The Really Cool Stuff About Austin

I moved to Austin in August of 2011—if you’re an Austinite you’ll remember how hot the summer of 2011 was and we sweated our way through moving in with a lot of help from some of my husband’s co-workers.

So here we were with six dogs transported from Taos, New Mexico into a bigger house with a much smaller yard and as I looked around I realized right off—Texas is flat. But I’m not blogging to complain—yet!

Keep Austin Weird

If you’re new in Austin,  especially if you’ve moved here from another state, there are some neat things you probably haven't seen in your state/city and the first one is the city’s motto: Keep Austin Weird. There’s a website to help you learn how weird you can and should be, so check that out right off.

Tip: Get a T-Shirt that says “Keep Austin Weird”—you can find them almost everywhere!

Shop at HEBS

Next, is the grocery shopping. Pretty much your basic stores are pretty simple—I could only find two in South Austin – HEB and Randall’s. I don’t know what HEB stands for but I did see something that said “Here Everything’s Better” so that may be it, but I’d ask an expert. There are a few Randall’s stores around and they offer those discount cards—sort of like Albertson’s.

Tip: Don’t ask locals where the nearest “HEBs” is located. When saying the name of the grocery chain, you must spell it out, hence, “Where is the nearest H-E-B located?”

Miss the Turn on Ben White Blvd?

I love this next tip—the easy turning from Route 71/290—because you will need to use these little “U-Turn-like” venues a lot if you’re new in Austin. If you're on Route71/290 (Ben White Boulevard) and find you’ve passed the location you seek, at the very next light you will see left turn accesses dedicated to idiots. I use these lanes all the time. These little access lanes are located all around Austin, not just on Ben White, but don’t ask me where they are—I’m still new.

Tip: Once you pass your desired location, get in the far left lane and you’ll see these U-type turns. Make the turn and stay left and at the next light you can turn again and this time, hopefully you won’t pass the location by—again.

The Doc Is In on James Casey Street

Every doctor you’ll ever need in South Austin can be found on James Casey Street. From dermatologists to Ear-Nose-Throat doctors to cardiologists and more can be found here. On this street there are a multitude of complexes (very confusing to maneuver) but if you need a specialist, you’ll find them on James Casey.

Tip: Certain practices seem to skip around from one building suite to another building suite so ask exactly which building (and suite) they are in. I guess the landlords are pretty tough.

Extra Tip: The best family doctors are Premier Family Physicians and they have tons of locations no matter where you live in Austin.

Extra, Extra Tip: Premier Family Physicians is NOT on James Casey Street.

Go Longhorns

My last suggestion for those moving to Austin is if you aren’t a Cowboy’s fan, there are many here. I was surprised to find only one Pittsburgh Steelers Bar but locals keep telling me they are everywhere? Really? I can’t find more than one. You also have to become a University of Texas Longhorns fan—and cheer for their football team. This is the local college team that rocks so lean how to do the “Longhorn” sign and be sure to say “Hook 'Em Horns”—a lot.

Tip: Head to any HEB and you can find some Longhorn’s fan gear so you’ll at least look like you fit in.

Well, these are my first tips if you’re new in Austin but please do bookmark my blog because I’ll be updating it once week on the weird, the wild, the not so good and the very good about the City of Austin!