Bill and I always enjoy meeting friends at the annual Oktoberfest sponsored by the German-Texan Heritage Society. Held on the grounds of the German Free School on 10th Street, this annual celebration features authentic German music, food, and of course, beer.
Last week I checked out the Downtown Street Market on Congress Avenue near 9th Street. This lunchtime event is sponsored by the Downtown Austin Alliance and is scheduled for every Friday through mid-November.
Sunday was a full day at ACL Fest Weekend 2. The weather was lovely, and Bill and I enjoyed almost every band that we saw. Our only disappointment was that we couldn’t hear Willie Nelson. An unusually large crowd prevented us from getting close to the stage, and then we were surrounded by groups of loud talkers. We finally moved on to another stage, which worked out OK since we subsequently discovered Miike Snow. (Not to worry…Willie lives outside of Austin, and we get to see him often.)
The weather was warm and sunny for Day 2 of Weekend 2 for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Afternoon highs reached about 90°—still hot enough to drain your energy and require a mid-afternoon milkshake from Amy’s Ice Cream. Bill and I wondered how we had survived those 100°+ days in past years.
Bill and I are attending the second weekend of the 2016 Austin City Limits Music Festival. ACL Fest is celebrating its 15th year—we’ve been at ten of those festivals—and every year there are a few changes. This year one of the main stages has been relocated, which relieves crowding around the food court, but doesn’t help with noise bleed. There seem to be fewer port-a-potties (including some new flushable versions), so it’s a long wait to use one.
The Capital of Texas QuiltFest was held at the Palmer Events Center last weekend. This annual show always features many beautiful and creative quilts created by Central Texas quilters. The raffle quilt (above) was a stunning example of this year’s theme, Red, White & Stars.
After several dismal seasons, the University of Texas Longhorns football team is looking much better this year. After they won an exciting season opener against Notre Dame (50-47), Bill and I decided to get tickets to the second home game against UT-El Paso.
This week Bill and I attended a B Movies and Bad History discussion at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. This ongoing series strives to set the record straight about Texas history as depicted in the movies. During this week’s hour-long installment, we viewed clips from old Westerns interspersed with Cattle Drive insights from two UT professors: Don Graham (American and English Literature) and Tom Schatz (Radio/Television/Film).
Austin construction projects have been humming along since we last checked in for June’s update. Summer’s almost over—at least according to the calendar—so let’s take a look at the latest progress…
Yesterday was HAAM Benefit Day, an annual fundraising day for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians. HAAM is a non-profit that helps local musicians gain access to affordable healthcare services. Over 200 groups performed at various locations to raise awareness and much-needed funds. A long list of local businesses also contributed at least 5% of their receipts for the day.