A Day in Austin

Today I had the whole day in Austin and I decided to do some letterboxing and to make a visit to the State Capitol. So this morning I organized my things and made a schedule of what I wanted to do. At around 9:00am I left the hotel and headed toward downtown. My first stop was at the Texas State Cemetery. I parked out front on the street and made my way through the entrance gates and picked up a map at the office. Then I sat on a bench and mapped out my time here. I walked around most of the cemetery and along the entire length of State Road 165. I visited the following areas . . . Monument Hill, Confederate Field, Republic Hill and Statesman Meadow. I specifically went to see the following graves . . . James Michener, Ann Richards, Ma & Pa Ferguson, Martin Parmer, Barbara Jordan and Stephen F. Austin. I also spent a little time at the following Memorials . . .  September 11th Monument, Vietnam Memorial, Purple Heart Memorial and Nine Men of Praha Monument. During my time here I also did some letterboxing. I looked for four boxes but only found three . . . Silver Eagle's American Sniper & Austin Treaty Oak and AnnaBee's The Short Road After a Long Journey. I really enjoyed my time at this cemetery. There is so much history and I felt a little overwhelmed at all the information I was taking in. After about an hour here I moved on to my next location - Oakwood Cemetery. I didn't spend as much time here and I really just concentrated on letterboxing. I found two boxes by Grumpy Grinch - Wisdom & Wonder and Imagination Station and on box by Lone Star Quilter - Oh, Susannah!.

Once I was done at the cemetery I headed over to the Capitol. I parked in the visitor parking garage and walked over to the Capitol. My first stop was at the Capitol Visitor Center. Here I got my Capitol Collection stamp and picked up some postcards, a snack and a patch at the gift shop. After that I did the self-guided walking tour of the grounds and while I did this I tried to find two letterboxes - but came up empty handed. Then I went inside the Capitol and did a self-guided tour of the building. I spent about an hour and a half at the Capitol and even took time to listen to a concert in the Rotunda by the Helotes Area Community Band. You can get maps online at Maps & Floorplans. I really enjoyed my time at the Capitol and I learned a lot - really worth the visit.

Upon leaving the Capitol area I headed to Assumption Cemetery. I looked for two boxes here but only found one. I found Easterbelle's No Room at the Inn. I stamped in while sitting in the car and then replaced the box. From here I decided to head to McKinney Falls State Park. I only had a few clues for boxes there but I still wanted to go just to get a feel for the park so that at the event tomorrow I would be better oriented. I stopped and paid my fees and got a map of the park. Then I headed to the parking area for the Lower Falls. I followed clues for two boxes - both by Bell Motel. I walked on the Onion Creek Trail and found Don't Mess With Texas Women and It's Mighty Reckless, to Mess With Texas.  On the way back to the car I stopped to look for another box but came up empty handed. Before going back to the car I walked over to the lower falls just for a look. Then I headed to the car and then decided to drive around the park and see where the dining hall was and to walk around that area to see where the trails went. I spent about two and a half hours at the park before heading out to a coffee shop. I spent an hour at the coffee shop and did some emails and logged in my finds and of course had some coffee. Then it was time to head over to Patsy's Café for the Messing With Texans event. Patsy's was a great place - the food and atmosphere was incredible. It was also great to see everyone. We did exchanges, personal travelers, ate some great food and talked incessantly. It was a great way to end a wonderful day in Texas' Capital City. Now I am looking forward to the event tomorrow.