Austin_Live_Music_Tour

Austin’s live music scene has been going strong since the German beer hall days of the 1870s. In fact, the oldest continuously operated business west of the Mississippi is Sholtz Garten on San Jacinto Boulevard. General Custer used to hang out there when he was stationed here in the cavalry. It has a great outdoor stage with the German Alps painted on the back wall, and remains an awesome venue to this day. You can learn more here: http://www.scholzgarten.com

In the 30s, the Chitlin Circuit was thriving with Eastside music halls bringing in the likes of the late great BB King, to Ray Charles, and everyone in between. This part of Austin’s musical legacy is strong and crucial to understanding the soul of the city. In the 50s Rock and Roll came to town, and Austin was one of the stops for a young Elvis Presley when he started his career. Elvis later said he made around $250 a night playing here, and many of today’s local musicians will tell you little has changed! In the 60s, a barefoot young girl walked into a place called Threadgill’s Tavern and asked to sing. The owner, Kenneth Threadgill, a Texas folk singer who performed with Hank Williams, is considered the “Father of Austin Country Music.” He heard her sing one song, recognized her talent and took her under his wing. Her name was Janis Joplin. You can read more about Threadgill’s here: http://www.threadgills.com

Back in the late 60s Austin was a sleepy town of 200,000 people mainly made up of three groups: the white conservative cowboys, the long haired tie-dye liberal hippies, and the politicians. These groups didn’t get along. Then a guy by the name of Eddie Wilson had a vision of uniting Austin through music, and did so by opening the Armadillo World Headquarters, a giant hall holding 1,500. His buddy, a certain Willie Nelson, decided to lend a hand. Turns out the cowboys liked Willie’s music, and the hippies liked Willie’s music, and he made sure they liked each other. He was known for pausing a show to stop a fight between the factions, and encouraging everyone to see each other as the neighbors they were. Even if they were different, they shared the music. It wasn’t long before you saw long haired guys wearing cowboy hats and cowboys smoking stuff that wasn’t necessarily tobacco. Willie is credited with starting the “Cosmic Cowboy” movement, and launching Austin as the “Live Music Capitol of the World.”

The 70s brought the Outlaw Cowboys. The 80s brought Punk. The 90s brought Garage Bands, and the millennium was the start of the Festival Age. From SXSW, to ACL, to Fun Fun Fun Fest, and all the rest – year round music lovers flock to Austin by the millions to get as close to the magic as they can.

The heart of the Austin music story is community. We are not competitive like Nashville, LA, and NYC. We produce songs as entertainment, and then we share them. We are not the mainstream. We are the undercurrent. The biggest names in music frequently come to Austin to write, produce, and record their next platinum record, and then return to Nashville, NY, or LA to deal with the lawyers and the paparazzi. Austin plays the part of the muse for the music industry.

Musicians love Austin because it has a different measure of success that those other cities. Here it is not how many Grammy’s, or platinum albums you have, or what kind of car you drive or how big your house is, in Austin if you are putting your art out there, you are considered by your peers to be a success. You don’t have to be a household name or a millionaire, just being creative is enough. So lots of musicians who have banged their head against the walls for years in Nashville, LA and NYC move here to enjoy this noncompetitive creative vibe.

Music is not only big fun in Austin, it is also big money. The music scene generates 1.7 billion dollars each year for our local economy. It’s a win-win for all concerned.

Austin's Low Unemployment Statistics

It isn’t new news that Austin is a fantastic city and one of the coolest, greenest, healthiest and downright best places to live in the nation. Everyone from Forbes to Kiplingers has written about our growth, and in this blog we take a look at some of the numbers that are driving our economy forward.

According to the City of Austin, some 9,000 technology jobs will be created between now and 2017, and around 15,000 more in the medical and teaching hospital sectors. That’s a whole load of great employment opportunities and demand for entertainment, retail, and tacos! The City has some awesome initiatives such as the Family Business Loan Program, a low-interest loan program for small businesses, and the IDEA program to help lower-income adults graduate and improve their salaries. You can learn more about the city’s growth initiatives here:
http://austintexas.gov/department/economic-development

More jobs will mean more people looking for places to live, and depending on where you are in the market this might not be good news for you. The Austin Board of Realtors July 2015 report notes monthly home sales of more than 3,000 units for the first time in 2 years, with the median price for single-family homes increasing 8 percent year-on-year. Less than 30 percent of single-family homes are now valued at less than $200,000. The picture for condos isn’t much different, with year-on-year median prices increasing by 7 percent. Great if you already own and are building equity…not so great if you’re trying to get on board before the tide rises too high. You can read more here at:
http://www.austinhomesearch.com/pages/austin-market-update

Austin’s mayor, Steve Adler, had the following to say in his State of the City address on April 13, 2015:

We love Austin and can’t wait to be a part of taking this amazing city forward. Let’s hope we can manage our growth in a way that makes our city as fantastic for future generations as it is for us today!

Austin Mayfield Park Hidden Gem

As far as hidden gems go, Mayfield Park is a whopping 10-carat diamond, tucked away at 3505 W 35th Street just a short drive from downtown. If you’re looking for a peaceful retreat where you can escape the city bustle and surround yourself with nature, this is the place to head. The park was bequeathed to the city by Mary Mayfield Gutsch in 1971 and is now managed by those great folks at the Austin Parks and Recreation Department, see: http://mayfieldpark.org

The park covers over 20 acres and includes a delightful cottage garden, several ornamental ponds stocked with fish, turtles and water lilies, abundant flowers, plants and huge palm trees. It also has a network of walking trails that lead around the grounds and down to nearby Lake Austin. The stars of the show, however, are the park’s resident peacocks. These amazing birds confidently strut their stuff and regularly display their elegant plumage to visitors. Photo opportunities are just about guaranteed if you can stick around for 10 minutes or so.

The park runs volunteer workdays on the second Saturday morning of each month, and has an annual “Trowel and Error” fundraiser to help pay for restoration work, see: http://mayfieldpark.org/workdays-and-events/ . The cottage and grounds are also available for rent for parties and special events. You can explore the park and grounds, including a leisurely hike to Lake Austin, in around an hour, and there are shaded picnic tables if you want to bring a meal or refreshments. The park is great for kids, although you’ll need to watch toddlers around the peacocks and pools. Entry is free, and we think the best time to visit is early morning.

Mayfield Park is one of Austin’s true hidden gems and should definitely be on your Austin bucket list if you love tranquil escapes. Take a book, find a shady spot and take yourself far away!

Typical Austin Food Truck Scene

Austin’s food trucks now number over 2,000 and serve everything from octopus salad to beef tongue tacos to lavender-infused ice cream. The food is awesome and the atmosphere anything from urban chic to grunge-cool, and the most popular trucks have lines as long as Austin’s never-ending Lamar Boulevard…don’t say we didn’t warn you. Food trucks have shaped Austin’s culinary culture over the last decade or so and look like having a continuing influence long into the future. We love the choice and quality they offer, and in this blog we introduce you to three of the city’s best dessert trucks, each offering a range of sweet treats in its own unique style. Leave room in your tummy and come try them all!

For “revolutionary desserts” served with aplomb by resident “bananarchists” head to 603 W Live Oak St, home to the great people of Bananarchy. Guess what? There’s a banana theme! Think ethically grown, doused in chocolate or peanut butter, and then topped off with anything from cookies to sprinkles to granola…yum! Read more at: http://bananarchy.net

The awesome guys at Churro Co. proudly proclaim “Bet You’ve Never Had Churros Like This Before” and we absolutely have to agree! Operating from 1620 E Riverside Drive, Leo and David serve up a taste bud-tantalizing selection of churro delights including Date Night (with popcorn and caramel sauce), Sunny Daze (with basil sugar and pineapple compote), and Rico Suave (with Nutella pudding sauce and shaved coconut). Explore Churro Co.’s menu at: https://www.facebook.com/ChurroCoAustinTX/

The pioneering Doherty Brothers continue to do amazing things with cake at Holy Cacao at the South Austin Trailer Park at 1311 S 1st Street. This delightful eatery has been featured on The Food Network, The Rachel Ray Show, and Yahoo Travel, and has also featured in Zagat…not bad, eh? Our favorite fluctuates between Brass Balls (with crushed peanut butter cookie crumbs) and Rabbit Balls (with carrot cake and cream cheese frosting). Find more about balls at: http://theholycacao.com

Comfortable Mercedes Sprinter Van Transport

Austin’s Bergstrom International Airport provides a convenient and hassle-free gateway to our awesome city. You can be kickin’ back on 6th Street, exploring SOCO, or taking in a live music show within a half hour of arriving at the gate. The airport is compact and has a sensible layout (unlike some we won’t mention!) so you’ll be out the door and having fun quicker than you’d expect. The number of direct flights continues to grow, and you can now hop straight to Austin from New York, Orlando, Seattle, Washington DC and cool international cities including Frankfurt, London and Toronto. Check out ABIA’s website for the latest news to help you plan your visit: http://www.austintexas.gov/airport

Traffic in Austin is unpredictable and gets busy on most main routes between 8 and 9 in the morning and 4 and 6 (and sometimes later) in the evening. I-35, Mopac and 183 can get really slow during these peaks so it’s best to stay clear if you can. Our road names and numbers can be a bit confusing for the visitor, so remember that Mopac is the same highway as Loop 1, and 183 is the same highway as Research Boulevard. Lamar Boulevard and Burnet Road are great north-south routes if you want to stay off the big freeways, and both are crammed full of stores, bars and places to eat and have fun. The Austin Police Department has a cool GIS traffic viewer that can help you avoid delays as you explore: http://www.austintexas.gov/GIS/TrafficViewer/

For those of you with good walking feet there’s plenty to discover around Austin on foot. We have parks, creeks, cool stores and funky hangout spots in abundance. This great blog from Hans, Lisa (and Rosie the cat) gives a bunch of ideas to get you thinking: http://metamorphosisroad.blogspot.com/2015/03/a-week-of-exploring-central-austin-on.html . Just remember to bring sun protection and drink plenty of water!

Real_Austin_Tour

Our Real Austin Tours continue to grow in popularity with Austin visitors and locals alike. At $35 for a 2-hour city tour, including a snack at one of the city’s iconic food trucks, we think our tour offerings are the best value anywhere in town. We’re biased, of course, but where else can you get this much bang for your buck, and see Austin under the expert guidance of a professional comedian, musician, or actress?

Our Real Austin Tours let you discover Austin’s best in a couple of hours. These “Bucket List” tours give a great snapshot of the city: we get dizzy looking up at the State Capitol’s dome and hang out at cool outdoor galleries, all as we combine tourist landmarks with off-the-beaten-track gems. We’ve given the tours the hashtag #getoutofthevan because that’s exactly what we do…four or five teams each tour. We want people to experience Austin up close and personal, and our carefully selected stops provide great photo opportunities at some of the city’s best locations.

Our Real Austin Tours run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but please check our website or call for availability. We’re popular and spaces tend to fill quickly these days. We depart from the convenient Austin Visitor Center at 103 E. 5th Street, close to several downtown parking garages.

If you’re looking for a cool city tour that takes you close to Austin’s heartbeat then our excursions are perfect for you! Don’t take our word for it, though. Check out our Trip Advisor reviews at:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g30196-d7008140-Reviews-Austin_Detours-Austin_Texas.html

We’ve also combined our Real Austin Tour with other activities for private parties including BBQ, beer or wine tasting, scavenger hunts, live music crawls and culinary crawls.

See you soon, and remember, we #getoutofthevan

Elizabeth and the Austin Detours team.

Austin_Bachelorette_Party

We’ve recently run several awesome Austin bachelorette party events for groups of lovely ladies from Chicago, New York, Green Bay, Dallas, Miami, San Antonio and, of course, our beloved Austin!

Austin has so many cool activities for bachelorette and bachelorette parties, and our location on the edge of the Texas Hill Country expands the choices even further. Popular recent party content has included an extended version of our Real Austin Tour complete with yummy food truck snacks, a cunningly cryptic Austin scavenger hunt, BBQ, beer and wine tasting, visits to some of the city’s best new restaurants, and, of course, paying homage at several of our iconic live music venues.

We cater for groups of any size and can tailor a party schedule to suit all tastes and budgets. We love making activities group-specific so if you have anything in mind, including any fun photos, facts and trivia you’d like us to work in, please share your ideas with us and let’s make a great event! We can provide everything from transportation only to a totally handcrafted Austin experience, and just about anything in-between.

Some of the great partners we’ve worked with on recent bachelorette party events include The Salt Lick BBQ http://www.saltlickbbq.com , Saxon Pub http://www.thesaxonpub.com , White Horse http://www.thewhitehorseaustin.com , Churro Co https://www.facebook.com/ChurroCoAustinTX/, Gourdough’s http://www.gourdoughs.com ,and Duchman Winery http://www.duchmanwinery.com

We’d love the opportunity to make your Austin bachelorette (or bachelor) party memorable. Give us a call or email and let’s get the party started!

Austin_Detours_Loyola_Real_Austin_Tour

We’ve been providing lots of cool Austin experiences to colleges and schools in recent months. One of our favorite groups was those super-nice folks from the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago. The management students were in Austin to visit local businesses as part of their studies, and we took them (and their flag) on a customized tour of Austin’s finest.

We started with visits to Austin landmarks including the State Capitol, 6th Street and the Hope Outdoor Gallery. We then took our college guests to indulge at two of Austin’s best-loved eateries – Torchy’s Tacos and Holy Cacao.

Torchy’s is one of those crazily popular places that almost needs no introduction. Since opening their first location on Bouldin Creek, Mike Rypka’s team have never looked back and today “The Taco Dream” operates all over town and is expanding around the state and beyond. Our current favorite is the Independent, and as we write this blog we can smell those fried portobello ‘shrooms and avocado…yummy! You can learn more about Torchy’s at: http://www.torchystacos.com

Holy Cacao’s roots are in New York City, where founders Ellen Kinsey and John Spillyard so enjoyed all things chocolatey that they had to bring them to Texas. Several awards, thousands of satisfied customers, and an ownership change later, Holy Cacao is going great guns under the leadership of the Doherty brothers Joe, JohnPaul and Matthew. We love the chocolatey-ness this awesome food truck offers and are currently in love with their Brass Balls…yes, this is borderline too much information.

We enjoy handcrafting Austin experiences for colleges and schools and getting to know the amazing young people who live in or visit our great city. You guys are the future!

Austin_Detours_Pepsi

We recently took care of 60 great folks from Gamesa, a division of Pepsi, while they were holding a team event in Austin. Gamesa is a major producer of cookies and exports its goodies to more than 16 countries worldwide. We just knew the Gamesa team would love exploring Austin’s culinary delights, and they weren’t disappointed!

We started the evening with a visit to those amazing brew-meisters at Hops & Grain, where our guests enjoyed a taproom tour followed by tastings of Zoe, Pale Dog, Alteration and other delectable craft beers. We love the emphasis these guys place on sustainability, and we kinda love their drinks too, as did the Pepsi team. You can learn more about Hops & Grain at: http://www.hopsandgrain.com

Next we made the short journey to see those foodie wizards at Mettle, one of our very favorite Austin bistros. We love the atmosphere, we love the service and, OK, we admit, we’d like to elope with their vegan bagna cauda and thyme basted redfish. The Pepsi team had a blast and worked through a bunch of dishes while carefully keeping room for dessert.

To keep things sweet we then headed to Churro Co, the cool food truck that challenges customers with “Bet You’ve Never Had Churros Like This Before”. Well, guess what? The Pepsi team had never had churros like these before! We spent a great half hour with Leo, getting the skinny on all things churro, as our folks tucked into combinations of Wimberly, Campfire and Date Night. The fantastic Churro Co story can be enjoyed at: https://www.facebook.com/ChurroCoAustinTX/

We then rounded off the evening with a downtown tour, after which some of the Pepsi team headed to 6th Street. We’re not saying anymore!

This week we’ve had the privilege of working with two of the biggest names in the travel and tourism business: Lonely Planet and JW Marriott. LP was in Austin researching for a future edition of one of their iconic travel guides, and we helped show them around and fix up some cool food truck delights. The JW Marriott opened its doors for the first time, and we had the pleasure of taking some staff members on a VIP city tour.

Here’s what the tweet-sphere had to say:

BBC World TV Tweet