So, last week I wrote a pretty downer post about the nightmare of Texan housing. But today I want to showcase what an awesome city Austin is to visit. I will never ever live there but I wouldn’t mind bringing the kids back on vacation!

This is the best road trip song:

Yeah, my dad sure appreciated me screaming along as we blitzed down the freeway:

There are small differences here in Austin… like the funky stoplights on their side…?

Bat Bridge

Underneath Congress Avenue bridge, 1.5 million bats are roosted in their nests during the day. At night, they fly out in swarms. They draw quite the crowd:

The bats were pretty hard to see and were SO tiny. I would definitely take the kiddos to see it at least once.

Kayaking Lady Bird Lake

One afternoon we took a casual stroll along the Ladybird Lake river-walk. Admittedly, I had a secret agenda here to “accidentally” cross paths with the paddleboard shop and “accidentally” launch myself onto a paddleboard.

Mission accomplished.

Oh man, paddling along the serenity of this lake was probably my favorite part of the entire trip.

Phoenicia Bakery

We would up at this little deli for lunch after a slew of closed sandwich shops. I’m really glad we did come here, because the Zatar bread was amazing. This photo makes my mouth water.

The shop was kinda funky, including the drink options:

and complimentary stress exposure in the bathroom:

Zilker Botanical Gardens

Okay… maybe this was my favorite part of the trip. 🙂

Big facts: The happiest places in the world are found in Japanese Gardens. They are the fairy shrines of PEACE and JOY and LIGHT and BEAUTY.

loved these rock paths:

McKinney Falls State Park

We came up to the state park with promises of a waterfall / natural swimming pool. This is what waited for us a mile across hot desert rock:

To be honest, we weren’t all that impressed. (Utah’s waterfalls have spoiled us!)

But we sure were amazed by the tiniest little frogs we’ve ever seen in our lives.

Here’s a better close-up of this little guy.

Galaxy Cafe

We took our Airbnb host to the Galaxy Cafe on our last morning. Lois was the loveliest person and we so appreciate her sharing our home for the weekend!

Top Gun

Finally, our trip came to an end with a showing of Top Gun to kill time during our six HOUR flight delay. The movie was SO good.

Although housing didn’t work out, I’m glad we had the chance to have some fun in Austin!

Thanks for going with me, Dad! ❤ ❤ ❤