Deodapper
Austin: SoCo music, barbecue, springs
Austin, Texas, US · 8 stops · 18.8 mi (30 km) · about 45 min driving · 13 spoken stories
Catch live roots music at The Continental Club, eat Central Texas barbecue, swim in spring-fed pools, and end with Hill Country views. Starting at South Congress and finishing at Pennybacker Bridge overlook, this 45-minute loop hits Austin's defining mix of music, food, and natural swimming holes.
Photo: Downtown Austin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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From South Congress Avenue, Austin to Pennybacker Bridge overlook
The stops
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1
The Continental Club
1315, South Congress Avenue, South River City
“Coming up is the Continental Club, and if you care about live music in Texas, this is pretty much the mother church.”
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2
South Congress Avenue district
Congress Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Austin, Texas. The street is a six-lane, tree lined avenue that cuts through the middle of the city from far south Austin and goes over Lady Bird Lake leading to the Texas State Capitol in the heart of Downtown.
“We are on Congress Avenue now, the street Edwin Waller drew as Austin's most prominent boulevard back in his eighteen thirty nine plan.”
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3
Terry Black's Barbecue
lunch1003, Barton Springs Road, Bouldin
“Here is your brisket stop.”
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4
Barton Springs Pool
Barton Springs Pool is a recreational outdoor swimming pool in Austin, Texas, that is filled entirely by natural springs connected to the Edwards Aquifer. Located in Zilker Park, the pool exists within the channel of Barton Creek and uses water from Main Barton Spring, the fourth-largest spring in Texas.
“This is the swimming hole that defines an Austin summer.”
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5
Zilker Metropolitan Park
Zilker Metropolitan Park is a recreational area in south Austin, Texas, at the juncture of Barton Creek and the Colorado River that comprises over 350 acres (142 ha) of publicly owned land. It is named after its benefactor, Andrew Jackson Zilker, who donated the land to the city in 1917.
“Zilker Metropolitan Park spreads out around us, more than three hundred and fifty acres of public land where Barton Creek meets the Colorado River.”
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6
Deep Eddy Pool
Deep Eddy Pool is a historic man-made swimming pool in Austin, Texas. Deep Eddy is the oldest swimming pool in Texas and features a bathhouse built during the Depression era by the Works Progress Administration.
“Deep Eddy is the oldest swimming pool in Texas, and it has a wonderfully odd history.”
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7
Mount Bonnell (Covert Park)
Mount Bonnell, also known as Covert Park, is a prominent point alongside the Lake Austin portion of the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. It has been a popular tourist destination since the 1850s. The mount provides a vista for viewing the city of Austin, Lake Austin, and the surrounding hills.
“Mount Bonnell, also called Covert Park, is the classic Austin overlook, a limestone height rising seven hundred seventy five feet above sea level above Lake Austin.”
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8
Pennybacker Bridge overlook
The Percy V. Pennybacker Jr. Bridge in Austin, Texas, is a through-arch bridge across Lake Austin which connects the northern and southern sections of the Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway".
“And here is the finish line, the Percy V.”
How it works
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