Rain stopped overnight so we woke to a beautiful sunrise and took a walk around the park. Not the nicest place to stay to say the least. I suppose the 25 or so mailboxes near the entrance with space numbers on them was a sign. I never once interacted with any park staff in person, only prior to arrival on the phone. Weird.
With SXSW going on in Austin, I made reservations and got on the road. The drive was great and we made it to the park with no issues. We were greeted at the gate by a host in a golf cart and led directly to our site before even checking in. Told us to get set up and stop by the office anytime before 6.
Took care of setting up, got registered and headed to downtown Austin to see what was going on. Found pay parking without much trouble. It was nearing sunset so I walked towards the Congress Street bridge which is the home to a huge bat colony. Every night at sunset they come swarming out on the hunt for dinner. I got to the bridge and was surprised to see how many people had gathered for the exodus. There are even tour boats in the river just off the side of the bridge. There definitely were a lot of bats that took flight in the few minutes I watched.
Walked back towards the area where the biggest concentration of activity was, on 6th Street. They close several blocks downtown to all but foot traffic during the festival so I wandered the streets. Essentially every other door was a place with a band playing, many of which you could hear from the street. It was a great time with an extremely diverse crowd. There’s a local campaign to “Keep Austin Weird” – well they have definitely have something to “keep”. It’s a unique place in a great way. Wonderful parks and pathways along the river downtown and the city is definitely in “hill country”. Friendly locals. Nice place.
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