Water 2 Wine: Make Your Own Wine

Have you ever wanted to try to make wine yourself? No, not like that old I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel stamp the grapes. Austin’s Water 2 Wine is a full-service custom winery that lets budding vintners blend their own wine, let it age and take it home when it’s done. The process is simple: each sessions starts with a tasting, where the staff lets you sample different wines and tells you about the grapes that produced it. Then you select a juice or blend to create your very own wine with, as well as “pitching” the yeast to start the fermentation process. It takes about 45 days for your wine to be drinkable, at which point they’ll bottle it and label it for you. If you don’t want to do it yourself, Water 2 Wine also offers an excellent selection of vintages from around the world.

Water 2 Wine
4036 S. Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 428-9463
http://www.yelp.com/biz/water-2-wine-austin-2

Central Market: “An Amusement Park for Food Lovers”

Grocery shoppers in the Austin area know that there’s a superb spot to visit when you’re looking for the best bread, produce and other edible goods, and that’s Central Market. The popular chain actually started in Austin with a mandate to bring as much fresh food from all over Texas to local shoppers as possible, describing it as “an amusement park for food lovers,” and it’s grown significantly since the early days. Now customers rave about the excellent selection and fair prices. The produce section here is absolutely enormous, featuring both the staples and some more unusual products, all kept fresh. If you’re feeling peckish, stop in at the store’s café for some excellent pre-cooked food. The tamales in particular are quite popular, but everything here is great. Some complain that the aisles are too narrow, but with the sheer volume of stuff they pack into this store, it’s kind of a necessity.

Central Market
4477 S. Lamar Boulevard
Austin, TX 78745
(512) 899-4300
http://www.yelp.com/biz/central-market-austin

Austin Playhouse: Local Theater

When it was conceived in 2000, Austin Playhouse became a point of convergence for much of the talent-replete city’s theatrical brainpower. Austin Playhouse brought together a wide array of producers, artists, and directors to work with local legend Don Toner, a luminary of Austin’s theater scene. Since then, Austin Playhouse has became one of the premier venues for local theater while still staying small. You won’t see massive reproductions of Don Giovanni here, but you’ll be able to catch shows like Boeing, Boeing (about a man’s attempt to juggle his love for three flight attendants) and an adaptation of A Room With a View. Tickets typically run around $24 for a show, but the playhouse offers deals for students, seniors, and members of the military. Check Austin Playhouse’s website for the current season’s schedule of shows.

Austin Playhouse
3601 S. Congress Avenue
Austin, TX 78704
(512) 476-0084

Salvage Vanguard Theater: An Independent Theater Arts Group

With a credo like “Keep Austin Weird,” it’s not surprising that the city boasts a large number of independent arts and theater organizations. One of the most well-established is the Salvage Vanguard Theater, which has presented exceptional plays and other performances for years. The company stages a wide variety of materials, from drama to comedy and even puppetry. Tickets are sold on a sliding scale as well, making it affordable for the community. The performance space is small but comfortable, with good sightlines and decent seating. The theater also hosts a wide variety of educational programs and other creative venues for actors, directors and more. The Merlin Works Institute for Improvisation is one Austin’s best resources for developing your improve skills, both for actors and non-actors. The theater also runs a series of summer day camps for kids, yoga seminars and more. It’s a fantastic resource for the whole community.

Salvage Vanguard Theater
2803 Manor Road
Austin, TX 78722
http://www.yelp.com/biz/salvage-vanguard-theater-austin

Pin It on Pinterest