Austin, Texas -- need frugal ideas for corporate fun/team building activities

[cdttmm]

Hey All -- I'm hoping that those of you who live in Austin, TX or are familiar with the city can offer up a few ideas for frugal group fun. Our annual meeting for work is taking place in Austin in mid-July and I need to come up with 2 evening activities that involve dinner and some outdoor (if at all possible) fun. The group will be between 20 and 24 people, approximately, and is mostly 20 and early 30 somethings. Which means activities that can involve alcohol are preferred.

So far my three thoughts are:

Riverboat cruise with bat watching and dinner aboard the boat
Haunted Austin ghost tour on the trolley -- the pub crawl version
Bowling and karaoke at the Highball

I'll be able to spend about $2000 between the two events so I don't have a ton of cash to play with.

TIA for any ideas and helpful tips!

[AustinKat]

Those are three excellent ideas. Bear in mind that Austin in mid-July can be brutally, dangerously hot, even in the evenings. If your group is extroverted, I'd recommend the Highball; if they're more introverted, the riverboat cruise.

[pinkytoe]

My work often takes groups to the Broken Spoke which is an authentic honky-tonk with sawdust on the floor and live country swing music:
www.brokenspokeaustintx.com/
They serve food and give dance lessons for novices. It's always a hit with people not from these parts regardless of age. I like your ideas though and concur that it will be might hot in mid-July.

[cdttmm]

Thanks for the feedback AustinKat and pinkytoe. Our group is a mix of extroverts and introverts, so it's hard to know what will please the majority of the crowd. And since we work virtually 99% of the time, this is one of the rare opportunities for people to have face time with one another.

For the riverboat cruise: Lone Star or Capitol Cruises? Both seem to be roughly the same price so that's not a deciding factor, but would love to know if someone has personal experience with either.

I love the idea of the Broken Spoke, too, so will investigate that further!

Last question (for the moment) -- where's the best place in Austin for real Texas BBQ?

[pinkytoe]

I don't know anything about the riverboats. Could you check yelp for Austin? Hmmm...on the BBQ, the current favorite is Franklin's though I hear people get paid to stand in the order line since it is so long. Another favorite is the Salt Lick but it is quite a drive. Downtown I would say Ironworks. You might try posting your questions on the Austin city-data forum to get more responses.