By John Horner
We started out this year planning for an epic vacation. We wanted to go somewhere the kids would love and to make great memories. Our original plans were to go to Yellowstone National Park. As time grew closer we chickened out on that 24 hour trip up there with a one year old. So we decided on our second choice, Austin, Texas, and I’m glad we did!
When we travel we almost never book our hotel ahead of time. Which presented a little bit of a problem when we got to Austin. But guess what, we found a great one in a great location so it all worked out. We gravitated to congress ave. for shopping and food of course! There were so many cool shops in this area. The one we frequented the most was an old fashioned candy store, so good.
We wanted to do some awesome things that the kids would enjoy. So our first stop was iFly indoor skydiving. This place was so much fun. When we got there we sat and watched other flyers which was really cool and it kind of prepared us for what was about to happen. Next we went in and got our briefing and suited up. After a few minutes of getting ready, our time had come. We all stepped into the wind tunnel and waited our turn. Once in there each one of us floated just like we would have if we were sky diving. The second time in is when it starts to get really awesome. The instructor would grab onto each one of us and fly too. By doing this it would make us go as high as we could in the wind tunnel which was quite an experience. The whole family loved this place and the kids said after we were all done that they wanted to work there. If you ever get a chance to do this its well worth it.
Another place that we went was the Pedernales River. This state park is a beautiful swimming area with big rocks and amazing bald cypress trees. We all played in the water for quite a while and took many pictures. This place was well worth the little drive from Austin and we got to see why this is called the hill country.
The next big destination for the family was Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels Texas. This place is the largest water park in the world. We had a great time there but wished we would have done two days because it is so large. They had a lot of great things to do for the whole family. One of the best things for me was riding the lazy river which was not lazy at all. It is the largest lazy river in the world with many down hill sections with crazy rapids. We even took Finn around on it and he did great, he just sat in his little tube and looked around. This water park is a great place to take the whole family.
Now for food. There were many amazing places to eat in Austin but the one we liked the most was a food truck named “Hey You gonna eat or what?”. The chef was a really awesome guy. He was a big tall guy with a cow tattoo on one forearm and a pig tattoo on the other. Both tattoos had each cut of meat labeled in the cow and pig. He told us all about the menu and how each item was prepared and cooked. When we got our food we soon learned why this food truck was rated the best in Austin. It was amazing and we still say we wish we could go back and get more! Another great place to eat was Lucy’s Fried Chicken. It is an iconic restaurant located on Congress Ave. with a variety of great food. We all enjoyed the cool atmosphere of Lucy’s as we ate. It’s a really neat place and if your ever in Austin you’ll have to stop in and order some great food. In all, Austin has a huge variety of great restaurants and our family can’t wait to get back and try more.
We had a great time in Austin and look forward to going back. It is such a cool city to visit. If you like thrift shopping, antiques, adventure, beautiful sites, and great food, then Austin is the place to go. We can’t wait to get back!
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