You may or may not have heard of the Austin Huns. If you haven’t, get ready to see a lot more about them within the next few years. The Huns are the official rugby team of Austin, Texas, poised to become one of the city’s biggest sports teams. They’ve been in Central Texas since 1972, steadily growing into one of the largest clubs in the United States. As the population of Central Texas has grown, the fanbase and competitive spirit of the Huns has also expanded. [Read more…]

Guest article by Rebecca West

Camping is a lot of work. An escape to the great outdoors may seem like a breath of fresh air, but many are put off by the lack of facilities and the effort associated with camping, and return home disappointed and devoid of motivation to ever go back.

“Glamping” is the modern equivalent of traditional tent camping, combining yesterday’s amenities with today’s technology. With special accommodations, glamorous camping has opened up the outdoor experience to those who were dissatisfied before now. [Read more…]

Some kids grew up on the baseball field, others on their bikes. I was raised on video games. As a young lad in northern New Jersey, many an afternoon was spent at the local arcade. My dad would hand me $5 in quarters, and I’d wander the labyrinth of lights and sounds in search of the perfect game. The arcade experience defined my childhood.

And while the neighborhood arcade has gone the way of Game Boys and Pogs, one Austin institution is keeping the dream alive. Retro yet modern, classic yet contemporary, Pinballz safeguards the legacy of old school gaming in a modern age. [Read more…]

Below a strip of condos on North Lamar, battles are being waged. Warriors and wizards, orcs and elves. Card wielding combatants drink pints of mead as they clash in contests of skill, bravery and treachery. In this realm, games are serious business.

They’re also a ton of fun. Vigilante Gaming Bar, a brand new spot dedicated to tabletop and social card games, is carving out a unique niche in the Austin bar scene. Whether you’re a hardcore Dominion expert or disgustingly good at Cards Against Humanity, Vigilante caters to anybody looking for a good time, and an even better game. [Read more…]

Sometimes I imagine myself riding a motorcycle through Texas Hill Country in an Easy Rider-esque montage. Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild” plays as the camera slowly pans past my rotating front tire. Longhorns stop grazing, mouths agape, to watch me roar past bluebonnet fields and over rolling hills. Austin shrinks in my mirrors as I ride west to discover myself, and America along the way.

I am as free as a bird, and this bird you cannot change.

But then the film goes off the reel as I’m snapped awake to bumper-to-bumper I-35 traffic. I taste gasoline fumes, hear a cacophony of horns, and see the frustration of tech workers stuck heading downtown. There is no guitar-filled Americana here.

Luckily for us city folk, Lone Star Moto Rentals exists to help us channel our inner road warrior. Lone Star is an Austin-only shop that rents motorcycles five days a week (including weekends). The idea is simple. Anybody with a valid motorcycle license can visit them and choose one of their motorcycles to ride for the day. [Read more…]

Are you looking for a way to summon your powers of logic, observation and deduction? Do you need an affordable place to take out of town guests, especially those with kids? Want a fun way to blow off steam after exams? Look no further than one of these Austin escape rooms.

Every escape room has a similar overarching purpose: get a group of people together to solve a series of clues embedded in nearly every object in a room (or rooms). The following are four of the finest Austin escape rooms and what makes each one unique. They change out their themes to keep things fresh, but the standbys include some heist operation, some physical escape as from a prison or a sinking or hijacked ship, and some save-the-world spy mission. Whichever scenario you choose, you can count on having fun. [Read more…]

Austin is quickly becoming one of the hottest travel destinations in the nation. Bachelors and bachelorettes, food and fashion bloggers, and weekend road-trippers are flocking here by the dozens. And they’re posting all about it on Instagram.

So whether you live here or are coming to visit, make sure to check out 17 of the most Insta-worthy places in Austin.

[Read more…]