East Side Tubes

Tubing in town: Secret Beach becomes the newest floating destination

East Side Tubes Facebook

The secret's out about “Secret Beach” thanks to Austin’s first tubing and shuttle service on the East Side. For those who have never ventured to the hidden hotspot, Secret Beach is a stretch of undeveloped Colorado River shoreline — and it's is now a destination along the route outlined by East Side Tubes.

East Side Tubes owner Dan Walker, who also runs MOC Kayaks, decided to make Austin a tubing destination much like San Marcos and New Braunfels, saving Austinites the trip down south to the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers.

“I believe this will be a much safer alternative,” says Walker. “There’s a bus stop and people can take public transit to keep everyone off of I-35 going north or south that shouldn’t be driving.”

The starting point of the float is at East Side Tubes' store location on Red Bluff Road near Cesar Chavez and winds up at Montopolis Bridge where tubers can catch the shuttle back to their vehicles. Depending on if you’re a lazy floater or a swimmer, the one-mile float will take about one to two hours. Kids are welcome to float as well because the river is, as Walker calls it, very “lazy,” and they do offer tubes with bottoms.

East Side Tubes offers two options for those who want to float: either paying $15 for a tube and one shuttle ride back or $25 for unlimited shuttle rides for the day. The prices are somewhat higher than what you would find in San Marcos and New Braunfels, but for Austinites, the money saved on gas definitely makes East Side Tubes more affordable.

Walker offers a $5 discount if tubers bring back more trash than they took with them in an effort to keep the river and beaches clean and change the reputation that tubing has earned.

“I’ve had some people say, ‘Oh, I can’t go down there anymore because there’s tubing,’” says Walker. “People think tubing brings trash and trashy people, but it doesn’t have to be like that. . . [Tubers] often come back and say, ‘There’s no trash to pick up!’ — and that’s kind of the point.”

Get more information on this new essential Austin activity by visiting the East Side Tubes website.

East Side Tubes, tubing in Austin.

Photo Courtesy of East Side Tubes Facebook

East Side Tubes, tubing in Austin.

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Refill, revere, rejoice

Austin distiller refills Kentucky Bourbon bottles for $1 in UT game day stunt

Photo courtesy of Still Austin Whiskey Co.

Still Austin is filling up empty Kentucky Bourbon bottles and adding its own label in a display of Texas dominance.

Cheap bourbon isn't usually something people line up for, but in this case they know it's good. Still Austin Whiskey Co., a favorite Austin distiller, is offering $1 refills of its own Cask Strength Bourbon in empty Kentucky Bourbon bottles on November 23.

The promotion celebrates the Texas Longhorns vs. Kentucky Wildcats football match the same day. This is a highly anticipated game because the two teams have only been matched up once, back in 1951. Kentucky coach Mike Stoops reportedly also upped the ante by saying the Longhorns have "no weaknesses."

Essentially, this is a parallel challenge by Still Austin: Replace your Kentucky Bourbon with our Texas spirit and watch the Lone Star State win again.

"Why would I ever taint your bourbon with dried up Kentucky juice[?]" asked a (frankly, terrifying) customer on Instagram.

There is a misconception that bourbon has to be made in Kentucky. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association itself points out that, "According to the 1964 Congressional Resolution, in order to have “Bourbon” on the label it must be made in the United States of America and meet all other federal “standards of identity” for Bourbon."

Still Austin CEO and co-founder Chris Seals is setting the record straight with a little snark, inviting both fans and "skeptics" to stop by to take advantage of the deal.

“We’re deeply grateful to Kentucky for inventing the stuff, but after 200 years of the same old bourbon, people want something new,” said Seals in a press release.“The idea that great bourbon can only come from Kentucky is a myth based on decades of misinformation. We’re inviting everyone still holding onto this old guard notion to ‘Kentucky Fill Up’ to experience the difference for themselves.”

The product he's chosen to represent the brand, the Cask Strength Bourbon, is described as "a deeper more 'metal' version of our beloved straight bourbon." It's 116 proof (58 percent ABV) and has won double gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition twice, in 2022 and 2023.

Still Austin will only refill 500 bottles. Here are the rules: The bottles have to be 750 milliliters, clean, intact (with the original cap on hand), and they must have originally contained bourbon from a Kentucky Distillery. There are two time slots for refilling at 9 am and 11:30 am. Patrons can get tickets ahead of time at stillaustin.com.

In addition to the fill-ups, Still Austin will host a watch party starting at 2:30 pm. More Texas-Kentucky crossover will include Frozen Texas Julep cocktails, Texas fried chicken, and an armadillo derby race. There will also be exclusive merch and giveaways. Still Austin is the official corporate partner of Texas Athletics.

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Fans of Austin sports and Austin food and drinks can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm December 12 at Distribution Hall. Find out more about it here.

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