Friday, January 13, 2023

Walking around Austin

We take a stroll from our hotel near the Colorado River over over to 6th Street in Austin, the entertainment district, with live music, clubs, art, and dining.  We pass a few reminders of the music orientation ("Live Music Capital of the World") of this area on the sidewalks.

Getting close to 6th Street

Pre-Christmas groups of Santas are also touring the area and the open bars in the late afternoon.

Santas on tour

We arrive at the stretch of 6th Street with clubs and live music, some bands already playing already in the afternoon.

Clubs getting started for the day

We continue on and aren't able to return this trip in the evening when the streets and clubs are full and hopping.  Next time.  We continue a few blocks to the convention center, with its new light rail line, and pass by on our way to the Colorado River.

Convention Center stop

At the river, we spot a beaver busy at work and, in the other direction, a panoramic view of the city along the river.

Hello, I'm busy

View along the river

The river is full of canoes, kayaks, and paddle boats as people are enjoying the beautiful day.

Enjoying the river

The setting sun reflects off the buildings along the river, making a delightful scene for us.  We pop into the Four Seasons Hotel on the river, which has built an ice skating rink on top of the pool.

Sun setting


Four Seasons yard decorations

Ice skating above the pool

Walking up from the river bank to the Cesar Chavez Street alongside, we find markings showing the high water levels at times the Colorado River has overflown its banks and pictures of some of the events.


High water mark at sign (2008)


Some of the floods

Heading a few blocks away from the river into the city, toward the state capital, we see the streets and parks starting to light up for the evening.

Evening coming soon

As we cross Congress Avenue, we see the Texas Capital building at the end, the largest of all domed state capital buildings in the U.S. and second in total size only to the National Capital in Washington, D.C.  As another interesting note, the building was constructed to be 14.64 feet (4.5 meters) taller than the National Capital.

Texas Capital

Returning to our hotel, we continue to watch the sun set over the city and enjoy the remainder of our day.

Sun sets over Austin








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