Austin Texas is known as the live music capital of the United States for good reason. There are numerous live music venues covering almost every aspect of musical taste in existence. Austin is also the state capital of Texas.
There are numerous hotels/motels in the Austin area. Listed below are the phone numbers for some of the establishments in Austin. This information is being provided for informational purposes only and no warranty or guarantee of service is implied or given. The area code for Austin is 512.
Austin's most popular nightlife centers around Sixth Street in downtown Austin. Blocks from the state capital Sixth Street has club after club with different venues of music. Most bands start playing around 21h00 (9pm) and stay open until about 02h00 in the morning. To get current band listings checkout this pointer to the Austin Chronicle. The Austin Chronicle is a free newspaper available at any supermarket, bar, etc chock full of the latest happenings in Austin. It comes out every Thursday so be sure to pick it up! Or you can view it online and get the latest info without having to be in Austin.
One of the trendiest bars where people go to be seen is the Copper Tank at 5th and Trinity, a block off of sixth street.
What follows next is a small write-up of the Hill Country Flyer from a handout. This truly is an awesome experience and if you have never ridden a 'real' steam locomotive you have no idea what it is like!
The official Hill
Country Flyer site.
Settle back for a relaxing journey into railroad's glorious past on board the Hill Country Flyer.
The restored steam locomotive and cars of the Austin & Texas Central Railroad will carry you on a 66 mile round trip through the Texas Hill Country, a place rich in scenic beauty and colorful history. This rough and rocky land, home to a sturdy population of hunters and ranchers for a century and a half, is also a bountiful source of granite, limestone and marble, which in the early 1880's lured northward the railroad over which the Flyer operates today.
Austin & Northwestern line was built from Austin to Burnet in 1882, later branching out to Marble Falls, Llano and Lampasas. While passenger trains served the little towns until the 1930's the railroads predominant traffic has always been quarried stone, including all of the pink granite used to construct Texas' magnificent State Capitol in the 1880's. The A & NW eventually became part of the great Southern Pacific system, which sold it to its current owners, the City of Austin and Capital Metro I n 1986.
The Flyer's handsome steam engine, Southern Pacific #786, hauled passengers and freight in Texas and Louisiana for 40 years before retirement in 1956. Consigned to display in an Austin park, she was completely rebuilt and put back into operation under the auspices of the Austin Steam Train Association, a community-based, nonprofit group which began the massive two-year restoration effort in 1989. The 143-ton Mikado type engine was built by the American Locomotive Company in 1916.
The Flyer's heavyweight coaches, typical of the cars of steam's heyday, were built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1920's. The train may also be carrying one or more special parlor cars of various vintages, leased to our line by ASTA members.
Tel: 512/477-8468
Depart from Cedar Park near the intersection of Rt. 183 and FM1431 at the FM1431 train station.
The Train runs every Saturday and Sunday at 10h00. It is requested that you get to the train station at least 20 minutes before departure. The train takes two (2) hours to get to Burnet. There is a three (3) hour layover in Burnet and then another two (2) hour ride back to Cedar Park. Make sure to bring plenty of cash with you. Burnet is a small Texas outpost town with no ATM machines (Okay, that's not true anymore, there are ATM machines but they are not easy to find). There are several places to eat at but packing a picnic lunch is probably the way to go.
There is an open air theatre a few blocks from the train station in Burnet. About an hour before the train departs Burnet the local theatre group puts on an old western style shoot-out recreating the last days of Billy the Kid. No charge for admission but the hats are passed out at the end of the performance. You may want to bring a golf umbrella with you as there is very little shade and in the midday sun it gets hot!
There are two classes of travel on the Flyer. First class is $38 per adult and $19 for children 13 and under. Coach class is $24 per adult and $10 per child. I personally prefer coach class because you ride in vintage coaches. With the windows open and the sounds of the train you feel like you've transported back in time. The first class coaches are enclosed and air-conditioned and the cars are not as old as the coach class coaches. (Pricing info as of August 29, 1995).
In the food coach there is also a small souvenir section where you can purchase train whistles, T-shirts, and even a video about the restoration of the #786 steam locomotive.
Depending on the time of year the Flyer also runs a Twilight Flyer, a shorter evening trip complete with wine and cheese. They also hold murder mysteries on some of these runs. But you need to call to find out if they are holding one when you want to go and for current pricing information.
