Scavenger hunt in Austin

So, the two things I had expected in Austin were and amazing music scene and an amazing art scene.  The latter did not disappoint.  With a little bit of internet research, I identified 11 or so murals around the city that were must-sees, plus I heard about an entire park dedicated to graffiti so I decided to create my own little art scavenger hunt of Austin, Texas.  I started in the center of the city on the dirty side of 6th street (East side).

Then I headed northeast to my favorite mural in the city.  Honestly, this is so simple, but amazing in its message, intent and randomness of the location on the side of the United Way Building (on MLK blvd, east of I-35).

Then I ventured over to the northwest side of the city to a part of town called "The Drag" (as if I hadn't had enough drag already).  It was located up by the University campus and had way more murals and art than I had anticipated.

I loved this fat cat the best up in The Drag.

Next, I ventured my way over to Graffiti Park, where I was absolutely blown away.  This was - by far - my absolute favorite feature of this city.  If it weren't frosted with broken glass and poison ivy, I would have picnicked here.  The graffiti was beautiful, intentional and thought provoking.  And, it was EVERYWHERE!  Hundreds of artists came together to beautify this piece of land and in turn battle for a free canvas that would later be protected by the "Keep Austin Weird" mentality and lifestyle.

While at Graffiti Park, I was approached by a guy that asked me to take photos of him doing yoga by some of the murals.  Of course I obliged and he reciprocated with some pretty sweet shots as well.  He was super nice so I gave him my mural map so he could do a treasure hunt of his own... we ended up meeting at 2 other murals, having lunch and hanging out in a couple of other spots that night.  That's right, I scored a date with a yogi over a graffiti bond.  LOL.

After Graffiti Park, I went to South Congress where I met up with 2 girls outside of the Austin postcard mural.  It took 5 or 6 jumps but I finally got it.  I know, I've got ups.

Coincidentally my yogi friend heard the girls and I laughing hysterically while he was inside the building and he came out.  So, we decided to meet up at the next mural and grab lunch in the trailer park.

I had a couple more murals to catch before the sun went down.

I capped of an awesome day with a delicious dinner at Uchi sushi on South Lamar and with some live music at the Continental Club.  It turns out Dave Alvin was playing.  Coincidentally, I have been having a DVD marathon with the series, Justified, on FX while traveling. (I had just finished Season 3 the day prior.) Dave Alvin wrote the season 2 theme song, Harlan County Line. Weird, right?  It was the first song he played that night.  Oh, he's so bad ass that he had a girl drummer (who killed it) and his brother came out to sing, Phil from the Bashers.  It really was a great way to close off an odd adventure in Austin.

I loved Graffiti Park so much, I actually went twice.  While scrolling though my photos, I spotted a mint chocolate chip mural that I hadn't noticed while I was there, so I had to go back and get an intentional photo of it the following day for my BFF, Lisa.  Amazing, possibly a little bit of kismet.