[the Genral]

I ventured to downtown tonight around 9PM for the first time in a long time and I came away with a few thoughts. First of all, I wanted to visit after sunset because its easier to follow the lights and people to the hot spots. My route was I35 to Riverside, from Roiund Rock of course, and first stop was the park across from the Long Center. Great view of downtown from there. I was a bit surprised by the number of people using the lake, but the lights of the skyline lit things up enough to where they could see where they were going. The skyine is absolutely beautiful from there at night and the reflections in the water makes for a memorable experience. Will be back when they finish the renovation to the park, mainly the gazebo and pond area. It needs more lighting and a working fountain to help drown out some of the noise. Seems like its taking a long time. Weird that despite the full parking lot, I only saw maybe a dozen people. From there we went to South Congress, kinda of dead and dark until you hit the Hotel, whatever its called. From there to just before Oltorf, really, really cool. Then sparcity until you get closer to Ben White where there's a bit more lights and action. Took 71 to I35 to get another look at downtown. Love the Fairmont, looked like every room was lit up. The top was blue, the spire lit white and looked out of proportion to the rest of the building. They should lop a third of it off. But it is an impressive howdy do coming from the south as is all of Rainey, including the Van Halen building, Legacy, Skyhouse and especially 70 Rainey. Looking west is just pure eye candy. Frost still stands out nicely. The Austonian and Indy's crowns were disappointingly dark, but there is quite a bit of splashes of color throughout downtown, not to mention all the lights behind the windows that downtown still shines nicely. The I35 overpass by 5th and 6th Streets with the dopey wings with the LED lights only highlighted the mass of homelessness. They were camped out beneath it albeit illuminated in muted colors. Sad, and distracting, but just about every big city has this situation and saavy travelers know to expect this. Took 12th to Congress and went south to notice darkness and few people until 9th Street. Lights, and action. Listen to a guy driving a horse carriage give an Austin history lesson to his 2 passengers. Very COOL! Took 6th west. Now that's a partying part of town almost all the way to Lamar. I felt like if I was from out of town, which actually I am, I would avoid East 6th and explore West 6th. Lit up, tons of people, really cool. From there Lamar to Burnet to the Domain where I explored the night life from my car like I did in Austin. Lots of people walking around, colored lights, music, and the smell of food. They have a bit of a night time vibe going on there too to a lesser degree. My final takeaway... Austin is incredibly beautiful at night. Its easy to find the hot spots from the crowds, music, food smells, and the lights. Its hard to drive and look around at ease with all the scooters, but I saw so many people who were absolutely enjoying themselves downtown on them that I saw the value add. Its going to take a lot to improve the nightlife and walkability around the Sheraton and the area around 12th St and the Capitol. In fact, I don't think it will ever come close to all points south. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm glad I chose the night to explore downtown. I feel I understand why so many visitors have a blast here as well as locals. Its definitely a happening and exciting city. And Beautiful. More towers will enhance the skyline and I certainly looked up a lot, but Austin should always be alert to what really makes it shine, and that's the bright lights and activity on the street level. Other wise it will fall into the darkness I saw north of 9th street. Sorry for the long rave, this was mostly for ya'll who experience downtown on a regular basis, so you can see it though my fresh eyes. I think I fell in love with Austin all over again tonight like I did when I moved here in the early 80s. My wife said she wished it was like this when we moved here and we were younger. Well, we did have East 6th at least. As far as big league cities go, Austin is definitely in a league by itself. You have one hell of a city to be proud of.