Austinites have several nice museums to visit. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is one, and it is loaded with a number of permanent and rotating exhibits about all things Texas. On the first Sunday of each month, admission is free, or to be more accurate, HEB picks up the tab (another reason HEB is the best grocery store, hands down, ever).
I like to visit a couple of times a year to see the new exhibits. In particular today we went to see the Becoming Texas exhibit, and to see the new permanent exhibit for the 17th century recovered French ship that wrecked off of the Gulf Coast of Texas in 1686, La Belle.
The 54′ La Belle, or at least the portions of the timbers that remain of it, on display at the museum. This ship crossed the Atlantic, brought munitions, provisions and trade goods to the New World, and then sank off the Texas Gulf Coast. If you live in or near Austin, you should check out the museum. Ideally on a free First Sunday.
Afterwards we visited Zilker Brewing; we’re slowly working our way across all the breweries in Austin. One must have goals.