Austin Travel
University of Texas
Having its own oil well (the drilling rig Santa Rita No. 1 on San Jacinto Blvd) has made the University of Texas one of the world's richest universities. Its unparalleled collection of manuscripts by contemporary authors is available to scholars amid tight security in the Harry Ransom Center ; stories abound of the sums lavished to acquire work from relative unknowns who might someday achieve fame. The Center, in the southwest corner of the campus, also houses an art gallery (MonFri 9am5pm, Sat 9amnoon; free), with a Gutenberg Bible as well as contemporary Latin American and American paintings. Student-guided tours of the main campus building and its tower are offered frequently; call 512/475-6633 for details.
The stretch of Guadalupe Street running along campus north from Martin Luther King Boulevard to 24th Street is known as " the Drag ." A focus of student activity, and lined with cafs, vintage clothes shops and bookstores, it was the location for much of Richard Linklater's 1991 movie, Slacker .
The LBJ Library and Museum (daily 9am5pm; free; tel 512-916-5137, www.lbjlib.utexas.edu ), on the northeast edge of campus at 2313 Red River St, traces the career of the brash and egotistical Lyndon Baines Johnson from his origins in the Hill Country to the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House. The curious circumstances surrounding his first senatorial election in 1948 (his primary victory was confirmed only after some "overlooked" votes all written in the same hand were found three days after his opponent had apparently won the Democratic nomination) go unmentioned. John Kennedy is said to have made Johnson his vice president to avoid his establishing a rival power base; but in the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination, Johnson's administration (196369) was able to push through a far more radical program than Kennedy ever attempted. Johnson's nemesis, Vietnam, is presented here as an awful mess left by Kennedy for him to clear up, at the cost of great personal anguish. There's a replica of the Johnson Oval Office in the White House, as well as gifts presented to the president, including a 1910 Model T from Henry Ford.
Austin
AUSTIN was only a tiny community on the verdant banks of the (Texas) Colorado River when Mirabeau B. Lamar, president of the Republic, suggested in 1839 that it would make a better capital. Early building had to be done under armed guard, as angry Comanche watched from the surrounding hills, but despite its perilous location, the city thrived.
These days it wears its status as capital of Texas very lightly; sightseeing rates as a low priority against simply hanging out. Since the 1960s, this laid-back and progressive city has been a haven for artists, musicians and writers. Many visitors come specifically for the music . Local musicians are renowned for their innovative reworkings of Texas's country, folk and R&B heritage, often severing their rural roots to use Austin's enthusiastic environment as a springboard to national recognition. Janis Joplin had her start here in the early 1960s, and at the end of that decade, Austin was second only to San Francisco in its adherence to the ''turn on, tune in, drop out'' philosophy, with locals coining the term ''headneck'' to describe themselves. Musicians hungry for fame still tumble out of buses from all over Texas to seek their fortunes in the literally hundreds of live venues.
Austin is one of the few cities in the state where cycling is a viable alternative to driving. It may not have completely avoided the usual problems of urban growth thanks to a sizeable population leap. But it feels wonderfully safe for visitors, even women traveling alone, and the presence of the vast UT campus adds to the atmosphere, even if almost every shop and streetlamp is adorned with the unsightly brown and white colors of the college's Longhorns football team.
Within the city limits a great park system offers numerous hiking and biking trails and a wonderful spring-fed swimming pool. Looking further afield, Austin makes a fine base for exploring the green Hill Country that rolls away to the west.