2014 SWALL Annual Meeting
Local Tips for YOU
Meeting Headquarters
Hilton Garden Inn – Downtown
500 N Interstate Highway 35, Austin, TX
hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com
(512) 480-8181
Weather
Austin weather is pretty unpredictable, so it’s best to check conditions a few days before you arrive. Layers are important because the day can start off rather chilly and end up pretty warm. Average highs in late March are in the 70s and lows are in 50s. Rain? Sure, we can dream!
Directions to Hilton Garden Inn
NOTE: The Austin Hilton is across the street from the Hilton Garden Inn. We are staying at the Hilton Garden Inn.
From Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) and
Exit airport on Presidential Blvd.
Turn left onto Hwy 71, heading west
Take ramp to the right onto IH-35 North
Take Exit 234C (6th -12th St.)
Left at 1st light (6th St.) and then left at light on access road
Turn right into hotel entrance (before the next intersection)
Distance from Hotel: 7 mi.
Drive Time: 15 min.
Transportation options from ABIA
TypeTypical Minimum Charge
Bus Service$ 1.50 one way*
Super Shuttle$10.00 (make reservations prior to arrival or at baggage claim)**
Rental Carvaries
Taxi$20.00
Taking the CapMetro bus, Route 100, from ABIA to the Hilton Garden Inn takes about 25 minutes. The bus will let you off at S. Congress and E. 4th Street, which is about seven blocks or one-third of a mile from the Hilton Garden Inn. From the bus stop, head east on E. 4th Street (toward IH-35). Turn left on Red River Street, and then right on E. 5th Street. The hotel is at the end of E. 5th Street.
Super Shuttle reservations:
Driving directions:
From Houston: Take Interstate-10 /Highway 90 west to Columbus
Turn right to Highway 71 West; once you pass Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA):
Take ramp to the right onto IH-35 North
Take Exit 234C (6th -12th St.)
Left at 1st light (6th St.) and then left at light on access road
Turn right into hotel entrance (before the next intersection)
From Dallas/Ft. Worth: From Interstate-35 South (IH-35)
take Exit 234B (8th-3rd Streets)
Stay on access road through 6th Street, then turn right into hotel entrance before the next intersection.
From San Antonio: Take Interstate-35 (IH-35) north
Take Exit 234C (6th-12th Streets)
Turn left at the first traffic light (6th Street), then turn left at traffic light on access road
Turn right into hotel entrance before the next intersection
Parking
Valet parking only is available at the Hilton Garden Inn.
Parking in Downtown Austin
Garage parking is probably your best bet if you’re spending the day downtown. Most lots and garages do not allow overnight parking—check before you leave your car there!
More Parking Options and Tools
Downtown Austin Alliance Parking Experience:
ParkMe parking App:
Busing around Austin
CapMetro, the Austin bus system, is easy and dependable. To plan your route, use the easy Trip Planner:
Local Attractions, Landmarks & Fun
Use an interactive version of this map here -
Landmarks
Texas Capitol
Check out this amazing building, the grounds surrounding it, and the art within. Hint-the best parts are underground.
1100 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
(512) 463-0063
Nearby Museums and Libraries
Texas State Law Library
A reception hosted by the State Law Library and the Austin Law Librarians will take place Friday, March 20th, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Tours of the Law Library will be available.
Public Transportation from Hilton Garden Inn - Downtown to State Law Library (1.5 miles)
Walk west of hotel to Brazos & 6th and catch Bus #3, Get off at Capital Station on 11th and walk north on Lavaca to 205 W. 14th St.
Bullock Texas State History Museum
Learning allabout the great state of Texas not enough for you? Visit the Bullock Texas State History Museum and experience the most astonishing mammals to roam the Earth in their most recent exhibition. Some with tongues weighing four tons, and others as small as a bumblebee. Meet creatures with gigantic claws, massive fangs and strange snouts. See the largest land mammal that has ever lived, the oldest fossilized bat ever discovered, and the smallest mammal known in the fossil record. Also, discover living and extinct Texas mammals that are part of the Story of Texas.
1800 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
(512) 936-8746
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
Drawing on the Ransom Center's extensive (AND FAMOUS) collections, their current exhibition illuminates the experience of WWI from the point of view of participants and observers, preserved for a twenty-first-century generation through letters, drafts, and diaries, memoirs and novels, photographs and drawings by battlefield artists, and propaganda posters. Visitors to The World at War, 1914–1918 will better understand the history of the war through the archives of men and women who witnessed watershed events that ushered in the modern world as we know it.
300 W 21st St, Austin, TX
(512) 471-8944
Blanton Museum of Art
The Blanton Museum of Art at The University of Texas at Austin is one of the foremost university art museums in the country. It's permanent collection of more than 17,000 works is recognized for its European paintings, an encyclopedic collection of prints and drawings, and modern and contemporary American and Latin American art. The current exhibition, Between Mountains and Sea: Arts of the Ancient Andes presents a special selection of objects that illuminate the lifestyle, technological achievements, and ideology of pre-Inca cultures among the coastal Andes of South America.
200 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX
(512) 471-7324
The Contemporary Austin Jones Center
Much like many librarians, Charles Long is a renaissance man. He's an artist, an alchemist, a mad-scientist, and a philosopher. "For his winter/spring 2014 exhibition at The Contemporary Austin, Long manifests a transformative installation at the Jones Center, turning the space into a mysterious and mystical Gesamtkunstwerk, a Wagnerian hybrid environment of sculpture, film, music, fragrance, theater, performance, and grand spectacle. Titled CATALIN—after the trademarked moniker of an early form of plastic material developed in the 1930s Art Deco period from formaldehyde that was fugitive and, ultimately, toxic—the exhibition is a cacophony of sensory stimulation haunted by an ethos of impending doom."
700 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
amoa-arthouse.org
(512) 453-5312
Grocery Stores and Pharmacies
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods' flagship store is a truly transcendent grocery experience!
525 N Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX
(512) 542-2200
Royal Blue Grocery
Compact urban market thatis open until midnight. They stock MANY local products and also offer a mean cup of coffee and lite snacks.
609 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
(512) 469-5888
2nd Street Market
Local convenience store for food and drink.
200 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX
(512) 476-1533
CVS Pharmacy
Full drugstore.
500 Congress Ave, Austin, TX
(512) 478-1091
Shopping, Food and Drinks
Please refer to the Austin Dining Guide, prepared for SWALL and included in registration materials, for information on specific restaurants.
South Congress Avenue – Keeping Austin Weird
Everything you could want from Austin is here - upscale shopping, vintage shopping, pizza, cupcakes, oysters (yes, oysters), and Austin's famous Magnolia Cafe.
2nd Street Shopping District – Upscale Austin
Upscale shopping and restaurants.
South 1st Street - Quirky Austin Fun
More delicious Austin food, coffee shops, and vintage stores.
East Austin - Hipster Haven
Delicious food and craft cocktail bars coexisting happily with dive bars.
6th Street – Nightlife
An Austin tradition - catch your favorite type of live music any night of the week. Have fun. Be safe.