Things to Do in Fredericksburg

Bring in your sketches, napkin doodles, dream journal, or alien-induced mashed-potato sculptures, and Under Pressure's friendly, patient staff will help tease out and refine your idea with a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Under Pressure also keeps a host of its own compositions in case your mind experiences T-shirter's block. Once you've settled on your masterful motif, Under Pressure will whip up a screen and imprint your righteous art onto it using non-toxic, environmentally friendly ink. The resulting design is softer and more sumptuous than a traditional T-shirt screen-print. You'll emerge from Under Pressure with a garment that impresses your friends with your expansive '80s sitcom knowledge or seduces your Valentine with an epic pink narwhal—among other unironically ironic uses.

Art can be divisive, but playtime is not. Maybe that’s why Art Alliance Austin chose red rope swings hung in surprise downtown areas to headline the 2012 Art City Austin festival. Courtesy of Austin’s The Red Swing Project, a collective dedicated to transforming neglected urban areas into welcoming play spaces, the swings are just one example of the partnerships Art Alliance Austin makes to achieve its goal of building community through local art projects. And considering Austin’s explosive growth in recent years, that mission is timelier than ever. “It all comes down to creating spaces for a common narrative, a common culture, and common experience to emerge,” explains Art Alliance Austin’s communications liaison Michu Benaim. “And we can achieve that by encouraging people to connect.”

Art Alliance Austin designs its annual festivals to be as much block parties as art shows—Michu describes Art City Austin, for example, as local, homegrown, and neighborly. Since 1956, the group has woven its philosophies into Austin's pulse during its many shows, festivals, and events, which have included Art Night Austin, Art Week Austin, and coproduction of Pecha Kucha Austin, each one helping ensure the city remains a vibrant and creative place to live.

Situated upon a 7-acre organic farm, Glass Monkey Art Studio is a creative hub where skilled flame workers craft functional pieces and artwork such as jewelry, smoking accessories, and bird feeders for clients. They also lead workshops that acquaint aspiring artists with their unique set of skills. After learning to create a set of drink stirrers during the Intro to Glassblowing class, students are free to take more advanced workshops that teach them to make beads, marbles, vases, and other iridescent artwork for wearing, displaying at home, or gifting to a particularly beautiful sunbeam.

Working in teams of two, participants straddle either tandem or single-person bikes at the starting line. Together, teams decipher eight clues hidden in riddles and pictures that will lead them to their next destination. By cycling along bike trails in search of photo ops, the Austin Riddle Ride gives competitors a fun reason to explore their city and get outside beyond the reach of their television sets and codependent couches. Taking part in the Riddle Ride gives a spiritual boost beyond the physical benefit as well because profits from the event will go to Stand Up for Kids, a non-profit that organizes outreach programs to help stabilize homeless youths.

Sky Lanterns are handmade and imported from China, where traditional lanterns have lifted off for centuries and are considered good luck. Packs of pristine lanterns, each about the size of a large beach ball or a 1/100,000-scale model of Jupiter, float peacefully into the sky, propelled by hot air wafting from a small flame within. After about 15 minutes of flight, flames self-extinguish, and the fire-resistant lantern body gently falls and begins to completely biodegrade. Launching Chinese sky lanterns can lend extra pomp and symbolism to events such as memorial services, weddings, and driver’s ed class reunions.

Bavarian Luxury Rentals, the country’s first all-BMW rental company, ensconces travelers and auto enthusiasts alike behind the well-engineered wheel of brand-new German luxury cars. Co-founded by BMW auto mechanic Brian McKinney and Corey Evers—the customer-service-savvy founder of Central Texas Valet—the local enterprise fills roads with its standing fleet of BMWs that includes a 5-series, a 3-series, and a 1-series. On breaks from the open road, renters’ BMWs entitle them to sumptuous amenities at businesses throughout the city, and 24-hour roadside assistance guards drivers against difficulties such as flat tires and toll booths manned by bridge trolls.