cowboy up in austin

By Chris Duthie

What makes a vacation destination worthy? For most golfers, there are three no-compromise categories: One, there has to be a selection of superbly designed or historically noteworthy layouts; two, the nongolf activities should be world-class; three, the regional dining must be superlative.

For me, Austin checks all three boxes.

While the public golf alone justifies a week or long weekend, the premier daily-fee courses hammer home Austin’s quintessential excellence. Must-plays include Omni Barton Creek Resort’s designs by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Arnold Palmer, and two by Tom Fazio; Wolfdancer Golf Club’s highly-ranked Arthur Hills creation; Grey Rock Golf Club’s outstanding Jay Morrish routing; and nailing the historic prerequisite, 99-year-old Lions Municipal, Ben Crenshaw’s proving ground, known as “Muny.”

For off-course diversions, Austin is practically peerless—at least in terms of transcendent music experiences. Literally hundreds of music venues —including the legendary Stubb’s Bar-B-Q—underscore the city’s well-earned fame as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” plus the metro area plays host to some of America’s most popular music celebrations, including South by Southwest (March), Austin Reggae Fest (April), Levitation (October), Lucktoberfest (October/November) and the city’s preeminent event, the Austin City Limits Music Festival (October).

Locals opine there are four main food groups in Austin—tacos, breakfast tacos, barbecue and margaritas. (Ok, the libation may be a stretch, but I get their point.)

For the first two, you can’t go wrong with Paco’s Tacos, Vaquero Taquero, Mi Madre’s Veracruz All Natural and Joe’s Bakery. Stubb’s will show you right when it comes to fall-off-the-bone spare ribs and cold beer, and plan to rise early to queue up for ’cue at Franklin’s, the city’s temple of smoked brisket, pulled pork and other low-andslow-smoked delights.

There is a more sophisticated side to the city, one that focuses on some of Central Texas’ better-known dining establishments. Those include Otopia Rooftop Lounge (sushi, American); Acre 41 (American); Stella San Jac (American); and Cypress Grill (American, seafood).