Deep in the Heart

Went to Austin this weekend for a regional conference of the American Music Therapists' Association. Had a lot of fun at the conference and carpooling with my friend Jen, and had some free time Sat afternoon to explore on my own while she went to one more class. Within my first 20 minutes of being out and "experiencing" Austin, I saw a naked man on the street (well, he actually did have something like a "thong" on, and unfortunately I'm not talking about footwear as in my sister's post), a group of about 30 people riding through downtown on those scooter-like thingies with the 2 big wheels on the sides where you stand in between (kinda a funny sight to wait for at a crosswalk), and I almost ran into a peacock on a sidestreet. And for some reason those things seemed to oddley convey to me a sense of what Austin is about.

I also went to the state capital building, where I gave myself a good workout by climbing the stairs to the top of the rotunda.

The Senate chamber room inside the capital. Apparently this is where important stuff happens. (Write your congresspeople and tell them to fund music therapy and music education! That's how people like me get jobs!)

I was driving through this beautiful neighborhood right on the edge of Lake Austin and was a little taken by this house. You can't see it well in this picture, but the house actually sits on top of the lake. Notice the garage door with the boat sitting inside--that boat is actually sitting in the lake. Forget the trailer and hitch! I couldn't see where the driveway connected but it must have been a bridge of sorts (or something?) Reminded me of Venice. Except it was Texas. Weird.

Not far from this house there were some girls with a lemonade stand, complete with the hand-painted sign and all. It was too cute to pass up, and they were only charging 25 cents. :)

These were some really pretty grounds next to an art school that was described as an art museum on the map I had--never made it to the museum but enjoyed a really nice walk instead!

Close to where I almost hit the peacock.

I really had a good time exploring the city for a few hours. It has its own unique character and is so much greener and less flat than the DFW area. I would actually describe it as pretty! :) (I love the metroplex for a lot of reasons, but natural beauty of the landscape doesn't top the list...)