Austin Duck Tour

On Sunday of our mini weekend getaway, Mark and I took the Austin Duck Tour. We checked out of the hotel that morning and wanted to be home before dinner, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to tour the city. I felt the duck tour was a pretty good compromise, though it’s virtually impossible to get decent photographs on a bus.

6th Street

The tour departed from the Austin Visitor’s Center on 6th Street. We spent time before the tour checking out the gift shop to see what we could pick up for the kids and my mom who was watching them for us. The shop had some great items and the prices were mostly reasonable, though there was a $150 cross-stitch pillow that I still can’t wrap my head around someone purchasing.

Before and after the tour was my only chance to get shots on my feet where I could think about them for more than a few seconds. 6th Street was a really cool place with tons of tattoo parlors. It’d be cool to check out the night scene, but I’d be content to just stroll up and down the street during the day.

The Driskill Hotel was built in 1886 and is the height of luxury. Its cheapest rooms are upwards of $200 a night and valet parking is $26. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable even stepping into its opulent marble-floored lobby. Still, what a beautiful, historic hotel!

I’ve always loved taking pictures looking up at ordinary old trees. I find the images very relaxing, no idea why!

This is right next to the Visitor’s Center. Can’t throw a stick without it passing by a tattoo parlor on this street. If I ever decide to get a tattoo, I think I’m going to go to Austin.

Quack! Quack!

The bus boat came and we boarded it, waiting around just a few minutes for some last minute passengers. They gave everyone nifty quackers and later we used them for drive-by duckings. We passed by a golf course a couple of times and tried to throw the golfers off their game mid-swing, but someone always messed it up by quacking too soon.

Upon announcing on Twitter we were going on a duck tour, one of my friends replied that those things sink! I spent a whole day worrying about this, developing a plan in my head for saving my camera equipment should something go wrong. I was very pleased to learn that these bus boats (whatever they’re called) are deemed unsinkable by the US Coast Guard.

I regret not getting a picture of the outside of the bus because it was very colorful and fun. Lesson #1 learned on this trip was, “TAKE THE PICTURE.” I spent way too much time caring that people would find me a freak for simply clicking my shutter. I didn’t want to wade through the crowd and potentially ask some of them to step back for a moment so I could get a shot. (Instead, I sat on the bus with my camera mostly in my lap and shot this dude pounding on the door of a bar next to the visitor’s center at 11am.)

The tour guide was a 2nd grade teacher who frequently lamented the fact that his extraordinary humor was stifled by a script. I’m guessing they let him write his own script at least, as he was obviously very liberal and generously handed out his opinions during the tour. (Newsflash: He is NOT happy about tax money being used to restore the Texas Governor’s Mansion.)

A Brief History of the Texas State Capital

Believe it or not, I learned a couple of cool things about Texas and Austin during the tour. The coolest factoid? Houston was very nearly the state capital – twice.

Sam Houston was elected the first president of the Republic when the Texas Congress was considering locations for the capital. They favored Central Texas, but Houston pushed for the city named after him. He was replaced the next term when it was decided a tiny settlement called Waterloo, now Austin, would be the state seat.

Houston was again elected president the following term and vocalized his disgust for Austin, ordering the secretary of the state in 1841 to relocate the archives from Austin to Houston. The people of Austin were so enraged by this prospect, they formed a vigilante committee and warned that attempts at removing the archives would be met with armed resistance.

In December 1842, Sam Houston outright declared Austin was no longer the capital and ordered a Colonel and a Captain to collect the archives and bring them to Houston. A local innkeeper named Angelina Eberly witnessed the men loading their wagons and fired a shot from a cannon to warn the citizens of Austin.

Houston’s men fled with the vigilantes on their tail. They were forced to surrender the archives at gunpoint and the documents were returned to Austin. It took until 1850 before the location of the capital was completely settled, however what a great example of citizens raising up for their beliefs to oppose the government.

Quick! Snap!

I’m actually surprised some of these shots didn’t turn out so bad since it was extremely frustrating shooting inside a moving vehicle. Neither my camera nor my lens are especially fast and I had no time at all to think about composition. On one hand, it was an interesting photography exercise, but generally I am not a fan of speed shooting.

There was a couple in front of us with a gorgeous toddler I could not help but photograph as he was looking out the window onto the water. Mark told me I should approach the parents about it and get their email address to send the shots, but I was a coward and felt it was too presumptuous of me to make such an offer. I’d never post the pictures publicly, but they turned out really well and if I were that child’s parent, I’d love to have the photographs. So I’m kicking myself big time for being such a big, insecure wuss.

Question: Photographers, have you gone up to strangers before about photographing them or their kids? What was the response?

The Elite Circle Grille

The drive between Austin and Fort Worth is quite pleasant. It only takes three hours and Waco is right around the half-way point, breaking up the drive nicely. I’m used to the 16 hour drives between Atlanta and Fort Worth, so anything under five hours in a car is a totally awesome road trip in my book.

Unfortunately Mark and I were not yet hungry when we departed Austin. (The city is well known for its awesome food!) We’d splurged on room service at the hotel for breakfast and it kept us full longer than expected.

So we decided to stop in Waco and I used our smart phone to look up cool restaurants right off the highway. I found a couple recommendations for the Elite Circle Grille. It’s a historic restaurant with its first location opening in 1919 and the second (and currently only) location opening in 1941. They were the first restaurant in Waco to use refrigeration (1923) and air conditioning (1941)!

I had the grilled chicken which was tasty, but a bit dry. The menu was conservatively priced (mostly $8-$12 entrees) and the meal was very satisfying, so I’m not complaining. The restaurant itself along with its food and service didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary so if I was a local, I doubt I’d be a frequent customer.

Over Too Soon

It was a great, leisurely day, but I definitely wish we had more time in Austin. Now that I know the drive is so tolerable I’d like to start planning a weekend getaway with the kids!