People always ask me for recommendations when they visit my city, so in today’s newsletter I put a few walkable downtown-centric recommendations for folks who might be coming in for SXSW. (In short: use the hike and bike trail and get tacos at Veracruz.) 

6. Walk the hike and bike a mile west from the convention center and you’ll arrive at our civic cathedral, The Austin Public Library. Take in the view on the roof and check out the Recycled Reads gift shop downstairs for souvenirs. If you’re tired, you can get queso and chips at Torchy’s, a smoothie at the JuiceLand, or a picnic at the Trader Joe’s nearby. If you have a bit more energy, you can either walk south on the pedestrian bridge across the river and hit Terry Black’s BBQ, or you can head north on what I call the Shoal Creek Book Walk and get to the corner of 6th and Lamar, where you can shop at the flagship Whole Foods, buy my books signed at Bookpeople, and possibly catch a free day show at Waterloo Records.

7. Another nice walk from the convention center is north along the Waller Creek Greenbelt and up to the brand-new Waterloo Greenway. Go a bit further north and you can hit Scholz Garden, where our best radio station, KUTX 98.9, is throwing a series of morning shows open to the public. A few blocks north of that and you can take in the Blanton Museum’s wonderful show of Anni Albers’ thread and paper work. A few blocks west is The Harry Ransom Center, the gem of The University of Texas. If you aren’t dead of heatstroke by then, you can walk back downtown through the Texas Capitol grounds (take a selfie with The Ten Commandments!) and down Congress Avenue.

I’m a middle-aged dad who doesn’t get out much, so take my recommendations with a grain of margarita salt.

One thing worth mentioning: A bicycle opens up the city in amazing ways for people visiting downtown. There’s a bike lane that runs from west 3rd to the Convention center, under 35, and east on 5th street that can link you up to a bunch of stuff.

Read the rest of today’s newsletter here.