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Private Clubs in Downtown Austin: The Austin Club and Its Murals

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There are three main private clubs that I know about in downtown Austin.  They are Headliners, The Metropolitan Club* (*gone at Plaza Lofts but coming back elsewhere), and The Austin Club.

The Metropolitan* is was a little different than the other two, in that its more of a spa concept, whereas Headliners and The Austin Club are true private dining clubs, and welcome both men and women.

Both Headliners and The Austin Club have a lot of interesting history.  For instance, Headliners used to actually be located at the top of The Westgate Condos in Austin, Texas (and before The Westgate, they were located in The Driskill Hotel. The Club is now on the 21st floor of The Chase Tower at 6th and Lavaca.)  The Westgate Condos actually referenced Headliners as part of their request for historic designation.

The Austin Club is currently located at 110 E. 9th Street (two blocks south of the Capitol building, right off of Congress to the East), the club was founded in 1949, and currently has 1,100 members (many of which are associated with the Legislature in some capacity).  The Austin Club has been in this location – also known as the historic Millet Opera House, since 1981.  The Millet Opera house was built in 1878, and is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark.  When the Capitol building burned down in late 1881, the building was actually used to host legislative sessions until the new Capitol was built.

However, one of my FAVORITE things about the Austin Club are the murals they have in their main dining room. In 1992, the club commissioned Chicago artist Richard Anderson to paint a series of murals depicting performances that took place at the Millett Opera House in the mid to late 1800s.

Below / After the jump are pictures of the murals with their descriptions.  There’s also a “map” at the bottom left of each picture showing [Read more…] about Private Clubs in Downtown Austin: The Austin Club and Its Murals

Fairy Tale Themes Come to Life in 2nd Street Shop Windows

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One more unique and wonderful thing to do with friends and family this holiday season…
Head on over to the 2nd Street District for another edition of the Holiday Window Walk! Twenty retail windows have been done up by design and fine arts students from our area colleges in beautiful themes on classic fairy tales. It all kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 8th and will be up through New Year’s. Come by and join the festivities!
Here’s a nice little story on Amanda Ivarra’s blog, Miss A, that tells how this all came to be.

Big New Capitol Tree Lighting Tonight!

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Tonight’s the night! The big new musical tree will have it’s full debut – thousands of LED lights programmed in time with the holiday music of 10 different Austin and Texas artists! Plus lovely new tree lights up and down Congress Ave…performers: Marcia Ball, Christine Albert and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell …kid’s activities…yummy treats…and photos with Santa at the State Theater!
Festivities kick off at 6:00pm with the KUT Sing-Along at the Capitol steps, followed by the tree lighting at 7:00, and continuing with the Congress Avenue Stroll and activities all along the avenue until 9pm.
Bring family and friends. It’s going to be a lovely evening. See you there!

More info here.

Neighborhood List Servs Ablaze About Helicopter Flights

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[image courtesy of AustinHelicopterTours.com]

As could be predicted, neighborhoods surrounding Downtown are in high gear with folks excitedly complaining about the new sound of choppers overhead today. In my Travis Heights community in SoCo, our South River City Citizens (SRCC) list serv (and, therefore, my inbox) is filling up with unhappy chatter. I just checked in with the ABIA Aviation “Noise & Emissions Office” (never knew there was such a thing) and the phone lines are on fire.

So I finally couldn’t take it any more and posted the following on our SRCC site. Maybe those of you who agree can share similar thoughts with others.

“My two cents: How about everybody reposition your thinking to something like this…

“Wow! Isn’t it great to have this amazing new event in Austin… positively showcasing our wonderful city to the world… providing jobs to thousands of Austinites, supporting our local businesses, and pouring tens of millions of dollars into our local economy?

“I think it’s all a matter of perspective. I am hearing the choppers too, right along with y’all. But what I hear are the motors of economic prosperity, not ‘noise’. I am perfectly willing to put up with a few days of new Austin Weirdness to receive the benefits of all the good things that come along with it!

“In my mind’s eye, I am picturing every passing helicopter overhead to be carrying a giant bucket of cash — kinda like you see when the choppers are dousing a forest fire with water — and they are over here dumping it all over our city. Kachinggggggg!

“And when you need a break from these new sounds, my guaranteed recommended solution is: a pair of headphones, a soothing classical music playlist on Spotify (or whatever your musical indulgence may be), and a nice hot cup of zen tea.

“We can survive this neighbors, we really can!”

Cheers mates,
–Fernando of the Hood

 

Sneak Peek At Fun Downtown Holiday Activites You y Familia Won’t Wanna Miss!

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[Image: The fabulous Driskill Hotel during the holidays. Photo credit to my pal and part-time Austinite, Trey Ratcliff. Check out www.stuckincustoms.com]

Just gleaned by one of my sources at a secret meeting of townie insiders today. Shhhhh. You lucky DAB mates are seeing it all here first! Be sure to key in on the important operative word: FREE.  Mark your calendars now!

Chuys Parade DEC 1 – Congress Ave, Capitol to 1st. 9 AM

FREE — well, donation of a new unwrapped toy really appreciated

Holiday Stroll & Capitol Treelighting – Congress/11th DEC 1 PM
* “Santa” at the State Theater 6-9 PM – FREE
* Christmas Cartoons at Paramount 6-9 PM – FREE
* Sing Along at Capital Lawn 6-7 PM- FREE
* Tree Lighting at top of Congress 7 PM- FREE  (sidenote: this will mark the debut of a rare new hi-tech tree that is a giant, artful, musical marvel to behold!  trust me on this one)
* Austin Bike Zoo- Et Al festivities Congress Between 10th and 11th 7-9 PM – FREE
* Farmers Market and Gift Market 11th Street 6-9 PM – FREE
* Cookie Decorating 5-9 PM – Upstairs Old Bakery – FREE
* Ornament Make and Take upstairs and Music (Austin Samba School) on the Roof – ARTHOUSE 6-9 – FREE
* Ornament Make and Take on sidewalk – Mexicarte 6-9- FREE
* Live Music Event TBA – Frost Plaza 6-9 PM – FREE

Trail of Lights – Zilker Park Dec 16-23 – FREE!
The tradition is back! Thanks to private donations and Paul at RUNTEX it will be back like it used to be and FREE!
More lights than ever!
Details to follow, there will prob be shuttles etc.

Deck The District – 2nd Street District Dec 15-24th – FREE
A juried Holiday Window Walk and contest.
A great way to stroll some Xmas cheer anytime day or night and vote for fave windows done by college art students!

AUSTIN NEW YEARS EVE Dec 31st. Auditorium Shores 5-10 PM – FREE!!
Family friendly NYE celebration
Music by Del Castillo
Fireworks at 10

Getting Around Downtown Austin During Formula 1 (F1)

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The City of Austin has published some great resources for folks living/working/visiting downtown during the inaugural Formula 1 race.

I think the best practice will be, next to walking, to take the FREE Downtown Loop – This free bus service will help you get around downtown. It will run Nov. 16 – 18 from 7 a.m. – 2:30 a.m, every 15 minutes (may be delayed due to traffic). It will circle 15th St., San Jacinto, 7th St, Red River, Cesar Chavez and Lavaca on a continuous loop. (map)

The ‘Loop will be like the Dillo, except people are expected to use it. (Oh, snap!)

Parking and shuttle service is the 2nd best way to get to COTA. The myriad of State parking garages along San Jacinto will finally pay off.

87 Rainey Street Downtown Austin Update: NO VA (not NOVA) to Open End of 2012 (Hopefully).

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UPDATE 8/31/2013: No Va is OPEN for Business!  Check out pics and my review HERE.

UPDATE 7/1/2013: Just got a note from Brad Sorenson with an update on what is going on with NO VA –

Things are getting really close now. Construction is pretty close to complete with inspections taking place and little odds and ends being finished. I have started hiring for the kitchen and we should be training with in a couple weeks. I don’t want to make a guess on when an opening date will be until we have set it in stone on our end.

———————————-

Remember that mega post I did on what’s happening on Rainey Street?  In the post, I talked about 87 Rainey Street located in the Rainey Street District of Downtown Austin, and how I had not heard any updates on just what exactly was going on in that space.  Well, that must have hit Brad Sorenson‘s (the head chef of the new concept, perhaps more widely known for his stint on The Next Food Network’s Star) Google Alerts, because he promptly posted a comment on the Blog saying things were still a go for the restaurant concept.

Which was great, but I wanted more info – so I emailed him and asked if we could meet.  I was actually very surprised when he said okay.

So we met.  Last week.  And, let me just say this – the guy OOZES affability. He’s also real, real tall.

I was absolutely charmed, I will admit – but not only by him as a person, but also by what he told me about NO VA.

First off, NO VA is the name (there’s a space in between “O” and “V”, 2 words), not NOVA, as it’s previously been reported.  There’s actually a cute little story behind the name, too, Brad tells me.  “No va” is what the owner of the business said when he looked at the house at 87 Rainey Street when he initially purchased it, in late 2009.  He said “No va”, because, at the time, [Read more…] about 87 Rainey Street Downtown Austin Update: NO VA (not NOVA) to Open End of 2012 (Hopefully).

Partying for a Cause – Ghoulwill Ball at The W Tomorrow Night

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I have been honored to have served on the host committee for Goodwill Industries of Central Texas’ 2012 Ghoulwill Ball event, being held at The W Hotel in downtown Austin tomorrow evening. Helping promote a very worthy cause (GICT’s mission is to generate lifelong connections to work) has been rewarding.  All proceeds of this event will go to GICT.  Free food, free drinks, a killer DJ, at one of the swankiest downtown hot-spots, AND you get to dress up in a Halloween costume.  I couldn’t think of a better time!

And, if you live in The Residences at The W – you can literally just stumble home after the party.

Buy your tickets here.

The Rainey Street Rundown: A MEGA Post of (Almost) Everything That’s Happening in the Rainey District

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The Rainey Street District in downtown Austin has been a hotbed of activity lately, from new apartment high rises, to an influx of new bars – things are really happening in Rainey.  So, we thought it helpful to put together a property-by-property guide about all that’s going on.  Everything we know about Rainey Street to date [mostly] in one place – this post!

This picture of the Rainey Street has each lot numbered with its numerical address. Look below to the corresponding number to see the skinny on the lot.

51 Rainey Street, Austin (address not shown on map, across from the Milago Condos), Austin Skyhouse apartments

The ABJ reported on the imminent ground-breaking of the Austin Skyhouse Apartments last month.  Being built by Novare-Andrews Urban, the same group behind the successful 360 condos, the 20,000 feet of ground floor retail is rumored to include a Royal Blue Grocery.

[Read more…] about The Rainey Street Rundown: A MEGA Post of (Almost) Everything That’s Happening in the Rainey District

Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association – October 2012 Urban Core Happy Hour

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Come on by and say hello to ~200 of your downtown Austin neighbors at Rival’s Steakhouse tomorrow (Thursday, October 11) from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association’s monthly Urban Core Happy Hour.

The event is sponsored by Community Impact and Rival’s Steakhouse.  DANA members get in free, non-members pay $5.  Drink tickets and complimentary heavy appetizers will be served up to attendees, as well!

[Read more…] about Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association – October 2012 Urban Core Happy Hour