Museum Reach: Public Art Along the River Walk North

The River Walk most visitors know is the downtown horseshoe of gondolas and patio restaurants. The Museum Reach is its quieter, newer sibling — a northward extension finished in 2009 that traded souvenir shops for public art, linking downtown to the Pearl on foot. This drive strings together a rebuilt civic auditorium, a brewery turned art museum, a community-saved bridge, and two of the strangest, most photographed art installations in Texas: a concrete grotto built by one local artist, and a school of glowing fiberglass fish swimming under the interstate. Because the stops spread out along and just off the river, this one's built as a short drive rather than a single walk.