Freeze Preparation and Shutting Off Water

The freeze took us by surprise. Luckily it only resulted in 1 burst pipe. But I don't want to deal with that again this year. Last year we decided to use the drip method. But now we know we can just drain the pipes, and shut off the water at the street. What's the downside to this? Why were we all not told to do that in the first place? It seems so obvious.

We are also planning to get some really heavy curtains for all of our windows. What else should we do?