South Congress afternoon
August 26, 2009
Funky if increasingly gentrified South Congress Avenue lured me into the heat one recent afternoon. I only did a bit of window shopping, but that’s half the fun on this must-see Austin street lined with independently owned, only-in-Austin stores. Pictured above, a vision of coolness on a hot city street: the Tex-Zen entry courtyard of Hotel San Jose.
Dia de los Muertos skulls in the window of Blackmail. This is what we Austin gardeners may look like soon if the Death Star doesn’t ease up on the laser beam frying our fair city.
South Congress Ave.—this sign for the Austin Motel says it all.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I haven’t visited Austin in many years and don’t know where South Congress Avenue is, but I do remember some really great shops in the city, and the wonderful food places, all locally owned.
S. Congress is just south of the Texas Capitol building and has, in fact, a marvelous view of it. —Pam
The first picture is so lovely. I wouldn’t mind having that in my garden / gittan
Me either, Gittan. —Pam
Well that just seals the deal. We are definitely going to have to put Austin on our vacation destination list, and now I even know where we’ll stay! What a great hotel. What is the best time of year to plan a visit? Thanks Pam!
Loree, staying on South Congress would put you in the center of things, with funky shops and good casual and upscale restaurants within walking distance, and a short cab ride or long walk to downtown Austin, 6th St., and the Warehouse District. You would love Hotel San Jose for its garden aesthetic. I would be happy to show you around some of the gardens in town too and help you get your agave fix!
If you don’t like the heat, plan to come in the fall (late October through early December) or the spring (mid-March through mid-May). Normally the fall is my favorite garden-visiting time of year, but this year we’re liable to still be a bit crispy if we don’t get some rain from El Nino. From late spring to early fall, you can stroll down to the Congress Avenue Bridge and watch 1.5 million bats emerge for their mosquito dinner. (In the winter they head for Mexico.) Or you can take a bat-watching cruise on Lady Bird Lake. Lots of fun! —Pam
Our son and daughter-in-law had a house a block off S. Congress, when they got married….on the street behind Lucy in Disguise. We spent lots of time down there then. They moved away ten years ago….couldn’t always find a place to park at their own house, and they needed a larger house.
But, it was a fun place. Lots of places that were there then are not there now, but always something fun to see and do. A great ‘Keep Austin Weird’ area.
It is a fun place. I’m sure it’s way more crowded in the S. Congress neighborhood nowadays. —Pam
I will be back in March 2010! Plan on checking it out then.
I hope to meet you then, CIMS. There’s a lot to see in Austin. —Pam
Clearly, we did not see enough of Austin at the 2008 SF. Gotta get back there sometime and see more of it (though I do recall driving by that Austin motel sign and MSS pointing it out to me.)
On Sunday after Spring Fling Austin, we took a small group of late-stayers to South Congress Ave. for a little sightseeing. As for the Austin Motel, the planning committee tried hard to get rooms there for our guests, but it was not to be. And yes, you DO need to visit again, Carol. It would be great to see you here again. —Pam
I am not the least bit satanic, Mexican or morbid (not that they all equate to each other), but I love those skulls.
I love them too! In recent years I’ve come around from bafflement to enjoyment of the festive skeletons and skulls of Day of the Dead. —Pam
I must return some day and stay at the San Jose hotel, where I had meant to stay before. Austin is awesome.
It would be great to see you here again, Elizabeth. —Pam
That second skull from the right is eye balling me. That’s just weird. My sister lives just off South Congress and I always try to look around a little when I visit. Always interesting.
I like the third from the right with kaleidoscope eyes. —Pam
I danced on South Congress to the Original Texas Playboys and Gary P.Nunn, about 100 years ago.
How fun! Great memories, I bet. —Pam
The Austin Hotel has a sign in that shape on a street called Congress? Goodness!
I never thought about “congress” in that sense before, Chookie. But I and many others have noticed the, um, erect shape of the sign at the Austin Motel. —Pam
I knew somebody was going to say something about the sign. Remember, it wasn’t me.