A guide to traveling through Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country that includes detailed maps of the area and information on its shops, hotels, landmarks, history, people, and restaurants.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Whether exploring your own backyard or somewhere new, discover the freedom of the open road with Lonely Planet's San Antonio, Austin & Texas Backcountry Road Trips. Featuring four amazing road trips, plus up-to-date advice on the destinations you'll visit along the way, get to know Buddy Holly's Lubbock, visit a dance hall in Gruene, and hike Big Bend's scenic trails, all with your trusted travel companion. Jump in the car, turn up the tunes, and hit the road! Inside Lonely Planet's San Antonio, Austin & Texas Backcountry Road Trips: Lavish color and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests Get around easily - easy-to-read, full-color route maps, detailed directions Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Stretch Your Legs, Detours, Link Your Trip Covers Hill Country, Heart of Texas, Big Bend National Park, Texas Gulf Coast, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Houston, Port Aransas, San Angelo, Lubbock and more eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones) Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet's San Antonio, Austin & Texas Backcountry Road Trips is perfect for exploring San Antonio, Austin and Texas Backcountry in the classic American way - by road trip! About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveler since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travelers. You’ll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, nine international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

San Antonio is in the national spotlight as one of the fastest growing and most dynamic emerging major cities in America. Yet local lore has it that every Texan has two hometowns—his own and San Antonio. The Alamo City's charm, colorful surroundings, and diverse cultures combine to make it one of the most interesting places in Texas and the nation. In San Antonio Uncovered, Mark Rybczyk examines some of the city's internationally known legends and lore (including ghost stories) and takes a nostalgic look at landmarks that have disappeared. He also introduces some of the city’s characters and unusual features, debunks local myths, and corrects common misconceptions. Rybczyk embraces San Antonio's peculiarities by chronicling the cross-country journey of the World’s Largest Boots to their home in front of North Star Mall; the origins of the Frito corn chip and chewing gum; the annual Cornyation of King Anchovy; and Dwight Eisenhower's stint as the football coach at St Mary’s University. This completely updated, new edition of San Antonio Uncovered highlights San Antonio as a modern, thriving city with the feel of a small town that sees beauty in the old and fights to save it, even something as seemingly insignificant as an old Humble Oil Station; and its diverse inhabitants as those who appreciate the blending of the old and the new at the Tobin Center and fight to save what’s left of the Hot Wells Hotel.

A New York Times bestseller! “Lively and absorbing. . ." — The New York Times Book Review "Engrossing." —Wall Street Journal “Entertaining and well-researched . . . ” —Houston Chronicle Three noted Texan writers combine forces to tell the real story of the Alamo, dispelling the myths, exploring why they had their day for so long, and explaining why the ugly fight about its meaning is now coming to a head. Every nation needs its creation myth, and since Texas was a nation before it was a state, it's no surprise that its myths bite deep. There's no piece of history more important to Texans than the Battle of the Alamo, when Davy Crockett and a band of rebels went down in a blaze of glory fighting for independence from Mexico, losing the battle but setting Texas up to win the war. However, that version of events, as Forget the Alamo definitively shows, owes more to fantasy than reality. Just as the site of the Alamo was left in ruins for decades, its story was forgotten and twisted over time, with the contributions of Tejanos--Texans of Mexican origin, who fought alongside the Anglo rebels--scrubbed from the record, and the origin of the conflict over Mexico's push to abolish slavery papered over. Forget the Alamo provocatively explains the true story of the battle against the backdrop of Texas's struggle for independence, then shows how the sausage of myth got made in the Jim Crow South of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. As uncomfortable as it may be to hear for some, celebrating the Alamo has long had an echo of celebrating whiteness. In the past forty-some years, waves of revisionists have come at this topic, and at times have made real progress toward a more nuanced and inclusive story that doesn't alienate anyone. But we are not living in one of those times; the fight over the Alamo's meaning has become more pitched than ever in the past few years, even violent, as Texas's future begins to look more and more different from its past. It's the perfect time for a wise and generous-spirited book that shines the bright light of the truth into a place that's gotten awfully dark.

“Tequila is my soul mate,” Lucinda Hutson exclaims. “Mexico in a bottle, its flavor is as melodic to the mouth as a mariachi tune is to the ear—bold, spicy, and full of life!” For nearly forty years, Lucinda has trekked through tequila country, distilling adventures and knowledge to present them to enthusiastic readers around the world. Her 1995 book Tequila! Cooking with the Spirit of Mexico helped usher in the boom that transformed the tequila industry. Now in ¡Viva Tequila! she returns to her lifelong passion, bringing us deeper into the traditions and vibrant present of Mexico, and creates fabulous, flavorful recipes for drinks and dishes made with Mexico’s agave spirits. ¡Viva Tequila! begins with a lively tour of the history and culture of spirits made from the miraculous maguey—pulque, mezcal, and tequila. Lucinda follows her chosen elixir from fields of blue agave, to distilleries both family-owned and internationally operated, to the bewildering array of brands now available in the market. She offers advice on how to host a tequila tasting, discover your favorites, and stock your home cantina. With imaginative garnishes and presentations, and inspiration drawn from her travels throughout Mexico, Lucinda presents recipes for dozens of drinks featuring favorite Mexican libations, while also highlighting mezcal and tequila in new and bright ways that go far beyond the ubiquitous margarita. And because no fiesta is complete without festive food, Lucinda shows you how to use agave spirits in delightful dishes that feature fresh produce, fragrant herbs, and chiles picantes, prepared with techniques from Mexico's kitchen. For occasions ranging from lavish buffets to morning meriendas, leisurely afternoon tardeadas, last-minute happy hours, or dessert socials, you'll find original recipes and traditional ones, some of which Lucinda has altered with contemporary touches, that are sure to please every palate.

In My Beautiful City Austin David Heymann crafts seven masterful tales of a young architect who fails again and again to dissuade his clients from their bad decisions. So the houses he designs aid and abet the ongoing erasure of Austin's ambrosial charm. Each of these sharp and humorous stories centers around the design of a house, and in each the narrator struggles to understand why his clients want what they want -- a retiring couple needing an immense home in the middle of nature, a young family wanting a castle, a lawyer seeking to piss off his ex-wife -- and why they might want those things here. Collectively the stories serve as a portrait of a beloved place gone strangely wrong. Fueled by the dubious intentions of its inhabitants, Austin is a town growing madly while ignoring the pain of a thousand small cuts. But the book is equally about a young person trying to take fraught first steps into a career, and a place in the world. Architects aren't inherently powerful. They can only affect the world because they work at the center of a web of others whose value decisions -- strange and yet real -- actually drive change.Because the humor in the stories arises from the narrator's inability to alter absurd circumstances, the stories are immediately accessible to a broad readership, including adults of all ages, readers interested in Austin (a source of fascination as one of the most desirable cities in America), those interested in Texas and Texas literature, and readers interested in architecture and design.

Detailed and timely information on accommodations, restaurants, and local attractions highlight these updated travel guides, which feature all-new covers, a dramatic visual design, symbols to indicate budget options, must-see ratings, multi-day itineraries, Smart Travel Tips, helpful bulleted maps, tips on transportation, guidelines for shopping excursions, and other valuable features. Original.