In fact my recent vacation to Austin by way of travelling on the Greyhound bus through the Gulf South has reaffirmed by faith and pride in the Atlantic South and Georgia.
Travelling, as I've mentioned before, provides opportunities for transcendent moments that help provide self awareness and perspective on life. Chicago put perspective on my life as a recent graduate, uncertain of what career I wanted for myself. The enjoyment of Millennium Park, Willis Tower, the North Side, and the food gave me a desire to bask in my youth and relish in life for a bit (rather than completely immerse myself in 14-16 hr days in film or theatre for barely enough).
What did Austin put in perspective? For the past year I've been bashing Atlanta and to an extent Georgia; I've made my interest in moving away once certified to a great deal of people, among a general distaste for certain elements of Atlanta (namely the sprawl and city planning) and the political climate of Georgia (whose state legislature have performed meaningless and useless political actions while not properly discussing others). In short, I grew tired of the short term thinking of many Georgians and Atlanta at the expense of long term planning and wise investment (say, in education). All of this led me to think of moving out once I became certified in teaching or once I got into grad school. UT-Austin had been on top of my most desirable grad schools, with a fully funded MFA in Creative Writing and a great deal of cross genre work. Austin has been growing exponentially over the past few years, winning accolades for its nightlife and food and in particular its music.
Atlanta is better, to me, at least.
What Austin put in perspective was the value in my home state and gave me ammunition in pride in my state.
Make no mistake, Austin isn't a bad city. 6th Street is a good street for nightlife. There's some great food here, ranging from taco trucks like 'Karma Taco' to Caribbean/Italian fusion places like Rasta Pasta at The Drag. It even has the backdrop of the Colorado River (Texas's Colorado River, not THE Colorado River that flows through the Grand Canyon) and Lady Bird Lake. It also has a badass state capitol.
This, however, is all in Atlanta and in plentiful portion. 6th Street has a good music scene, but it primarily has John Mayer or Stevie Ray Vaughan wannabes, coffeehouse music, or club music. We have that in Atlanta, but in more original and uniquely raw forms and more of it (a la Opera, Club Mami, etc). We have great restaurants, especially in East Atlanta and Midtown like The Vortex, Ann's Snack Bar, Bluefin, and Mary Mac's. We have the Chattahoochee River and Piedmont Park and our capitol, while smaller, has a golden dome.
Austin is just as sprawled out as Atlanta. I tried to navigate through most neighborhoods and got blisters all over my feet because there is no transit in Austin. They have a bus system, but it is narrow and doesn't cover a great deal; it-and this is sad-makes MARTA look like the Subway or CTA. I could get around to most places in Atlanta through MARTA; I can get to Little 5 Points through the Inman Park station, or Decatur through their station, or Midtown through Arts Center Station or Cheshire Bridge through Lenox Station. That does not include the bus routes MARTA has. One couldn't do that in Austin. Nor was the bus too reliable; I'd end up waiting 40 minutes to an hour waiting on the right bus at a station, even though it was supposed to be no less than 20 minutes at a given stop. East Austin has no bus coverage, for the most part, which made my seemingly feasible trip to the Rude Mechanicals for their new show (which sucked by the way) far more time consuming and treacherous.
There's a lot of cool stuff in Austin, but for me I was unimpressed because Atlanta spoiled me, with actual travel destinations for tourists a la Georgia Aquarium, or cultural places like the High or the Alliance, as well as nightlife. I had some wonderful moments in Austin, especially when I was with people I met at the hostel, but I couldn't help but feel I was missing out on a better vacation. Especially given the expenses I could've gone to the Grand Canyon, or even somewhere local like Western North Carolina or Charleston or Savannah. Instead, I spent more on Austin than Chicago and trust me, Austin is no Chicago.
It lead me to not understand why Atlanta didn't get the kind of coverage that Austin received in travel articles. Atlanta is better than Austin, no offense.
Does this mean you shouldn't visit Austin? Not necessarily. For any interested traveler I'd suggest visiting Austin as a stop on a road trip, on the way through the Southwest, as well as visiting San Antonio.
Would I suggest Greyhound? Actually, Grehound wasn't so bad. If you look up Greyhound on the internet you'll see a great deal of horrible reviews, discussing lost cargo to missing buses to lack of reservations in seating. Greyhound wasn't quite like this; I had no troubles or pains in cargo and I always had a seat. I think Greyhound is much like driving, with specific benefits and detriments. The benefits are the rural areas you see for better (like the farm land of Central Texas) and worse (the Gulf South, Mississippi's roads). I think if you do not have a form of transportation or a reliable form of transportation (like me) then Greyhound is definitely an option. Between the bus and flying, I'll take flying though.
Even though I'm disappointed that I didn't get quite my money's worth in travelling, and that Austin didn't live up to much of its hype (to me), I'm glad I can take a perspective back that where I'm at and living isn't too bad. I'm acquainted with people who do not like Georgia and who came here and haven't acclimated to our ways, but now I feel like I have fair enough room to counter their beliefs with a great deal of pride and appreciation to what I've got.
Really, it also showed me that I need to start thinking wisely and not differently about travelling. I chose Austin because it seemed different, over my instinctual interests in smaller areas (like Charleston or Savannah) and my love of nature (like Western North Carolina, like the Grand Canyon, etc). I should trust my instincts and wisdom over intellectual choosing something that's difficult or different.
Also, this trip showed me the importance of not just being by oneself. I had no issues in terms of discomfort. I just realized that having company would've made my trip better. Choose company and think wisely while travelling, and trust your instincts.
Between Atlanta and Austin, go to Atlanta.
UPDATE: 7/28/2013
I miss Austin. Go to Austin as well.
UPDATE: 7/28/2013
I miss Austin. Go to Austin as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment