Judging by my last 2 posts, it probably seemed like all we did was eat in Austin, which is not entirely inaccurate. But between meals we did find time for a few other things.
South Congress Neighborhood: I highly recommend staying in this area, it’s a really fun, lively neighborhood, with lots of restaurants, places to drink and cute shops. If you don’t stay here, spend an afternoon walking around.
b & a chillin’ poolside!
tanning the belly!
Barton Creek Greenbelt trail is located within Zilker Park. This is a 7.9 mile trail along the creek. It is gorgeous, with lots of lush vegetation. The creek usually runs in the spring. There are different swimming holes and waterfalls you could stop at along the way. We weren’t able to hike that far because we got a late start that day and it got really hot. We did hike a couple of miles up the creek and were able to put our feet in the water. I would highly recommend bringing a swimsuit on this hike. I also forgot my camera, and was only able to snap a couple of photos on my phone.
Barton Springs Pool – spending an afternoon relaxing at the Barton Springs Pool was at the top of my list, but they had a flood the previous week and had drained the pool for the weekend that we were visiting. The pool is 3 acres, is fed from underground springs and tends to be about 68 degrees.
Lady Bird Lake – Is right in downtown Austin and has a 10 mile hiking/biking trail around it. The trail is really pretty with lots of vegetation.
Bat watching on Lady Bird Lake – Congress Street Bridge is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. You can see the bats at sunset. You can view them from the bridge, but the view seems to be better from the lake. We hopped on one of the touristy boat cruises. It was a little cheesy, but it was fine. I enjoyed being on the lake at sunset, even more than seeing the bats. I think next time, we will rent a canoe or a kayak and paddle around the lake and skip the cheesy cruise.
Visit the State Capitol – They loved telling us how it is the tallest capitol building, even taller than the White House because everything is bigger in Texas. Pretty funny! It was definitely worth checking out. It was a beautiful building and only took about an hour to walk through and look at everything. And the grounds are also very nice, a great place for a picnic. We only had an hour to spend here, but 1.5-2 hours would have been plenty of time.
Vintage Shopping – If you enjoy vintage shopping, Austin is your city. We visited some of the best vintage stores we have ever been to. Our favotire was Uncommon Objects, in the Southern Congress area. We also really liked Hog Wild Vintage, on North Loop Blvd., near the Hydepark neighborhood. You can defiitely spend an entire weekend vintage shopping in this city. And you can download the vintage around town guide, to assist you. The prices were also much better than Cali.
Alamo Drafthouse + Cinema – We ran out of time for this one, but it looked really fun, mostly cause at home we don’t have movies + full menu + alcohol. They even create special menus to go with different movies!
House Skate Park – Brooke went here (while I went shopping!), he sweated like a pig and he thought it was a killer park.
photo courtesy of devonhutchins.com
Hope to see you again soon, Austin!
