Austin, Texas | FIDO Friendly

Austin, Texas

Issue 90

• Travel
• by Robin Tierney

The capital of Texas has figured out how to be the ultimate people-pleaser and dog-pleaser. 

Photos and story by Robin Tierney

Its bustling downtown teems with cool places at every turn. Miles and miles of well-maintained paths edge Lady Bird Lake. Head north for upscale shopping-entertainment districts full of avenues and green spaces. When going west into the Texas Hill Country, pack lunch to fuel you on long tranquil trails.

** Rainey Street

You can hear excellent musicians play outside of more than a dozen bungalows that have been converted into restaurant-bars. The fare runs from Tex-Mex to Asian. Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden serves more than 100 Texas brews and even vegan portobello-based sausage platters. Other good-time spots include Lucille’s. It’s an odd duck of a neighborhood surrounded by new, sky-scraping high-rises.

Steps from Rainey Street, stroll the 10-mile Ann and Roy Butler Trail at Lady Bird Lake (which locals often still call Town Lake), passing parks and cultural venues. Lodge at the music-themed Hotel Van Zandt, which welcomes fur-guests with no pet fees (just sign a waiver) in guestrooms as well as the lobby that hosts free performances and social hours. The adjoining Café 605 draws dog-walking locals. 

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