Bit of local knowledge for you: this is Chris from Austin tour company Austin Overtures (who I wrote about briefly on TW Blog) with some daytime and after-dark tips.
We filmed this - a bit too late in the day, I have to admit - at the Mandola vineyard, which in daylight is a lovely spot, and has a great Italian restaurant.
Why is Austin so good for music?
Someone put that question to the lovely Suzanna Choffel, who the Austin CVB had serenade us over a farewell lunch at local restaurant Moonshine.
I didn't have a pad with me (I know - bad blogger) so I'll paraphrase all but one of her answers.
1. Music as a way of life
People say that all the time. But the support for musicians is such that nobody rolls their eyes when you say you're a musician - it's seen as a stable, worthwhile career choice.
And the support consists of...
2. Health Alliance for Musicians
Yeah, seriously.
3. Untold venues
"A lot of cities say they're big on music, and they have maybe eight or nine venues," said Suzanna (in the one bit I can remember verbatim).
"But you come to Austin and there are literally hundreds, and it goes on all the time."
She's not kidding. Later she and our tour guides talk about 'playing the airport'. Because there's even a stage there, for crying out loud.
4. The authorities support it
This is a nice one. Getting a gig playing to guests of the city isn't a rarity - Suzanna said she gets two or three similar spots a week.
Clearly, not to support and highlight local musicians would be marketing suicide on the part of the CVB. But looking around the table it's clear the Austin tourism reps have a genuine, and not just commercial, appreciation of this stuff.
Here's a stream of Suzanna's track Hey Mister... and thanks our to hosts Austin CVB, San Antonio CVB and Continental
.The Hyatt Regency Austin is on the south side of the lake just off Congress Avenue, which runs north right up to the Capitol, and passes through the SoCo area as it goes south. Map below.
Tonight we - that's me and the party of tour operators I'm travelling with - drank and danced at The Broken Spoke, a honky tonk about 10 minutes' drive from the centre of Austin. It's an Austin institution, as you can see from the shot of the memorabilia room.
Sadly, even the joint's considerably talented dance instructor couldn't make much of us (beginners are welcome, by the way, and the lessons are genuinely very good) but it's a pleasure to sit around the dancefloor and watch the locals tear it up.
Below the photos there's a snatch of video. Apologies for the abrupt ending: I'd been called to the floor...
The band playing in the vid is The Derailers.
The Alamo: The iconic bell-shaped facade of the chapel isn't original. It was added by the US Army in the 1850s (the mission was established before 1800, and the famous Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836).
King William district: This is a house by British-born architect Alfred Giles, who designed many of the properties in this historic part of the city.
River Walk: Restaurants and bars are concentrated around the river, which runs one storey below street level.
The river walk is a feat of civil engineering - as well as forming an attractive feature of the city, it helps control the river, which until the walk's construction in the 20s and 30s had caused some devastating floods (this is limestone country, and doesn't drain well).
Thanks to hosts Austin CVB, San Antonio CVB and Continental.