Hi y'all! Keep in mind this may not be a typical action packed trip report, since a lot of the time was about visiting my daughter and our shared birthday. And this was my 3rd time to Austin.
11/9: Arrived mid afternoon. Ate a Matt's El Rancho burrito and the airport. Good brisket in the burrito. Spent time with my daughter before our birthday party that evening. Also, went to the Warehouse district and went to Foundation, a "young" bar/hangout.
11/10: Started with breakfast at Congress Street Cafe. A nice yet casual sit down restaurant. I had my first Migas, which was very good. We then walked around the UT campus (my daughter is a law student there), and visited a friend of mine who works on campus. After noon, we headed down to San Antonio, stopping at the outlets in San Marcos on the way. For outlet shopping fans, I would reccomend this one. We then drove to our hotel the Westin La Cantera in the Hill Country out of San Antonio. A very nice place, with large well appointed rooms. We enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi. We went over to the Shops at La Cantera, and did a little shopping. We ate dinner at the hotel, the Grill at La Cantera. The food was good, but the service was spotty.
11/11: We had breakfast at the hotel, then checked out. We went to New Braunfels and Gruene to walk around a little. Headed back to Austin and had a nice late lunch at the Ironworks BBQ. Very good BBQ chicken and good chopped brisket. Walked around downtown. The rest of the day, we ate at home and just relaxed.
11/12: We went over to Maria's Taco Xpress (on South Lamar for breakfast tacos. The tacos were good, and they had live music (60's R&B and gospel) in their patio. We went over to the huge Whole Foods. Also, Jessica drove me around the Barton Springs area. Then the rest of the day was visiting.
11/13- Arrived at the airport in plenty of time, and had a breakfast taco at the Salt Lick Taco stand. Yummy!
The weather was warm most of the time which was great.

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for reporting back trippi!

Yes, I did AT. Thanks!
Oh, the cafe from Friday, should be the South Congress Cafe: http://southcongresscafe.com/
That was probably the dining highlight from my trip.

My daughter is considering applying to UT-Austin for grad school and we might make an Austin run over Christmas break. What is the housing situation around campus? Is your daughter in an apartment or grad housing?

My daughter is in an apartment off campus (she's married). I can ask her about housing, although I think there are some good links on the UT website.

Glad you enjoyed our city.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

I will be back P_M. I'm very comfortable in Austin. As long as I'm not there during the hot summer, LOL.

Stick to west campus for convenience and a safer enviroment. Huge student population in the area. Housing can be expensive but well worth the price due to the close proximity to campus as well as all of the other delights downtown Austin has to offer.

I definitely disagree with the West Campus/safety comment. Most grad students live in North Campus, where it's much quieter and safer. All the frats, drunk students like to congregate in West Campus...

I just graduated from Texas and know the area quite well. Congrats to your daughter. UT and Austin have been incredible places/times in my life. Hook 'em!

trippin - Sorry we hijacked your trip report. I was interested in your UT info since your DD was a student. I'll start a housing thread if my DD ends up in Austin.