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Keep Austin Weird: The Very Best Weird Activities to Do During SXSW

If you've been to SXSW more than once, you've probably done a lot of stalwart Austin things, like left a Waterloo Records in-store lighter by $50, had your picture taken with the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue or bowed down to the brisket at the Salt Lick. This year, why not dig a little deeper? Sure, "Keep Austin Weird" is really just a slogan on a hotel gift shop coffee mug, but that doesn't mean the city isn't truly odd and wonderful. Here are 10 more things to do after the free food runs out at Rachael Ray's day party.
See the Bats of Congress Bridge
From mid-March until November, The Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin is home to 1.5 million furry flying Mexican free-tail bats. So head down to the Town Lake waterfront at dusk and watch these beauties head out for their nightly foraging.
Places to View the Bats
Bats
shewhopaints
Eat Barbecue at Nine in the Morning
All of the best barbecue requires a bit of driving, so skip that afterparty on Friday and head 50 miles east to Snow's BBQ for brisket, pork steaks, ribs and sausage, cooked up by seventysomething pit mistress Tootsie Tomanetz. Celebrated by both Texas Monthly and The New Yorker's Calvin Trillin, Snow's is open on Saturdays only, "from 8 am till sold out."
Check out Snow's Menu
Ribs
Mark Thomas/Getty Images
Relive the Horror of Charles Whitman
The Texas Tower, where a deranged Charles Whitman opened fire and killed 15 people on the University of Texas campus in 1966, is available for tours, and you can still see a few remaining bullet marks on one of its limestone walls. A brand-new documentary about the killings, 'Sniper '66,' is playing at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum until the end of March.
Visit the Texas Tower Observation Deck
Texas Tower
AP Photo/Harry Cabluck
Support the (Outsider) Arts
In addition to being one of first places to hold SXSW day parties, Yard Dog Gallery shows the work of musician-artists Rico Bell, Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair, as well as countless folk art practitioners from across America. The March exhibit features Jon Langford of Meekons and Waco Brothers, and several of his finest paintings.
Upcoming Yard Dog Parties
Graffiti
Michael Connell / Flickr
Eat a Dirty Sanchez Taco
It's better than it sounds. Torchy's Tacos serves some of the best in Austin, breakfast or otherwise. And if you don't want the Dirty Sanchez (scrambled eggs with guacamole, fried poblano chili, escabeche carrots and shredded cheese served on a flour tortilla with poblano ranch sauce) or one of Torchy's more appealingly named specials, build your own.
Never far from a Torchy's Location
Taco
swanksalot / Flickr
Get Naked and Swim
Barton Springs Pool is the city's main aquatic treasure, and Hamilton Pool is an excellent nearby out-of-town option. But if you really want to revel in nature, Hippie Hollow on Lake Travis is the only choice.
Cool Off at Barton Springs
Swim
Alamy
Play Chicken S--- Bingo
Stick around Austin on Sunday after SXSW and you'll get the best that Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon offers: the honky-tonk and rockabilly of Dale Watson (notice him on 'Friday Night Lights' as the junkyard owner), and the chance to win some money gambling on the bathroom habits of a chicken.
Good Music, Good Times at Ginny's
Chicken
AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File
Beware the Feral Parakeets!
Amid the many attractions around Zilker Park and Lady Bird Lake (including the hike and bike trail, the aforementioned Stevie Ray Vaughan statue and, in Butler Park, a hill named after Texas music great Doug Sahm and a Bellagio-like water and light fountain), you'll find a colony of monk parakeets, purportedly released into the wild in 1991.
Duck and Cover!
Parakeets
Phil Cole/Getty Images
Go Vinyl Shopping
Beyond Waterloo Records, Austin still supports a bunch of little stores that focus on punk, indie and experimental music, including End of an Ear, Friends of Sound and Trailer Space. The latter is also a live music venue on many nights, and further nurtures an indie-rock clubhouse vibe with arcade games and pinball.
Shop at Waterloo Records
Vinyl
opethpainter / Flickr

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kilandam

Dhimmitude - I checked it out.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/government/a/muslims_exempt_health_insurance_mandate.htm
Now, you check it out.

March 13 2012 at 4:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
pathoscatz1

Hippie Hollow isn't the original Hippie Hollow located on he cliffs. the old grocery store and dance hall is now a bank. I will give them kudos for tryimg to maintain the voriginal building structure. However it isn't the same. There are a few of us that remember the freewheeling days of Hippie Hollow where we would see friends we hadn't seen in years. Somehow we all evntually ended up there and jumping off the rope swing and rock climbing back up.

March 13 2012 at 2:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kilandam

It seems very important to pursue the exact definition of this word, which is employed in the controversial health care bill on page 107, but not easily found in any English or American dictionaries.



Check Snopes and Google, but don't stop there, take the time to visit your Library.


Dhimmitude -- What does it mean?

Obama used it in the health care bill.

Now isn't this interesting? It is used in the health care law.



Dhimmitude -- I had never heard the word until now. Type it into Google and start reading. Pretty interesting. It's on page 107 of the healthcare bill. I looked this up on Google and yep, it exists.. It is a REAL word.


Word of the Day: Dhimmitude

Dhimmitude is the Muslim system of controlling non-Muslim populations conquered through jihad. Specifically, it is the TAXING of non-Muslims in exchange for tolerating their presence AND as a coercive means of converting conquered remnants to Islam.


ObamaCare allows the establishment of Dhimmitude and Sharia Muslim diktat in the United States . Muslims are specifically exempted from the government mandate to purchase insurance, and also from the penalty tax for being uninsured. Islam considers insurance to be "gambling", "risk-taking", and "usury" and is thus banned. Muslims are specifically granted exemption based on this.

How convenient. So I, as a Christian, will have crippling IRS liens placed against all of my assets, including real estate, cattle, and even accounts receivables, and will face hard prison time because I refuse to buy insurance or pay the penalty tax. Meanwhile, Louis Farrakhan will have no such penalty and will have 100% of his health needs paid for by the de facto government insurance. Non-Muslims will be paying a tax to subsidize Muslims. This is Dhimmitude.

I recommend sending this onto your contacts. American citizens need to know about it --

March 13 2012 at 1:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Geddie Oil Co.

Austin is weird all right, the trafic control,or lack of, is even weirder.

March 13 2012 at 1:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
BARB

Relive the Horror of Charles Whitman's Tower Shooting? Are you serious? I can't think of anything I'd want to relive to see less than that.

March 13 2012 at 12:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
mrbyaninch

ok..who's the old bat that counted them?

March 13 2012 at 11:57 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
tradewind2004

If people bother the bats they will all die. We have carried thousands of diseases to wildlife all over the planet and it is just a matter of time before we kill everything off

March 13 2012 at 10:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
RikkiFrenchGirl

I live in San Antonio, which is near Austin, so I go there often. It really is a unique city and a lot of fun. The atmosphere is very laid back and the people are non-judgmental. I think anyone who is looking to visit a city that is outside of the norm (and offers great music!) should place Austin at the top of their list. There is also a lot to do for those who are the outdoors type. The Texas Hill Country offers hang gliding, sky diving, spelunking, bike trails, rappelling, hiking, horseback riding and lots of river tubing. I really feel blessed to live in this area of Texas.

March 13 2012 at 10:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
arenadood

The bats story is cool, but I liked the chicken poop bingo better.

March 13 2012 at 10:15 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
soopershrink

They need to move that "bats" bridge to Washington DC (District of Criminals).

March 13 2012 at 9:58 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply