Many of the tourists who visit Austin come for its vibrant nightlife; After all, it is the ‘Live Music Capital of the World’. However, there are many other attractions in Austin that don’t involve music.
Austin offers a host of museums and art galleries. The Texas Memorial Museum is the main exhibit hall of the Texas Natural Science Center. Since its inauguration in 1939, it has assembled a collection of 5.7 million specimens in the disciplines of paleontology, geology, and biology. The Blanton Museum of Art is the largest college art museum in the entire United States and houses some 17,000 works from Europe, the United States, and Latin America.
The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center is a public library and archive, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural works of art from around the world. It houses 36 million literary manuscripts, 1 million rare books, 5 million photographs, and more than 100,000 works of art.
For a more in-depth look at the history of the state, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is dedicated to telling ‘the History of Texas’ and is named after former Texas Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock. Austin is also home to the O. Henry House Museum. O. Henry is the pseudonym of writer William Sydney Porter, who lived in Austin for much of his adult life. Porter’s 400 short stories are known for their wit and puns and he is also credited with having been the inventor of the ‘twisted ending’ in literature. The O. Henry House Museum hosts the annual O. Henry Pun Off, which is a word game contest in which Henry enthusiasts showcase their wit and pun skills in honor of their hero.
The Congress Avenue Bridge is home to the world’s largest urban population of Mexican free-tailed bats. As of the end of February, up to 1.5 million bats take up residence within the expansion and contraction zones of the bridge, as well as in long horizontal slots that run along the bottom of the bridge, an ideal environment for raise their young. Every afternoon at sunset, bats emerge in search of insects. Watching the bats appear is an event that is popular with locals and tourists, with more than 100,000 spectators per year.
As Austin’s official slogan is ‘Live Music Capital of the World’, the city has a vibrant live music scene, with more music venues per capita than any other American city. Austin’s music revolves around the many 6th Street nightclubs and an annual film / music / multimedia festival called South By Southwest (SXSW). There is also a flourishing circle of venues for live performances in theaters, bars, and hotels in Austin.
Austin is full of historic landmarks and unusual tourist attractions, from the beautiful Texas State Capitol building to the Congress Avenue Bridge and its nightly bat flights. There are many museums, places to eat, and of course there is live music on every corner. So it’s no wonder Austin gets high marks for sightseeing and family trips.
