Austin Meeting Planner & Destination Guide 2008

GROUP TOUR PLANNING Marble Falls (50 miles) Round Rock (20 miles) A quintessential Hill Country town, Marble Falls retains its rural charm while still providing many upscale pleasures. North of town sits Granite Mountain, a huge dome of pink and red granite from which the Texas State Capitol was constructed. Lakes Marble Falls, Travis, Buchanan, Inks and LBJ surround the area with plenty of water for fishing, boating and skiing. Bluebonnets and other wildflowers bloom in the spring. The Marriott Horseshoe Bay offers excellent golf and an outstanding destination resort. Stop by Flat Creek Vineyard for wine tastings. Just north of Austin, Round Rock is home to the area’s only professional baseball team — the Round Rock Express, AAA affiliate of the Houston Astros and owned in part by Nolan Ryan. The team plays April–August at the spectacular Dell Diamond. The city also boasts a walkable historic downtown, great shopping at the new Round Rock Premium Outlet Mall and IKEA, as well as challenging golf courses. San Marcos (30 miles) New Braunfels (45 miles) Settled along IH-35 between Austin and San Antonio, New Braunfels is a charming town of gingerbread-trimmed houses, cozy shops and historic buildings. Famous for schnitzel and wurst, New Braunfels hosts the annual Wurstfest in October. It is also home to Schlitterbahn Water Park, the world’s largest. The Comal and Guadalupe rivers add to the town’s delightful character. Natural Bridge Caverns showcases over 10,000 underground formations. Home of Texas State University, San Marcos anchors the southern edge of the sprawling greater Austin metropolitan area. The town is a popular destination for tubing down the lazy San Marcos River, shopping at the country’s largest factory outlet complex — Prime Outlet and Tanger Outlet centers — Wonder World (a cave created by a prehistoric earthquake) and glass-bottom boat rides at Aquarena Center. Wimberley (30 miles) Wimberley has grown into a bustling artist colony, resort village and popular retirement area. Straddling the Blanco River, the town offers shops filled with antique laces, country crafts, year-round Christmas decorations, furniture and stunning hand-blown glass from Wimberley Glass Works. The Devil’s Backbone, one of Texas’ most scenic drives, winds along a razor-backed ridge following RM 12 south of town. Market Days are held the first Saturday of each month, April–December. MOVIES FILMED IN AUSTIN AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY • The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3D (2005) • Alamo (2003) • Courage Under Fire (1996) • Dazed and Confused (1993) • D.O.A. (1988) • Fast Food Nation (2006) • Friday Night Lights (2004) • Friday Night Lights TV series (2006) • Grindhouse (2007) • Home Fries (1998) • Hope Floats (1998) • Idiocracy (2006) • Infamous (2006) • Kabluey (2006) • The Life of David Gale (2002) • Lonesome Dove (1989) • Michael (1996) • Miss Congeniality (2000) • Nadine (1987) • The Newton Boys (1998) • Office Space (1999) • A Perfect World (1993) • Redheaded Stranger (1986) • The Ringer (2005) • The Rookie (2002) • A Scanner Darkly (2006) • Second Hand Lions (2003) • Sin City (2005) • Slacker (1991) • Spy Kids (2001) • Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) • Spy Kids 3D (2003) • Teeth (2006) • True Women (1997) • What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) • Where the Heart Is (2000) • Varsity Blues (1999) W W W. A U S T I N T E X A S . O R G 71 http://WWW.AUSTINTEXAS.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Austin Meeting Planner & Destination Guide 2008

Austin Meeting Planner & Destination Guide 2008 Contents Austin At Your Service Convention Facilities Convention Hotels & Local Accommodations Convention Services Group Tour Planning Banquet & Special Event Facilities Dining & Nightlife Attractions & Activities Transportation

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.