WSJ weekends in our town

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and, yes, even Monday make a sojourn in Austin with a full schedule presented on the front page of the Off Duty section of today’s Wall Street Journal (“Take Monday Off: Austin,” byline Kate Bolick).

The on-line version is illustrated by ranks of boots from Allens, but the print version shows, in addition, a delectable entree from Fonda San Miguel, an exterior shot of the Broken Spoke, a western-themed suite in the Driskill, and a half-dozen more (view the slide show).

There’s that word “mosey” again, along with an anonymous reference to a person who can only be Leslie. This piece tries to cover all bases, from some C&W flavor to urban trendy. Coming in for mentions are Hotel San Jose, Uchi, Jo’s, Uncommon Objects, the Continental Club, Waterloo Records, and many, many more destinations.

There’s quite a lively page of commentary, some of it discouraging people from visiting Austin or contemplating living here. Someone cites two of my favorite disadvantages in this context (heat and respiratory allergies), but I don’t see mention of the third repellent, which is the giant cockroach, unfamiliar to people from many parts of our great nation and truly horrifying to them on first sight.

This is really one of the better Austin once-overs; in case inspiration should fail during SxSW, tear this one out and have your house guests play pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey to fill those little gaps in the schedule.