36 Hours in Austin

The problem: A multiplying feral hog population has caused serious damage to Texas’ crops. A solution: Serve them up on a platter. This is one way that Jesse Griffiths, the chef and a co-owner of Dai Due on Manor Road, northeast of downtown, is changing how Texans think about local wild game. The small dining room is warmed by the open kitchen’s blazing fire fueled by post oak — the wood Texas grillmasters swear by for its steady high heat and spicy, smoky flavor. Sample bites of chicken-liver mousse, rabbit rillettes and wild-boar sausage in the cold meat board ($27) before moving on to mains like coffee-cured nilgai antelope leg fillet ($64) and an excellent aged Wagyu cheeseburger ($26). The wine list is a who’s who of Texas producers. The restaurant also sells raw cuts and jars of tallow ($12) and hosts butchery classes and hunting outings.

A simply magic Austin moment is a sunny day at Barton Springs Pool, a natural-spring-fed public pool in Zilker Park. The water temperature hovers around 70 degrees year-round, which means it might be steaming in the winter but feel icy in the summer. The bracing temperature doesn’t diminish its popularity. Families and friends throw out towels and yoga mats on the hilly lawns surrounding the pool — the people-watching is divine (the regulars in Speedos are indeed keeping Austin weird). Nonresident admission, $9, March 9 through Oct. 31; free the rest of the year. After your dip, take a stroll around the rest of Zilker Park, and stop by the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and the Zilker Botanical Garden. The park also hosts the Austin City Limits Music Festival every October.

Odd Duck on South Lamar Boulevard is the classic Austin success story: a business that started as a food truck and became popular enough to go brick-and-mortar. In a greenhouse-like building perched on the side of a little hill, the restaurant serves meat as good as anywhere in town, like the hearty yet delicate pecan mole pork shoulder ($33), alongside vegetarian dishes like grilled broccoli with a deviled egg sauce ($15). Desserts often come with an inventive ice cream flavor, like sourdough batter or lavender and pink peppercorn, and the service is delightfully friendly: Reserve a spot at the bar overlooking the kitchen and you might score a spoonful of this or a morsel of that from the chefs plating dishes in front of you.

Pick your own adventure on Sixth Street, the two-or-so-mile stretch of nightspots. East Sixth has the trendier bars and restaurants among bungalows in a gentrified, historically Black and Latino neighborhood. The street’s center, nicknamed “dirty Sixth,” is the debaucherous belly of the beast with bachelorette-party-riddled bars and wild clubs, some housed in Victorian-era buildings. Farther down is West Sixth, which attracts a preppier and older crowd to brewpubs and cafes. Bounce where the mood suits you (easy to do by hailing one of the pedicabs), although a classic Austin evening bookend is Donn’s Depot, a former train depot turned piano bar with Christmas lights and ruby-red carpeting, just south on West Fifth Street. This dive bar transports you to an older Austin, luring folks of all ages onto a lively country dance floor.

La Barbecue, whose founders have been some of the few women to break into the upper ranks of Texas barbecue, is a locals’ favorite in East Austin for a weekend meat fix. You can’t go wrong with fatty brisket ($34 a pound), tender pork ribs ($30 a pound), and sides like chipotle slaw ($4), spicy garlic pickles ($2) and a dynamite shells and cheese ($5.50). Skip the line (which can be up to an hour’s wait, since the inside seating area is tiny) by ordering on the website a day ahead, and then walk 10 minutes to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail to enjoy your lunch. Brisket on the banks of the Colorado River — what’s more Austin than that?