I learnt to ride horses (western style) in Austin, thanks to colleague trying to teach me once.  I’ve seen more Country Music acts than anywhere else I’ve visited (with the exception of the Music Festival in Nashville).  For many years Austin was somewhere I wanted to move to, it’s still a great place and I love it but life moves on and goals change.

This trip was just for two weeks for work, however I did manage to get out to the Salt Lick and County Line and my favorite bar… the Broken Spoke on South Lamar.  More importantly I took two-step dance lessons – for the first time, and made a new friend.

I’m still dancing now that I’m back in the UK, but now it’s Rock ‘n’ Roll dancing… two-step is difficult to find in the UK

My free weekend in Austin was used to explore a little more of the Hill Country that surrounds Austin, including Enchanted Rock and Gruene.  I was lucky enough to see the Derailers play at Gruene Hall on the Saturday night.  On Sunday I decided to cool off from the Texas heat in Inner Space Caverns located just at the side of I-35 north of Austin.

A selection of photos from my most recent trip can be found in the Austin 2007 Photo Album.  A small selection of photos from my two month visit in 2003, including pictures of me learning to ride horses can be found here.  This site also includes a selection of other photos from my time in Texas.

My hotel was located on the main street in Pigeon Forge which is lined by a mix of discount stores, outlet malls and various themed restaurants and attractions.  In short, not somewhere I would return to!  Next time I’d stay in nearby Gatlinburg.

Dollywood was not quite what I was expecting.  There were some good country themed shows and some good bluegrass musicians.  However, most of the theme park was aimed at very young children – so I didn’t really fit in.  There were however some very good Dolly Parton museums, that showed where and how she grew up as well as a collection of memorabilia and awards.

The Smoky Mountain National Park was much more interesting with some great scenery and nice leisurely drives including Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and Cades Cove Loop Road.  Roaring Fork was very quiet and peaceful with few visitors which made for a very relaxing Sunday morning visiting some of the old farm buildings left by early settlers to the area.

Cades Cove is one of the most popular tours so was a little busier but was still very good.  The highlight of the drive was seeing a bear with cubs in a field.  I only had a compact camera with me so the photos are not great but can be found in the gallery below: