The second day of ACL Fest 2014 was even better than the first. The weather was beyond perfect: not a cloud in the sky and temperatures around 80. The shuttle bus drivers didn’t get lost. The festival grounds weren’t too crowded because everyone was either watching the UT game or camped out at the Samsung Galaxy stage waiting for evening headliner Eminem. And, of course, the music was fantastic!
Austin City Limits Music Festival kicked off the first of two consecutive weekends yesterday. Bill and I have been attending this outdoor event for nine years, and we agreed with Ray Benson’s assessment that this was the most perfect ACL day ever. Due to a cold front on Thursday evening, skies were clear and blue, and temperatures were in the 80s. Fridays are always the least crowded days, so we were able to easily criss-cross the festival grounds and get close to most stages.
Last weekend was mostly fine weather for the 33rd Annual Pecan Street Fall Arts Festival. Cloud cover, a few sprinkles of rain, and the UT-Kansas State football game meant fewer crowds when I visited on Saturday afternoon. Many of the same vendors are always on Sixth (Pecan) Street in the same locations. This time a few unusual “Just What I Always Needed” items caught my eye…
Austin Museum Day provides a good excuse to visit museums and historical locations around town. Admission fees are waived, and there’s a handy map to find everything. It’s always fun to check out new places or to revisit old favorites.
The annual Austin Pride Parade is my favorite parade around here. Sure, the rainbow colors, twinkle lights, and outlandish costumes are contributing factors, but the high energy level of the participants and the spectators is quite contagious. You can’t help but have fun at this parade.
You probably know that today, September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. But did you realize that this is also PARK(ing) Day? According to the organization’s website, “PARK(ing) Day is an annual worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.” In keeping with our city’s hipster reputation, a few “parklets” popped up on Congress Avenue today.
Fiesta! was the theme of the 2014 Capital of Texas QuiltFest. This show was sponsored by The Austin Area Quilt Guild and held last weekend at the Palmer Events Center. These first two quilts were on display at the entrance to the hall: the spectacular Raffle Quilt above (no, I did not win) and the Best of Show below.
Now that the Austin episode has aired, I can finally tell you about when The Great Food Truck Race was in town. This story starts on a Friday morning back in May, when I noticed an unusual assortment of vehicles parked on the Congress Avenue Bridge. I snapped a picture and promptly went back to whatever I was doing.
Austinites joined the Austin Fire Department in remembering firefighters and all who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 at the annual 9-11 Ceremony this morning.
Clear skies over Austin made for perfect viewing of last evening’s supermoon. This third and final supermoon for 2014 was also considered a harvest moon since it was the full moon closest to the fall equinox. Autumn hasn’t really made it to Central Texas yet, but the forecasters say we will have a hint of cooler weather soon.