MemberBachelorette will be coming up soon, and we’ve decided that about 6 of us girls are going to head to Austin for the weekend. Anyone have any suggestions of things to get into?
This isn’t a strip club kind of group, so that’s totally out. Drinks on the other hand are totally in. 🙂
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Bee@Crazyhair: I went with 6 girls to Austin for my bachelorette party, and we did pretty much what you described – drinks & girly fun without the strip clubs. I blogged about it on Weddingbee – here’s a link to the post:
http://www.weddingbee.com/2012/11/26/austin-bachelorette-party-2/
In a nutshell, we went out on 6th Street to get our drinks fix, we got lunch one day at the foodtrucks on South Congress and did some shopping along there, we did a super fun photo booth session at a quirkly little photography studio, we wandered around downtown Austin and got brunch at a historic hotel, and we walked to the top of Mount Bonnell to get a view of the city. We would’ve gone tubing down in New Braunfels or gone swimming at Hamilton Pool or Barton Springs, but it rained the whole weekend. Austin has tons and tons of fun things to do, though! Here’s something I pinned on Pinterest with tons of Austin ideas, too:
http://reapoffaith.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/austin-bucketlist/
Hope that helps! 🙂
MemberI had mine in Austin in January. We had a wonderful dinner at Taverna, then we hit 6th street for drinks and a little dancing.
MemberI am skipping the bachelorette for my ATX wedding, but I went to one recently with a calmer crowd that included mani/pedis at Embellish (very nice place for nails!), then dinner, drinks, karaoke and bowling at the Highball (’50s retro mid-scale lounge), followed by a dance party on a party barge on the lake. If either of those things are your cup of tea (personally, I liked the Highball lots better than the barge, where I felt kind of trapped for 3-4 hours), check ’em out!
In lieu of the bachelorette, I’m thinking of asking people to come out for mani/pedis at Sugar Coat, a new nail salon here.
If you’re more interested in barhopping, I’d stick to the bars west of Congress Avenue for a less shot-oriented evening, or Dirty Sixth for the shots and dancing up close with strangers.
Member@Crazyhair: OMG I have SO MANY ideas for Austin! I lived there for 4 yrs before I moved to Chicago & have my masters from UT (hook em!) FI’s fam is from TX so the plan is eventually to move back.
What are you and your friends like? If it were me, these are my best ideas:
1. Rent a houseboat on Lake Travis
2. Bring all the girls to Hamilton Pool & swim in the cave
3. Get a bunch of bikes and ride down to Rainey Street on the Town Lake bike trail. Best bars in town are in the Rainey St area. It’s not as young as Dirty Sixth, not as douchey as West Sixth and not as off the beaten path as East Sixth (but if you are an Austin regular & know to expect a gritty/offbeat scene definitely go to East Sixth!)
4. Dress to kill & go see a band that you love at Stubbs or Antones or any of the other classic live music venues
5. Sip on cocktails mid afternoon at Hotel San Jose on South Congress
6. Sip on cocktails at Hula Hut or Oasis where you get a lake view for sunset
7. Sip on cocktails upstairs at the Mohawk on Red River at night
8. Sip on cocktails late night at Continental Club on S. Congress and see whatever random blues music is happening
9. Drive down to New Braunfels and go tubing
10. Drive down to Greune & have dinner at the Grist Mill, stay for dancing at Geune Hall
11. Brunch at Taverna on 2d bc they have $5 bottomless bellinis
12. Breakfast tacos at Tacodeli (South location is the best one)
13. Hipster fabulous dancing at Barbarella on Red River
14. Shop at Strut. The one on South Lamar has its discount room upstairs (do not pass this up I bought a ton of cute clothes there when I went to work at SXSW). Girly fabulous & reasonable prices
15. If any band is playing a day show at Waterloo Records go there
16. Swim in Barton Springs
17. Rent kayaks and paddle around Town Lake
18. Franklin’s BBQ. Or drive out to Salt Lick
19. Food truck trailer park on S. Congress or S. 1st
20. See a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse
Member@jmarvellous: did you know that Highball is closed? I was staying with a friend in Barton Hills (literally rgiht behind Lamar just off Oltorf) when I was down for SX & saw the rubble. They tore down that whole complex with Highball and the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse & random strip mallness bc they’re going to rebuild on the same spot with mixed use retail/a new Alamo Drafthouse/condos.
I really hope that they rebuild the Highball too bc that place was amazing!
Member@k8: No, I didn’t. Thanks! (OP, strike my reccomendation, then!)
I had my birthday at the Good Night (for non-locals — it’s owned by the same people as the Highball and offers a bar, dining, bowling, karaoke and games like pool in an atmosphere far nicer than a typical bowling alley) last month, and I liked it even better. It’s not as close to downtown, but it’s more my style anyway.
MemberThank you all for the fabulous ideas! There is something going on the weekend of, and all of the hotel rates are jacked sky high. I haven’t figured out what it is yet though. Gah!
@k8: I cracked up when I read four in a row that started with “sip cocktails at”
MemberWhich weekend? We might be able to tell you!
(If it’s my wedding weekend — it’s UT graduation. I picked a bad weekend despite trying to avoid holidays and festivals!)
Member@Crazyhair: different time of day, different A+ cocktail venue! Hotel San Jose on South Congress has a lush outdoor pool area which is awesome to have day cocktails at, perhaps after getting your nails done. There are way too many good spots to see the sunset over the lake to miss out on Hula Hut, Mozart’s (I think that’s what the coffee shop there is called?) or The Oasis. Nighttime definitely somewhere with an outdoor option like Rainey St, East 6th or Red River. And assuming you’re over the age of 23, you def don’t want to be anywhere near the mess of Dirty Sixth/Red River late night — unless the goal is people watching, which can’t lie can be pretty spectacular from a spot like Maggie Mae’s that has a good rooftop deck!
MemberSomething totally different – take a wine or cheese tasting class! http://www.antonellischeese.com/cheese-classes
Take a drive out to the Salt Lick for some good BBQ
Member@jmarvellous: It IS May 18th!!! (Congrats!) Thank you for that! I don’t think I would have ever figured it out! I hope it doesn’t infringe on your day!
that’s crazy!
MemberMember@Crazyhair: In that case, anywhere BUT the UT campus area and “Dirty Sixth” is going to be my suggestion. And the most popular lakeside restaurants (Oasis, particularly) are going to be reserved for grad dinners!
We found that all the hotels near UT (and thus near our venue) were booked solid when we started looking in JANUARY. Our guests are either staying north of 183 or a few lucky guests on S. Congress who booked on just the right day. Do you have a place to stay? If so, it might be wise to try to find positively Yelped bars/attractions near your hotel! (This town is very good about thorough, honest Yelp reviews especially if places are hip!)