Weird City
Keep Austin Weird. It’s a sentiment shared by plenty of people across the city of Austin and pretty much all over the state of Texas. Austin is definitely something of a strange bird when compared to the rest of the state that it calls home, but it somehow manages to be something to just about anyone that passes through it.
I recently visited the capitol city of Texas with my family for the first time. I have relatives that live there now and decided that it was time for a visit. I also wanted to see what was so wonderfully bizarre about ATX. I wasn’t disappointed at all. This post will feature a brief glimpse at our time in Austin. I hope that you enjoy it.
Our journey began where every journey across Texas should begin: Buc-ee’s Travel Center. Buc-ee’s is as Texas as Whataburger and cowboys. It’s a staple of the Lone Star State and if you ever get the chance to visit one of these extraordinary travel centers, I highly recommend it. The larger centers are found along most major highway systems throughout the state and smaller, more standard convenience store versions of the chain can be found in many neighborhoods in Texas. The travel centers offer everything from Texas and Buc-ee’s souvenirs to brisket, sausage, and other great tasting goodies. They also have their own line of sweets which can be found in both the large and small versions of the stores. My wife’s favorite treat are the Buc-ee’s Beaver Nuggets, which are sweet puffed corn treats. I love the t-shirts and the restrooms. The shirts change on a regular basis and have become collectors’ items for fans of the chain. The restrooms are insanely clean and the stalls are walled around so that no one can see in or out while you’re taking care of business. Learn more about Buc-ee’s here.
After meeting up with our relatives in Austin, they took us on a whirlwind tour of the city and then stopped on Congress Avenue to let us check out a wonderful stretch of shops that included Big Top Candy Shop and Lucy In Disguise With Diamonds. Big Top featured all sorts of wonderful candies and sweets including many old fashioned candies that are harder to find in brick and mortar stores. They had an enormous selection of more modern candy as well and all of it was under the guise of a traditional tent circus. Oddities were hanging on the wall as were classic circus posters.
Lucy In Disguise With Diamonds is every cosplayer’s dream. It featured all sorts of accessories and pieces for creating your own costume as well as costumes that were ready to rent or own. Photography was restricted in the shop since it’s pretty obvious that with all of the cool items that they stock, people will naturally want to try things on and post selfies without actually buying things. The store had everything from high end creations to simple costumes that can be purchased in stores like Party City for Halloween. If you’re a cosplayer, definitely check out this place.
Our second day in Austin featured a visit to the State Capitol, the Texas Capitol Visitor’s Center, Barton Creek Greenbelt, Zilker Botanical Garden, Amy’s Ice Creams, and the Congress Bridge Bats. We journeyed to the gorgeous state capitol grounds first and checked out the many statues and monuments that highlighted both local and state events, individuals, and the multiple cultures that have impacted the city and state. One of my favorite monuments was the one for African American history in Texas. The large monument was simply beautiful.
We then took a guided tour (absolutely free) of the capitol and also visited the Texas Capitol Vistor’s Center that featured exhibits highlighting everything Austin and Texas. There were exhibits for the capitol and the history of Texas, as well as exhibits highlighting truly unique aspects of the state such as Blue Bell Ice Cream and Whataburger. My favorite part of this visit was getting to see the painting Dawn At The Alamo by Irish painter Henry Arthur McArdle. It is located in the Senate Chamber.
After our trip to the capitol, we had lunch at In-N-Out Burger because we wanted to see what all the hullabaloo was about. As far as hamburgers go, it was pretty good. We then journeyed to the Barton Creek Greenbelt for a quick hike smack in the middle of Austin. We were surrounded by rocks, trees, and even a few rock climbers. After our brief hike (which was a wonder to find in the middle of a bustling city), we went to Amy’s Ice Creams, a trippy little ice cream joint that featured all sorts of wonderful flavors. Be sure to check out their link above to see the wild and delicious flavors that they offer. On our trip, Amy’s had a dinosaur theme going in honor of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Flavors included Godzilla, Rex, and Blue (for the beloved velociraptor) and others. I took on the Dino, which featured Mexican vanilla ice cream, rainbow sprinkles, and Fruity Pebbles. It was tasty!
After visiting the Greenbelt and filling up on ice cream, we headed to Zilker Botanical Garden to look at some beautifully unique gardens. The Hartman Prehistoric Garden and the Isamu Taniguchi Oriental Garden were two of our favorites, as were the Pioneer Settlement and the Woodland Fairie Exhibit (a limited time exhibit). The Prehistoric garden included a replica of the Zilker Turtle fossil found at the site (the real fossil is at the Texas Memorial Museum). It also features a statue of an Ornithomimus, a dinosaur whose tracks were found in the garden.
That evening we staked out a spot under the Congress Avenue Bridge to see the Congress Bridge Bats take flight. Be sure to check their website above if you plan on making a trek to Austin to see the bats, as they only make their trek throughout certain months of the year. It really is an awesome sight to see whenever they take to the night sky. I also recommend visiting the Nightwing monument located just down from the bridge near Barton Springs Road. It was created by Dale Whistler and quietly spins in the night as the wind blows.
Our last day in the city included a visit to the Texas Memorial Museum located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. We spent a few hours learning about the geological and biological history (and prehistory) of the state of Texas. Exhibits were found in the Hall of Geology and Paleontology, the Hall of Texas Wildlife, the Hall of Biodiversity, and the Great Hall, which features the suspended reconstruction of a skeleton of Quetzalcoatlus northropi, a massive pterosaur found in Big Bend National Park. There was also an exhibit dedicated to the ancient Buzz Saw Sharks (Whorl Tooth Sharks) found in Texas, Idaho, and other U.S. states, as well as Mexico and even Australia! This is a moving exhibit that will only be at the museum until September of this year. Visiting this museum was a blast! I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Be sure to check it out if you can!
After leaving the museum, we had one last visit with our relatives that included a walk along the Colorado River on the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail. We paid our respects to Stevie Ray Vaughan along the trail by visiting his statue. We then headed back to Louisiana. Our journey home included more stops at Buc-ee’s and a couple of detours at shops in Bastrop, TX.
I highly recommend visiting the city of Austin, TX. It is beautiful, the people are friendly, and there’s so much more to the city that I need to explore. I haven’t even visited any of the live music locations yet, and there are plenty of other places in and around the city that I want to experience. Check out the Travel Texas and Austin Travel websites for more information and maybe we’ll run into each other next time I visit!
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