I recently made a quick trip to Houston to take care of some medical appointments, which got me thinking about the idea of “health travel,” or even the vague concept of “secondary travel.” For example, even if my main reason for visiting a city is to catch up with family, see a hotshot out-of-town specialist, or to attend a work conference or other event, I do try to squeeze in some recreation. In Houston, I try to visit a museum or gallery, a favorite shop, and a restaurant or bar I’ve been hearing about. This time, I joined up with two longtime Houston friends to check out El Real Tex-Mex Cafe, the new (yet old-school) Tex-Mex restaurant dreamed up by food writer/historian Robb Walsh and restaurateurs Bryan Caswell and Bill Floyd. I had heard raves about the cheese enchiladas with chili gravy—that classic Tex-Mex comfort-food concoction served with orange cheese, lard-laden (and I mean that in a good way) refried beans, and Spanish rice. Well-deserved raves! Tart margaritas and a salvaged décor from the shuttered El Fenix Restaurant completed the experience. I’ll look forward to future visits once I can fit into my jeans again.

When I visit the Bayou City, I often stay with friends, but this time, I tried an experiment. I had heard about travel websites like www.lastminutetravel.com and www.hotwire.com, which offer unsold hotel rooms at steeply discounted prices, and I decided to give lastminutetravel a try. Here’s how it works: You go to the site, pick your city and general area, plug in your dates, and the website finds available rooms. In my case, I found a “four-star hotel” in “downtown Houston” for $95. The site provides photos of the hotel, and a list of amenities, but you don’t learn the name of the hotel until you’ve booked the room. (This makes sense to me: While the hotels want to sell their unsold rooms, they don’t want to advertise that they’re willing to drastically undercut their rack rates. And be aware that after you reserve the room, you can’t cancel or change your reservation.) For my one-night stay, this worked beautifully: My hotel turned out to the Hyatt Regency, where rooms normally start around $180 per night. The hotel has a great rooftop pool, and its central location proved perfect for exploring on foot. When I returned to the office, I poked around these sites to see what other hotel deals I could find in Texas: I pretended to want to book a room four days out, and I turned up a “four-star” hotel in Galveston for $96 and a “three-star” hotel in downtown Fort Worth for $68.

Have you tried these sites for Texas travel? Care to share your experiences?

See related: How I Survived SXSW: Film and Interactive

How I Survived SXSW: The Basics

...and the crowd goes wild!

How to survive the Music portion of South by Southwest. Easy. Expect midnight or 1 a.m. headliners, lots of SXSW parties and little sleep.

In my previous installment, I highly recommend the SXSW’s express pass for bigger venues/band names. It’s worth it. Definitely. But realizing bands are playing into the wee hours of the morning followed by all the after parties that don’t end until 6 a.m., 10 a.m. is virtually the crack of dawn. But, if you can swing it, wake up long enough to get it then return to your Zzzzs.

As with the film schedule, the choices are phenomenal. Pick the bands you want to see most, and let the rest be icing on the cake.

Unlike the film portion, there aren’t discussions or Q&A with the bands at the shows, but you can see plenty of panel discussions, keynote addresses at the Convention Center, as well as interviews at the IFC Crossroads House. Bob Geldof and Yoko Ono (talking, not singing) were among the highlights.

There's music everywhere, including this live band at the makeshift CNN Grill SXSW.

Still, the music portion presents the perfect opportunity to explore and experience so many new, up-and-coming bands. Take full advantage.

I did a lot of that and was pleasantly surprised on many occasions. Sometimes, I found the particular music I stumbled upon was not necessarily my style, but I always appreciate the creative education … and people watching.

Duran Duran perform at Stubb's.

Admittedly, I couldn’t help but indulge in the familiar. Music snobs might chide me for going the mainstream route, but I enjoyed nurturing my ‘80s roots while watching The Bangles or Duran Duran. I saw them both from front and center. That wouldn’t have happened “back in the day.” Thanks SXSW.

I also hoped, as part of this whole SXSW experience, to take in two of the consistently big parties – Perez Hilton’s Night in Austin and Rachel Ray’s Feedback Party. Lots shared their personal opinion about each of these “celebrities”, but my interest was not in them, rather the energy around the parties they throw and the people and performers who show up. I managed to score badges for both.

There was talk of a surprise guest at the Perez party – Lady Gaga. Brittney Spears. P. Diddy. No surprise guest showed up, but it was a heck of a party with great music. People with RSVP wristbands started waiting in line at 3 p.m. for open doors at 6. Probably not necessary, as I saw people walking in throughout the evening. Also, if you have a badge, guess what? You don’t need a wristband. Though it’s technically not put on by SXSW, they used the same entry system for the party – badges over wristbands. If you’re badgeless, you’ll have to RSVP for those wristbands, and know that they accept tons more RSVPs than they allow in, and wristband distribution ended about 5 p.m. – All gone.

Kanye West hosted a party that night, too. Again, more RSVPs than available tickets.

While I enjoyed my evening at the Perez Hilton Party, this also was the evening of the biggest moon in ages. I heard it was a gorgeous sight to see. My badgeless buddies enjoyed the view from Auditorium Shores, where the City of Austin hosts a free concert as a thank you to locals who, in essence, give up their city for SXSW. They found the show via listings at www.sxsw.com/free. Between the closing performance by Bright Eyes and the beautiful moon, I hear the night was amazing.

See related: How I Survived SXSW: Music

How I Survived SXSW: The Basics

How did I survive, SXSW? It wasn’t easy, but I did … and it was a fun journey. This is meant to give an overview of what to expect for those who have never attended SXSW before. I recommend the experience – even if just once. I’m also glad to answer any other questions you might have about navigating it.

Liz Phair on the IFC Crossroads stage. Those not fitting in the small studio watch from screens throughout the cozy lounge.

On Day One, while still shuffling through my newly retrieved SXSW registration packet to see what’s what/where and getting set for the week, I head to the IFC (International Film Channel) Crossroads House nestled against the Driskill Hotel. IFC aired daily interviews with film stars and musical talent, and hosted live performances, so a must-have is the free IFC wristband. It allows for a lucky few SXSW attendees to make up the live audience in a lounge setting where it was always happy hour.

This was definitely going to be a hotspot, because for me, it’s not just about seeing the movies or hearing the music, but getting to see and hear from the people behind the scenes.

The IFC Crossroads House had guests including Conan O’Brien, Rosario Dawson, Danny DeVito, Emmylou Harris, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Pee Wee Herman, Jason Ritter, Rainn Wilson, Brittney Snow, Soliel Moon Frye, Eliza Dushku and more. To see some of those interviews, visit http://www.ifc.com/sxsw. Consider making this part of your SXSW experience.

Actors Danny DaVito, Rosario Dawson and Carla Gugino enter the IFC Crossroads House.

With less than one hour of SXSW 2011 under my belt, I encounter my first (and *last – see tips below) long line, here, at the IFC site. While making a mental game plan, I paced away from the line and moved just around the immediate corner of the building. What a fun surprise. I run right into actors Rosario Dawson, Danny DaVito and Carla Gugino, who everyone is waiting in line to see. They’re coming in the side door – Rosario is all smiles and Danny is signing autographs for the crowd of 5 that happened upon them as well. They were in town to talk about their film “Girl Walks into a Bar,” the first feature length film produced exclusively for the Internet … and its free. While I haven’t gotten around to seeing it yet, this encounter set the stage for the film portion and many celebrity encounters, panel discussions and Q&A sessions.

There are three types of SXSW film attendees, I discovered – those who take in only the world premiere films that already have big stars and a distribution deal (or are close to it); those who see the other film gems hoping for a distribution deal but may never see the light of day again; and those (like me) who really enjoy the underdog film but also enjoy the hoopla of the Red Carpet, and watching a film in my hometown with the big name actors and directors in attendance.

Mottola, left, along with actors Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Kristen Wiig from the comedy, “Paul” answer questions after a SXSW screening at the Paramount Theater.

Director Greg Mottolla's staged keepsake of the SXSW screening of his comedy "Paul". Masks of the alien Paul were handed out to the audience for his requested, out-of-this-world photo op.

SXSW affords attendees the rare opportunity to watch a film and then have immediate access to the cast and crew for a Q&A session. I sat in on a few of these screenings for world premiere films at the lovely Paramount Theater like “Source Code” with Jake Gyllenhall, “Paul” with Kristen Wiig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (of “Sean of the Dead”), “Super” with Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page, and “The Beaver” with Jodi Foster and Mel Gibson. All key actors (minus Mel Gibson) were present, watching the film with the audience and sticking around afterwards for the questions. I got to meet several, face-to-face, including Conan O’Brien, too. But talking one-on-one with Kristen Wiig was a real treat. She’s hilarious – definitely my favorite Saturday Night Live cast member. She’s down-to-earth and nice to boot!

Jodi Foster attends SXSW to screen and discuss her film "The Beaver" in which she directs and co-stars with Mel Gibson.

For the record, Jodi says she would have cast Gibson in the role, again, regardless of his negative publicity of late.

Tourists on the Austin Duck Tours got a real treat when they stopped to observe the buzz in front of The Paramount. They just happened to stop when Jake Gyllenhall was doing Red Carpet interviews for “Source Code.” They had a front row seat for that, and you could tell, by the squeals of excitement on the bus, that they’ll likely not forget that tour.

I also enjoyed a slew of other less visible films including one of my faves – “Bag of Hammers”, starring Jason Ritter, son of the late John Ritter. He’s super talented and the film deserves wider distribution. We shall see.

Also on my roster of films was “Matter of Taste”, a fascinating documentary about one of New York’s top chefs Paul Liebrandt. My friend, Rachel Mills, is a producer for the HBO-backed documentary that had its world premiere here. I was excited for her and the project. The after party at Eddie V’s had haute hors d’oeuvres and a rare chance for me to get some sustenance. Between bouncing from venue to venue at breakneck speed sometimes, there was little time for food. I call it the SXSW diet. Lots of walking/running across town and no time to eat. The beauty of it is that there IS plenty of time to eat, if you choose. I just chose to take in as many panel discussions and films that I could, instead. There’s plenty of time to rest, too, if that’s what’s important to you. A friend called me after Day One saying she was skipping the next evening’s premiere – she was already tired. Good for her. Not for me! But you definitely need to know what your limits are, and heed them. Pace your stamina to carry you through your time at SXSW.

This portion of the film grid – between 4 p.m. and midnight on Saturday, March 12 – represents only a small fraction of the film screenings held throughout an eight-day period.

Taking it all in required much stamina because while some nights went long with films (the Kristen Wiig double-feature of “Paul” and “Bridesmaids”, didn’t finish until about 2:30 a.m.) my mornings/afternoons were also booked with Interactive panels that addressed so many crucial areas of new media – the way technology changes the way we report and receive news and information. Was I tired? Heck yeah, but I was also feeling charged by it all, too.

In fact, I saw a documentary about Kevin Clash, the man (and voice) behind Elmo, the ticklish Sesame Street celebrity. It was only by chance that I saw it. I went in treating it as a time killer in between two nearby interactive panel sessions I was sitting in on. The location was suitable for simply getting off my weary feet. But the documentary was wonderful … and I admit to shedding a tear or two – mostly for joy. I don’t think we ever lose our giddy love of the Sesame Street puppets we knew as children. But, it also was a very real story with life lessons and all.