Have 24 hours to spare in Austin? Heres what to do

A couple facts about Austin, Texas:

It’s 80 miles from San Antonio.

Austin is fun.

OK, maybe that’s a fact and one widely held opinion. If you can get to Austin when the city’s prices and population are not inflated by the annual South by Southwest festival of music, film and interactive media (March 13-22, www.sxsw.com), you’ll see, hear and taste plenty of rewards. Live music. Tex-Mex and barbecue. All the energy that comes with a 52,000-student University of Texas campus.

I capped a trip to San Antonio with about 24 hours in Austin, so I can recommend these spots:

• Guero’s Taco Bar (1412 S. Congress Ave.; 512-447-7688, www.guerostacobar.com), a bric-a-brac-filled Tex-Mex restaurant, seems as casual, smart and rowdy as Austin itself. The weathered wood floor dates to the building’s days as a 19th century seed and feed store. Dinner main courses $7.99-$12.99.

• The Continental Club (1315 S. Congress Ave.; 512-441-2444, www.continentalclub.com) is the granddaddy of live-music joints in the city, dating to 1957. In the dim confines, you’ll see an endless parade of live musical acts. Cover prices vary.

If you can’t afford the hippest, priciest, most-central hotels (for instance, Hotel Saint Cecilia, Hotel San Jose, Kimber Modern), you can still find style on the brink of suburbia. The Lone Star Court (10901 Domain Drive; 512-814-2625, www.lonestarcourt.com), which opened in 2013 about 12 miles north of South Congress Avenue, is full of playful flourishes from fire rings to farm equipment. Also live music Wednesdays through Sundays. Doubles generally $169-$249.

• The LBJ Presidential Library (2313 Red River St.; 512-721-02000, www.lbjlibrary.org), housed in a brutal minimalist building on the UT campus, tells the story of Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) and serves up an interesting slice of the ’60s. On the gift shop wall, don’t miss the great 1968 photo of the dog-loving president howling along with his mutt, Yuki. Adult admission $8.

If I’d had four more hours, I would have headed for Franklin Barbecue (900 E. 11th St.; www.franklinbarbecue.com), whose praises have been sung by Texas Monthly and Bon Appetit magazines, among others.