Editor’s note: Here is an entertaining, educational and relaxing way to spend a few hours in the state’s capital.
There are a lot of things to see and do in nearby Austin and these three places put together would make for an interesting day in the big city.
The city is full of reminders of state history, even the kind that goes way, way back.
It has excellent burgers in a place with its own lore dating back to the past century, then you can top off the day with a trip to the summit of Mount Bonnell for some great views from Austin’s highest natural spot.
Texas Memorial Museum
The first thing to do once you pay admission is look up.
You will be in the museum’s Great Hall. Hanging from the ceiling is a replica of the Texas Pterosaur, the largest flying reptile that has ever been found.
Fossils of the creature with a 39-foot wingspread were found in Big Bend National Park by Dan Lawson, who was a 22-year-old geology student in a masters program at The University of Texas.
It was found in 1971 and the fossil remains are still being studied and kept at UT’s Jackson School of Geoscience.
The pterosaur is not a dinosaur, rather a distant cousin that entered into extinction at some point in the Cretaceous Period.
Traveling through the exhibits in the Hall of Geology and Paleontology on the first floor you will find remains of dinosaurs, early mammals, fish, lizards and plants.
You will also see meteorites that landed in Texas and other parts of the world from somewhere out in space.
Another floor is devoted to the wildlife in Texas with stuffed animals in regional dioramas.
After a couple of hours in the museum, it will be time to grab a bite to eat.
Dirty Martin’s Place
Head over to this place on Guadalupe for one of the finest examples of a Texas burger you will ever want to eat. This place isn’t as old as the fossils in the museum, but it has been frying up good eats since 1926.
Once there, just order a KumBak burger for a trip to hamburger heaven where the meat patties are cooked on a flat top grill as God intended.
That’s right KumBak is correct. The founder, John Martin, spelled it that way for a reason. He believed that if people saw come back misspelled they would notice it more and come back.
But I know it is the taste of the burgers and those chilled malts that have brought me back many times. I was a regular when I was at UT 49 years ago and I still go back.
You can eat in the cool dining room if you go in the summer, but if you go when the air outside is cooler get the food to go and head over to Austin’s natural high point.
Mount Bonnell
It takes climbing 106 steps to get to the top of Mount Bonnell at Covert Park where there are gravel hiking trails, scenic views and picnic tables.
The Austin high point, which is the most prominent fault line in the Balcones fault zone, has been a visitors’ draw since the 1800s with its view of the Colorado River. It is 775 feet above sea level.
According to posted information, after the Civil War, when Maj. Gen. George Armstrong Custer established the headquarters of his Sixth United States Cavalry Regiment in Austin, he and his wife, Libby, had picnics atop Mount Bonnell.
The Custers noted that the summit was too steep for a cavalry horse to climb, so it had to be climbed on foot. Custer had the Sixth Cavalry Regimental Band play concerts at these picnics on Mount Bonnell. This included their favorite music, “The Anvil Chorus,” because “the sound descended through the valley grandly.”
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