Overnight between San Antonio & Austin
 

My DH and I (30-somethings from New England) will be in TX for a wedding in the beginning of May. The wedding is in San Antonio, however, we were able to get cheaper direct flights in and out of Austin. The plan is currently to spend the day and night that we land (Wed - Thurs) in Austin and tour the city. Then we will head to San Antonio for tourist/wedding time. The wedding is on a Saturday night and we are flying back out of Austin around 7pm on Monday night. Orginally I was thinking we would drive back to Austin Sunday afternoon and see whatever we weren't able to see at the beginning of our trip. But now I'm wondering if we should spend the night somewhere in between and see some other area. Or does it make the most sense to head back into Austin for the night?
Also my DH is also in the wedding so he is going to be busy with some of his wedding duties, do you have any suggestions of things I should (or shouldn't) do on my own?

It's only about 40 miles of highway. You might like to go to Fredricksburg for the day and Sunday night.

You do realize they're about an hour away from each other, right? So there's not really a reason to be "in between" unless you specifically want to be.

Yes I do realize they are that close, which is why we chose to fly in and out of Austin. I just was curious if there was any local hidden gem that we should be making a detour for since we have the time.

The hidden gems in between I would make time for would be Gruene or Wimberley. Having grown up in San Antonio and lived in Austin now for 18 years, I would say there are more touristy things to do in San Antonio (the riverwalk, the missions, the museums, and more historical places). Austin has the rep for being a more hip, in spot, but you can probably see a lot it when you fly in that first day/night. I'd spend Sunday night in SA, then drive through Gruene-New Braunfels-Wimberley on your way back to Austin before your flight. You can catch the toll road before you come back into Austin towards the airport and most traffic that way.

Geuene Hall has two live bands on Sunday nights. It is a classic TX music and dance hall. You could spend the evening there, and spend the night in Gruene and head to Austin on Sun a.m. There are some nice places for lunch/brunch on Sun. in Gruene also, and som nice shopping, nice to walk around.

http://www.gruenetexas.com/eat.php

http://gruenehall.com/

After an evening at Gruene Hall you can also stay in New Braunsfels, it is about 3-4 miles from Gruene

I will add that my husband is from New England (raised in CT, schooled in MA) and on our 1st trip to TX (where I am from) we went to both Austin (6th St., Continental Club, Stubbs, and lots more good live music and fun and good food while in Austin) and San Antonio (the Riverwalk and Alamo, Histric Market Square and Mi Tierra and the market there, the King James historic district, missions, etc.)

But the night we spent at Greune Hall was by far his favorite part of the entire trip. He still talks about it and says that is where he "got" what Texas is about, lol.

SA to Austin is about 70 miles. Id say stay in Austin if thats what you want to do.

Schlitterbahn is in New Braunfels if that interests you.
http://www.schlitterbahn.com/nb/

Gruene is great. You can google Gruene Hall and watch some youtubes to see if it is your cup of tea. There will be more lodging options in Austin. If you are going to stay in New Braunfels/Gruene, you should look into reservations. There are accomodations in Gruene, which is nice, as you can walk back to your room. There is also a Courtyard by Marriott which is where I would stay if not in Gruene.