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| State Capital in Austin, TX |
It's not as if we weren't warned, everyone said "are you crazy to go to Austin in August?!" including a few people who LIVE there... but we were dying to go and see the place, because we have heard so much about it. It was pretty easy to book our locations because we were probably the only people going on vacation to Austin! It was hot HOT hot! we managed to be there on the 60 - 67th day of over 100 degree temperatures. We decided to stay at two different places so that we could get a feel for the area, and one happened to have one of those twirly pool slides which was perfection!
For the first few days we stayed at Lakeway Resort and Spa - even people that live in Texas who I talked to had never heard of it... I'm honestly not sure where I found it, but it turned out to be a great spot! The rooms were fine, nothing special, just basic, but the pool and outdoor area was terrific! No crowds, no saving seats necessary and we met two wonderful couples, with kids, and we all had fun together (they were both living in Austin!).
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| this image and above is Barton Springs |
Next we stayed at the W in central Austin. A friend was showing us around a bit so I felt like we got a very good feel for the area, it felt a lot like a hot Minneapolis to me, super nice people, music, theater, arts... great food (well, that part was better than the Minneapolis I remember). It was hard not to spend a lot of time at the pool even at the W because of the heat (a perfect time for a long game of Scrabble in the shade!). We made a day of it at Barton Springs, which was delightfully refreshing and also Krause Springs which was a bit like Jurassic Park. The cool water of these springs made for a great way to beat the heat.
Nana (my mother in law) was adamant about going to see the Alamo, so we went down to San Antonio for a sweltering day, it's a beautiful city as well. We were pleasantly surprised by the history and the size of the city. My husband and I spent a lot of time looking at neighborhoods in Austin just in case we might want to move there one day... you never know what's in store for you right!!??
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| look how low Lake Travis was... someone said 40 ft? |
