Traveling America By Van: Austin, TX
by John Kumiski
"Keep Austin Weird." Susan and I saw the sign in several places in the city. Austin wears its quirkiness well, and did not close to experiencing all of it. Any city that celebrates a nightly flight of bats, well, you have admire its eccentricity.
Onion Creek has carved two channels through a limestone ledge at upper McKinney Falls.
We pulled into McKinney Falls State Park only to be met by a state trooper. "Did you plan ahead and make reservations?" he wanted to know. "We did," I said. "We have a camping reservation." "Go right in." "Thank you, sir." It was a Sunday afternoon. The park is so popular that a trooper has to turn away would-be guests once it's full.
We walked to the upper and lower falls after finding our campsite. The waters of Onion Creek have sliced channels through solid limestone, creating both falls. People were wading, swimming, fishing, sunning, eating, hiking, running, biking- there was lots of activity! There were several languages being spoken, and everyone was having a good time. I love places like that!
Susan on her way up the paved trail to the summit of Mount Bonnell.
The following morning began by climbing Mount Bonnell for an overlook of the city. This is another popular place- the views are spectacular, with Lake Austin lying below, with more hills on far side. A couple selfies and we were off to the Wilker Botanical Gardens, a beautiful facility. A month earlier, Texas experienced the worst freeze in its history. Sadly, many of the plants at the gardens suffered freeze damage. It was still a fantastic place to visit with groomed paths through beautifully maintained grounds. The rose garden was both breathtaking and fragrant.
Some of the many hundreds of rose blooms at Wilker Botanical Gardens.
Our stomachs were letting us know it was now past lunchtime. A young man told us where his favorite taco truck was, on Cesar Chavez Street. We went looking for it. Once we found it, it did not disappoint!
After lunch it was time to tour downtown and south Congress Avenue. The bats live in and fly from under the Congress Avenue bridge. We hoped to see the flight. So it made sense to hang out in the vicinity. The street art was plentiful, colorful, and well-done. We watched a painter working on another mural, so clearly the street art scene has yet to reach its pinnacle.
An artist works on a mural on Congress Street.
Both sides of south Congress Avenue are lined with shops with both elegant clothing and cheesy souvenirs, eating and drinking establishments, boutiques, and more. We found it a wonderful place to people-watch while eating ice cream! And when we had finished strolling both sides of the street, we headed to north Congress to visit downtown for a little while, feeling dwarfed by the architecture.
We did not see the bats. We couldn't find a place to park. Bat watching is a very popular activity in Austin. and we missed it! As a consolation we visited 888 Asian Fusion restaurant and each had a fantastic meal. We couldn't recommend this place highly enough. Some locals sat next to us, and the woman said she had never had a bad dish here.
The Congress Street bridge over Lady Bird Lake is in the heart of Austin.
We pulled in to our campsite well after dark. I considered going for a moonlight walk, and decided not to. We had two long drives coming up. It was best to be rested for that. With the moon beaming down on us, I climbed into the van's bed and went to sleep.
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