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Known for an incomparable live music scene, a burgeoning high-tech industry and rabid Longhorns fans, Texas' capital city of Austin is among the fastest-growing cities in the U.S. and an eclectic cultural pocket in a state known for its old-west pride. Downtown Austin, with the state capitol building and surrounding historic districts, is bounded on the north by the University of Texas and on the south by the galleries and boutiques of South Congress Avenue, or "SoCo." The local music scene has earned Austin the moniker of "Live Music Capital of the World," and each year it hosts the South by Southwest Music Conference, featuring hundreds of bands performing shows throughout the city, in addition to smaller events like the Cinco de Mayo Music Festival, the Fall Jazz Festival and the Austin City Limit Music Festival.

(See our Pilgrimage special The Eyes of Austin are Upon Texas Football.)

Exploring Austin is a snap for visitors thanks to Capital Metro Transit's free "Downtown 'Dillo" service. Five different bus routes shuttle passengers all over the downtown area, as well as north to the University of Texas and south to SoCo, hitting all the major destinations in between. For a ride on a non-'Dillo bus, fares run just 50 cents.

The recently completed Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is 10 miles southeast of downtown and is serviced by one city bus line (Rt. 100). A cab ride will cost between $20 and $25.

Hook 'Em, Horns For Thanksgiving
In a town with no big-league professional teams, the burnt orange of the 2005 BCS-champion University of Texas football team dominates the sports landscape and more than 80,000 fans pack Darrell Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on game day. Traditionally, the UT football team meets its biggest rival, Texas A&M, on the day after Thanksgiving, with the schools alternating as hosts. (Texas' other big rivalry game, the Red River Shootout against Oklahoma, is held at the neutral-site Cotton Bowl in Dallas.) See: If You're Going … | Austin Photo Gallery

Find Out If Pitching Talent Rubs Off
With an ownership group headed by baseball legend Nolan Ryan, the Round Rock Express joined the Pacific Coast League in 2005 as the triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. The Express play their home games at cozy Dell Diamond, rated as the top ballpark in the minor leagues by MinorLeagueNews.com in 2006. This facility opened in 2000 about 15 miles north of Austin and features a climbing wall and video arcade among its unique amenities.

Spend An Evening In The Bat Cave
Even minor-league hockey can be big in Texas. The popular Austin Ice Bats, an affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, pack crowds into "The Bat Cave" during their regular season of October to March. Renovations at the Chaparral Ice Center include an upstairs club area that overlooks the ice.

Take A Brisk Swim In Sacred Water
Barton Springs, a three-acre man-made swimming hold in Zilker Park is popular year-round with Austin residents looking to take a chilly plunge into the 68-degree water. The waters of Main Barton Spring, which feeds the pool, were considered sacred by the indigenous Tonkawa Native American tribe.

Get Your Lance Armstrong On
It shouldn't be a surprise that the hometown of the seven-time Tour de France champion has a variety of options for biking, from the flat Town Lake "Hike and Bike" Trail to the Veloway, which winds and rolls through the Hill Country on the outskirts of town, to the Barton Creek Greenbelt, considered to be one of the better urban mountain-biking trails in the country.

Rally For A Regatta
If you have the energy or the will following an evening of year-end revelry, get an early start and head out for the Red-Eye Regatta, hosted by the Austin Yacht Club each New Year's Day. The annual races on Lake Travis feature more than 40 first-class keel boats vying for post-hangover supremacy.

Roll with Hell Marys, Lucille Brawl, and Cherry Bombs
Austin features not one, but two Women's Roller Derby Leagues: TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls and Texas Rollergirls. The events are part sport, part burlesque, part concert (most matches feature live music) -- and an excuse to watch the punky women (Lucille Brawl, Loose Tooth Lula) skate, pose and pull each other's hair. Texas Rollergirls runs the first Sunday of every month, March to September. TXRD is in action several times a month, January to June.

State Capitol
11th St. and Congress St.
Austin, Tex. 78701
Even in Texas, where everything is done on a grand scale, the State Capitol stands out. Its capitol building is the largest of the 50 states. And, in a fitting show of hubris, is nearly 15 feet taller than our nation's capitol building, in Washington, D.C. Designed in the Renaissance Revival style of 15th-century Italy, it was completed in 1888. The exterior is made of "sunset red" granite, quarried 50 miles from Austin. The limestone interior was paid for in barter: three million acres of Texas Panhandle land that later became the famous XIT Ranch. Don't miss the third-floor visitors' gallery, from where you can see Texas politics up close when the legislature is in session.
http://www.tspb.state.tx.us/spb/capitol/texcap.htm

LBJ Library and Museum
2313 Red River St.
Austin, Tex. 78705
To Congressmen and Senators, to friends and foes, LBJ -- in the years prior to the Vietnam War -- seemed larger than life. He bullied and cajoled, and mostly got what he wanted. He calmed the nation following JFK's assassination, and passed groundbreaking civil rights and voting rights legislation as part of his Great Society platform. The story of his lengthy political career is told here through documents, photographs and audiotapes. There's even a life-size animatronic model of the 36th president, speechifying with the help of old tapes. The library is located on the University of Texas campus.
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/

Sixth Street
E. Sixth St.
Austin, Tex. 78701
The epicenter of Austin's unparalleled live music scene is on the stretch of Sixth Street which runs from Congress Ave. to I-35. It's bars, restaurants, nightclubs and music venues galore. If Sixth a bit too much of a drunken mass of humanity for you, move on down to Fourth or Fifth, which are a little more laid-back, or further south to the Continental Club, an Austin institution on South Congress Ave.

Congress Ave. Bridge Bats
Congress Ave. and First St.
Austin, Tex. 78701
Each night at dusk between March and October, the 1.5 million bats who live beneath the Congress Ave. Bridge come streaming out in an awe-inspiring mass, in front of spectators who gather on the banks of Town Lake (actually a man-made reservoir on Texas' Colorado River). And yes, we did say 1.5 million.

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
1800 N. Congress Ave.
Austin, Tex. 78711
Bob Bullock, a former Texas lieutenant governor, was the main force behind this three-story, interactive museum dedicated to teaching Texans (and the rest of us) Texas state history. You'll find everything Texas from Stephen F. Austin's diary to Neil Armstrong's spacesuit (Houston is home to NASA's Mission Control). Don't miss the multimedia special-effects Spirit Theater, where the voice of Sam Houston brings to life the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the sound of an East Texas oil gusher and the takeoff of the Saturn V spacecraft.
http://www.thestoryoftexas.com/

Austin Ghost Tours
209 E. 6th St.
Austin, Tex. 78701
Can't sleep? Neither, apparently, can a number of former Austin residents. You can channel them on any of several nocturnal guided tours through hotels, bars, graveyards and public buildings -- including the governor's mansion. Reservations required.
http://www.austinghosttours.com/inside.html

2005 University of Texas (NCAA Football: defeated USC, 41-38, BCS Rose Bowl)
2005 University of Texas (College World Series: defeated Florida, 2 games to 0)
2002 University of Texas (College World Series: defeated South Carolina, 12-6)
1983 University of Texas (College World Series: defeated Alabama, 4-3)
1975 University of Texas (College World Series: defeated South Carolina, 5-1)
1970 University of Texas (NCAA Football National Championship)
1969 University of Texas (NCAA Football National Championship)
1963 University of Texas (NCAA Football National Championship)
1950 University of Texas (College World series: defeated Washington St., 3-0)
1949 University of Texas (College World series: defeated Wake Forest, 10-3)