{"id":5526,"date":"2012-03-03T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2012-03-04T03:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=5526"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:43:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:43:07","slug":"the-gumball-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=5526","title":{"rendered":"The Gumball Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Austin, Texas<\/em> \u2013 \u201cThey should name it Austin Over-Tours,\u201d I thought as I called to make my reservation. The Austin Overtures Sightseeing website promised I would \u201csee Austin and the Hill Country in Air Conditioned Mercedes-Benz Comfort\u201d for only $25. For that bargain price I didn\u2019t mind having to drive downtown to meet them; the exercise would help me learn my way around the city. I parked at a meter by Brooks Brothers, just a few blocks off historic 6th<\/sup> Street (aka Pecan) and walked into the Visitor Center with time to spare. Postcards for sale, tshirts, books; big and little souvenirs of the Live Music Capital of the World and the Big Howdy \"\"<\/a>state of Texas. People lined up on a bench by the front to wait for the promised Mercedes-Benz ; there was quite a crowd. Our ticket-time was finally called; Tour Guide Philip (wearing a jacket of tweed) led us to the curb for our personal Pink Chariot Ride. \u201cCan I please sit in the front with you?\u201d I asked; permission granted. I wish I could remember everything to tell you. But Phillip rattled off so many facts and fictions about Austin, Texas that the inside of my head is like a giant gumball machine \u2013 filled with colorful, delicious, juicy bits. Which ones will the quarter bring down the slot? <\/p>\n

Here are the 42 talking points listed on their brochure:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 2nd Street District<\/li>\n
  2. 6th Street<\/li>\n
  3. Auditorium Shores<\/li>\n
  4. Austin City Limits<\/li>\n
  5. Barton Springs<\/li>\n
  6. Barton Springs Road<\/li>\n
  7. Bob Bullock Texas History Museum<\/li>\n
  8. Bremond Block<\/li>\n
  9. Brief Geology Lesson<\/li>\n
  10. Brief History of Texas<\/li>\n
  11. Brief History of the Highland Lakes System<\/li>\n
  12. Camp Mabry<\/li>\n
  13. Congress Ave<\/li>\n
  14. Congress Avenue Bridge and Bat Colony<\/li>\n
  15. French Legation<\/li>\n
  16. Harry Ransom Center<\/li>\n
  17. Hill Country Views<\/li>\n
  18. J Blanton Museum<\/li>\n
  19. Lady Bird Lake<\/li>\n
  20. Lake Austin<\/li>\n
  21. LBJ Presidential Library<\/li>\n
  22. Long Center for the Performing Arts<\/li>\n
  23. Mayfield Park<\/li>\n
  24. Moonlight Tower<\/li>\n
  25. Mount Bonnell<\/li>\n
  26. O Henry Museum<\/li>\n
  27. Palmer Events Center<\/li>\n
  28. Pennybacker Bridge<\/li>\n
  29. Restaurant Row<\/li>\n
  30. Texas Capitol<\/li>\n
  31. Texas Memorial Museum<\/li>\n
  32. Texas State Cemetery<\/li>\n
  33. The Drag<\/li>\n
  34. The Driskill Hotel<\/li>\n
  35. The University of Texas at Austin<\/li>\n
  36. The Warehouse District<\/li>\n
  37. Umluaf Sculpture Garden<\/li>\n
  38. UT Performing Arts Center<\/li>\n
  39. UT Royal Memorial Stadium<\/li>\n
  40. Wild Basin Preserve<\/li>\n
  41. Zilker Botanical Gardens<\/li>\n
  42. Zilker Park<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Did we see all of that? I couldn\u2019t promise! Our tour of the U of T campus was cut short due \"\"<\/a>to massive crowds; school buses were bringing UT wannabe\u2019s in from all over the state; Phillip took one look at the traffic jam and quickly chose another route. I remember a quick-ride through the Texas State Cemetery although we didn\u2019t stop for famous graves. I remember passing down the street where O Henry lived and hearing a story of his financial problems. I remember riding down Willie Nelson Avenue and I remember seeing Lady Bird Lake. The ride into the hills was enjoyable and scenic; the buzzing around the city made me blink at the awesome skyline.<\/p>\n

    I came away with the overall sense of Austin as a city full of color \u2013 colorful characters, a colorful past, and a colorful approach to living. Just like a big gumball machine.<\/p>\n

    Austin Visitors Center, 209 E 6th Street, http:\/\/www.austinovertures.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Linda Burton posting from Austin, Texas \u2013 \u201cThey should name it Austin Over-Tours,\u201d I thought as I called to make my reservation. The Austin Overtures Sightseeing website promised I would \u201csee Austin and the Hill Country in Air Conditioned Mercedes-Benz Comfort\u201d for only $25. For that bargain price I didn\u2019t mind having to drive downtown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5526"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5529,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5526\/revisions\/5529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}