Ahhhhustin

Ahhhh, how I love Austin! And what's not to love with great food, music, swimming holes and bats? Located about two-and-a-half hours away, you'd think we'd be regular visitors to Austin; however, this is only my third trip to Texas' Capitol. If you look back, you'll see that the very first blog entry on Jeneric Travels, written in 2007, is also about Austin. Hard to believe that it's been six years since we've been back!

The impetus for this trip was a special on PBS about Texas road trips. We learned about a swimming hole in Dripping Springs that looked like paradise. According to the special, after a day of swimming at Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve, a scrumptious BBQ could be had about 20 minutes away. I was smitten, and added this adventure to my ever-growing list, and, now, here we are!

Food
On our first night, We had a delicious dinner at Z'tejas with friends Steve, Karen and their two beautiful children. It was great to hang with them, as we haven't been together since before Christmas. Steve works at Whole Foods and gave us a very educational tour of the store after dinner. We enjoyed sampling gelatos, and in true Eric-fashion, he ended up with bacon-flavored. I had pomegranate-raspberry.


Wanting a fairly quick breakfast before heading to Dripping Springs the next morning, we found 24 Diner and really liked it! Eric's litmus test is a restaurant's eggs benedict. This version was on a homemade biscuit, and included regional ingredients such as okra. He liked it. Although it might sound boring, I thoroughly enjoyed my small bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and apple chutney. I was saving room for BBQ!

After enjoying an afternoon of swimming (see below) we ventured to Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX. The food was good, but we were so full that we weren't able to eat much more on the rest of our trip!

Swimming holes
In the shade of a cave, we escaped the triple-digit temperature, and enjoyed swimming in the cool water of Hamilton Pool. While wading, we ran into another couple from Houston, who voiced what we had been wondering ourselves, "Why don't we have anything like this in Houston?" (Probably because of the gators!) It is beautiful, fun and relaxing here!

Bats
Can't get enough of the Congress Street Bridge and its mass exodus of 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats each dusk.

People lined up on the Congress Street bridge and the hill below, watching the bats.

That black swarm in the middle of the picture is a group of bats!!!

After bat-watching, we met up with one of our former coworkers, Kelly, and enjoyed a little of Austin's nightlife. It was fun to catch up with Kelly, and a nice end to a great day!

We had a fabulous time in Austin and can't wait to go again!

Location:Austin, Texas