The Lone-Star Lover

Throughout its 50-plus years in business, this dance hall has showcased the likes of Willie Nelson and Bob Wills. Join truck-driving patrons in cowboy hats and starched white shirts who come to listen to live country and brush up on their two-step.

Get ranch-ready at this shop, which has lived in a stone and stucco building on South Congress since 1977. The 8,000-square-foot store has the largest selection of cowboy boots in the country—over 10,000 pairs line the shelves­.

A three-story bronze star marks the entrance of this Texas history museum, and the Becoming Texas exhibit—exploring 16,000 years of Lone Star state geology, early American history, and colonialism—dominates the ground floor. There are also exhibits on the state’s oil boom and all things cowboy. Stop by the gift shop for an only-in-Texas souvenir.

Built in 1878, Gruene Hall—located an hour outside of Austin on the Guadalupe River—is Texas’ oldest continually operating dance hall, complete with a high-pitched tin roof and side flaps that open for al fresco dancing.

If you’re interested in Texas’s natural history, head to the outskirts of town to see over 900 species of Texas natives, including 16 varieties of live oak trees growing in the gardens and natural areas of this 284-acre reserve. It was cofounded by former First Lady (and Austin resident), Lady Bird Johnson.

Don’t overlook this small house museum, the former residence of Alphonse Dubois, France’s representative to the Republic of Texas after it was declared a sovereign nation. The grounds are free and open to the public, and tours are available with advanced reservations.