Whole Foods Sunset Supper & Cinema

Every Friday evening all summer and fall, the Whole Foods flagship store downtown has been hosting Sunset Supper & Cinema on their rooftop terrace. Entrance is free, and food & drinks (including a specialty 3-course meal for $15) are available for purchase. On the theme of Halloween, they've got Psycho playing tonight and Ghostbusters playing next Friday.

See their calendar for more information about the shows and their specialty menu for each show. You can also find out about their various events throughout the week. Can't wait for Psycho tonight!

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Blues on the Green

Every summer, you can enjoy a free blues concert every other Wednesday from Blues on the Green. This summer the concerts are in Waterloo Park, next summer they'll be at Zilker. Bring your chairs and something to drink, these concerts are a lot of fun!

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Walnut Creek Park

This park is in north Austin, and is a nice place to do some walking or biking. If you're walking though, watch out for the bikers who come through pretty fast on the trails. Of course we have no sense of direction so always end up lost for a while whenever we go walking in a park like this. If you get lost easily too, you might want to bring some breadcrumbs to mark your trail.

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SXSW

I'm sure you all already know about SXSW.. it's kind of hard to miss. Either you dived in and enjoyed all of the live music, or you got the heck out of town to avoid the massive hordes of people that descend upon Austin during this week. There are wristbands for sale every year for local Austinites to purchase, there are also many free shows going on for those of us who don't want to spend any money. Red Gorilla is one example of a free series of shows that goes on during SXSW.

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Kite Festival

We've been neglecting this blog for a while, but now we're back! On Sunday we stopped by the annual Austin Kite Festival at Zilker Park. This festival is held every year on the first Sunday in March. Basically everyone hits the park with a kite, and there are also a few contests and such. You don't have to fly a kite, though- you can just go and watch. It's great to look up and see the sky filled with kites.

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Harry Ransom Center

The Ransom Center has the most unique & rare exhibits in all of Austin. They've got a copy of the Gutenberg Bible, only 5 complete copies exist in the U.S. They also have the world's first photograph. Other items of note include drawings or sketches by Cezanne, Picasso, and other famous artists. My favorite was a self-portrait of Picasso on the inside of a book cover, it was a simple face drawn in primary colors.

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Barsana Dham

Barsana Dham is a Hindu Temple about 30 minutes outside of Austin. It's a beautiful, peaceful spot, and visitors are welcome, as long as you check their website for their specific visiting hours, and don't wear shoes or take photos inside the building.

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Trail of Lights

The Trail of Lights is an Austin tradition. It's 1.25 miles of Christmas displays and lights in Zilker Park. It may almost give you a seizure, but it sure is a fun walk. Lots of cute stuff for kids, too. Go between 7 and 10 PM, and get there by the 23rd because that's the last day.

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East Austin Studio Tour

Happening this weekend!! A tour all over East Austin to see various artwork by local artists. Best of all, it's FREE! Check their website for all the dozens of locations.

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Mt. Bonnell

Mt. Bonnell Park has an amazing views of Lake Austin and the hills. I could sit here all day.

View of the Pennybacker Bridge from Mt. Bonnell, which is an Austin landmark. See some other great photos taken at Bonnell on Google images.

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Dia De Los Muertos

This weekend, the Mexic-Arte Museum put on their 25th annual Dia de los Muertos Parade. Watching the parade was free of course, but afterwards there were activity booths and food, which was $5 for adults and $2 for kids. We just watched the parade from a bar on 6th street, which is a recommended way to see it.

About a million people with their faces painted:

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Lady Bird Lake & The Hike and Bike Trail

I'm just warning you: There's kind of an obscene amount of photos in this post. It's just hard to narrow it down when every photo I took is so nice. This whole weekend was so gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. After lunch we decided to walk it off by walking the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, which separates South Austin from downtown. This is probably the most popular spot in town to go for a walk, run or bike ride. Click here to see a PDF map of the trail.
Duck sighting on the lake:
Canoes on the lake, going under one of the several bridges:

Pedestrian-only bridge across the lake, part of the trail:
Statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Spot on the trail for dogs to get in the water:
The entrance to the trail from the Four Seasons:

A dock on the trail. There are plenty of little docks and side areas off the trail where you can sit and take a break. Turtle sighting!
Bridge on the trail:
Entering one of the bridges:
Can you see the rainbow?

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Free Night of Theater

Sorry I am so tardy in posting this- I actually just found out about it, and many of the free shows are already sold out. Free Night of Theater is actually multiple nights of free shows all over Austin, at various venues. I wish we had gotten tickets to see The Producers before they were all snatched up! Don't worry- this is a yearly event, so just stick it on your gmail calendar and get ready to pounce on the first tickets next year.

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