats is a classic Austin experience, not to be missed. After dinner and the “show”, head downtown to Antone’s, one of Austin’s best music venues. Here you are certain to catch a great concert any night of the week. Listen to some live music and dance the night away.

This mix of Austin’s parks, water, food, and music is sure to leave you relaxed, happy, and truly enamored of Texas’s capitol city.

What are some of the best things to do in your hometown?

Chicago is famous for the Sears Tower and the 20+ miles of paths on Lakeshore Drive. When the sun is shining, you’ll find hundreds of people running, biking, skating and generally exercising on Lakeshore Path. In inclement weather, you’ll find the hearty and brave climbing to the top of the Sears Tower to raise money for charity. With all this exercise going around, it’s good to know where in the city you can get the perfect cupcake.

Cupcakes in Chicago, and a growing number of other cities around the country, are no longer the purview of children’s parties and Mickey mouse icing. In Chicago, cupcakes are serious business. Like going out for drinks or coffee, going out for cupcakes has become the thing to do among the socialites of Chicago society. Hands down, the leader of this revolution, and perhaps the cause of i,) is a cupcake bakery on North side of the city by the name of Cupcakes. Here you can get just about any flavor and icing combination, depending on which week you stop by (their menu changes). If you’re set on a favorite, however, don’t be late because they frequently run out before closing time.

Cupcake bakeries abound in Chicago, and if you’re very hearty you might consider taking on a Cupcake Crawl. Yes, you heard me right. Large groups of people often get together to ‘crawl’ around the city on public transit sampling cupcakes from around town. This practice, while it’s been happening for a while, was made famous by Chicago Bites a foodie blog based in the windy city. Their crawl sold out and took the city by storm, making local and international press. Don’t worry if you missed it though, you can print out their itinerary and directions and take yourself on your own personal tour with your closest sugar-loving friends.

After a day of eating every cupcake in site, you might just need that run down Lakershore drive. Or perhaps the full Chicago Marathon!

After Marsha’s post from Tuesday, I got to thinking about our celebrities up north, here in the Bay Area. Pat kindly provided me a list of Hollywood-ish celebrities in San Francisco, including Robin Williams, Clint Eastwood, Linda Ronstadt, George Lucas, Stephan Jenkins (lead singer of the homegrown rock group Third Eye Blind), all the members of Green Day, Chris Isaak, Carlos Santana, Huey Lewis and the News, and Nicolas Cage (for a while anyway). But (IMHO, the geeky side of me) the real celebrities are in Silicon Valley, home of Google, the iPhone, and Sand Hill Road venture capitalists. And if I were planning a visit to the Bay Area and wanted to get in some celebrity watching, I would definitely start on the Peninsula….

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From guest blogger, Marsha Takeda-Morrison, of Sweatpantsmom.

Did you watch the Academy Awards? Did you enjoy hanging out with all the winners at the Governors Ball afterwards? Yeah, my invitation got lost in the mail, too.

But there are other ways of brushing elbows with the A-listers, without having to lie your way into the Oscars by telling the guard that you’re Nicole Kidman’s obstetrician there to administer an ultrasound. (Which totally would have worked, by the way, if Keith Urban hadn’t noticed that I was flashing my library card and not a medical ID.) Here in L.A. the celebs are everywhere – buying sweaters, having coffee, eating lunch – just like you and me! Except with more money and better hair.

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