Much of the action occurring in Dreams Are What Life Is Made Of takes place in Austin, Texas. This blog will give readers a taste of what Amber and Alex experience during each chapter as they explore our fair city. We will take a look at many aspects of Austin including its ideal location, roust contemporary lifestyle, and innate natural beauty Photographs included in this post are provided by Limelight Imaging and myself.
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Downtown Austin from Palmer Auditorium
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Austin is located in Central Texas, on the northeastern border of an area known as the Texas Hill Country. The metro area of Austin is home to numerous lakes, rivers, and waterways, including Lady Bird Lake (formerly known as Town Lake), Lake Austin, and Lake Travis, all of which are part of the Colorado River, as well as Barton Springs and McKinney Falls, just to name a few.
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Zilker Park looking towards downtown
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Lake Travis, just west of Austin
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Austin is the capital city of the Great State of Texas. It is also the county seat of Travis County, so there are always plenty of interesting political activities taking place here. As Austin has grown over recent years, the city limits have also stretched into portions of Hays and Williamson Counties. Austin is the 11th largest city in the United States and the 4th largest in Texas behind Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation with a five-county metropolitan area of over 2.2 million people. Austin is also home to the University of Texas at Austin, which hosts around 51,000 students annually, as well as Concordia University, St. Edwards University, and Huston Tillotson University.
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Littlefield Fountain
and the University of Texas Main Building Tower
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Pennybacker Bridge on Loop 360 transverses
Lake Austin/Colorado River on Austin's West side
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Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836. In 1839, an area along the north bank of the Colorado River was chosen as the new capital for the Republic of Texas and was named Waterloo. It was later renamed Austin after the "Father of Texas," Stephen F. Austin. On December 29, 1845, Austin became the capital of state government for Texas as it became the 28th state of the United States. The capitol building standing in downtown Austin was constructed with red granite from the Texas Hill Country. It was completed in 1888.
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| Capitol dome at night |
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Texas State Capitol and grounds in downtown Austin
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Numerous world renowned companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin including Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon, Applied Materials, Apple, Dell, eBay, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, 3M, Tito's Vodka, Whole Foods and Yeti, to name a few. Recently, Tesla began construction on a new manufacturing plant in Manor, just outside of the Austin city limits.
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Downtown Austin from Zilker Park area
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Downtown Austin with boardwalk from Riverside near IH 35
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Austin, known as the "Live Music Capital of the World," is home to the long-running PBS TV concert series "Austin City Limits," as well as its spin-off, the "Austin City Limits Music Festival," which is held each fall in Zilker Park. The city also hosts the SXSW Music, Film, and Interactive Festival each March in numerous venues throughout the city. Besides these two huge events, live music can be heard any day or night throughout the city in hundreds of different venues.
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Zilker Park filled with fans during Austin City Limits Music Festival
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Zilker Park's Rock Island
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Austin has followed the motto "Keep Austin Weird" for a number of years as a mantra to show the city's eccentricity, but the city's weirdness hasn't actually been a bad thing. In the past few years, Austin has received accolades for being the "Greenest City in America," being one of the "Best Places to Live," and having the "Best People." In 2013 Austin was named "America's Fastest Growing City," "Best For Small Business," "Best City For Job Seekers," and "Texas' Most Romantic City." In 2018, Austin was listed as the "Best College Town in America," as well as being listed in the Top 10 Best Foodie Cities in America. In 2019 rose to the top once again as the "Best Place in America for Starting a Business" and the "Best Place to Live in the U.S."
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Graffiti at Hope Outdoor Gallery
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A beautiful, sunny afternoon on Barton Creek near Lady Bird Lake
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