AUSTIN SIGHTS AND ATTRACTIONS
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Known as the Live Music Capital of World, Austin is also a prime destination for family vacations. From the food, outdoor activities and arts, there are plenty of kid friendly things to do any season in Austin, Texas. Start your Austin family vacation at the affordable, landmark Austin Motel, just 15 minutes from the airport. Family owned and operated since 1938, you’ll feel right at home at one of the 41 affordable rooms or lounging at the 50’s style pool. You’ll have a view of the State Capitol and the famous bat bridge.
Austin Bat Bridge
Yes, you read that right – bat bridge. From March to November, Austin is home to the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tail bats in North America. Around dusk, walk to the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and your kids will giggle at the amazing insect-eating bats’ nightly flight for food.
The Austin Bats are among the most popular attraction for Austin visitors. Congress Avenue bridge extends across Lady Bird Lake in the center of Austin, home to North America’s largest city bat colony, called Congress Bridge Bats. It is estimated that this colony has 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. The Austin Bats come out of under the bridge every night between the middle of March and early November to cover the sky as they go for food. This evening event is considered Austin Texas’ most spectacular and exceptional tourist attraction. Following are five steps to Austin’s bats.
South Congress
You’ll work up a hunger then, so continue a couple blocks south to the hip and trendy South Congress Avenue, called SoCo by the locals. This strip offers a variety of eclectic shops, dining and entertainment. Time your vacation for the First Thursday of each month when businesses stay open late. Mingle with hundreds of others and listen to the live music that keep Austin famous. No matter the night, be sure to order from the block of food trailers and try the chicken cones. Other worthwhile eats are Zen Japanese Food Fast and Guero’s Taco Bar.
Zilker Park
Just south of downtown flanking the southern shores of Lady Bird Lake, Zilker Park invites the family for outdoor fun. From kite-flying and Frisbee tossing to kayaking and canoeing, there’s plenty of room on this 400-acre park. Zilker Playground features a miniature train, a fire engine made for climbing, along with a playscape full of bridges, ramps, chutes and slides, and picnic tables too. Jump in! When the Texas heat rises, the 68-degree water is refreshing at Barton Springs Pool, a natural spring-fed swimming hole at the park.
Along Barton Springs Road, your family will enjoy quick lunch options, such as the best TexMex restaurant in town, Chuy’s. Try the Chuychanga, a chicken and green chile concoction, and then look around at the tributes to Elvis Presley, from images to hubcaps.
Salt Lick Bar-B-Que
Finish off your evening at the Salt Lick Bar-B-Que, named as “31 Places to Go This Summer” by the New York Times. You’ll be lickin’ your fingers and digging in to some the best Bar-B-Que you’ve ever had – and it’s also a treat to stand by the open pit to watch how they smoke their meat. Located a short drive from Austin, Salt Lick is set among rolling hills, abundant wildlife, century-old oak trees and native wildflowers. You’ll see the locals carry in coolers filled with beer, so remember to B.Y.O.B.
Explore Austin
Spend your second day exploring Austin. Visit the 300 animals and 100 different species at the Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary, just outside of town. It’s not your typical zoo, as it’s also serves as an animal rescue with a diverse selection, from lions, tigers, bears (oh my!), and lots of monkeys, birds, wolves, deer, and wolves. You can also feed the goats, alpacas, and sheep!
Second Street District
On the eastern edge of the Second Street District, give your family a fun, hands-on learning experience at the Austin Children’s Museum. Permanent programs include an Austin Kiddie Limits stage, complete with TV monitors playing back performances; a three-level Funstruction Zone for construction; and En mi familia/In My Family, an interactive exhibit on cultural family traditions inspired by nationally acclaimed artist Carmen Lomas Garza.
Texas State Capitol in Austin
The Texas State Capitol in Austin Texas was named the number one state capitol by the American institute of Architects in 2008 and is also named as one of its top 100 buildings in the U.S. The honors are well deserved. The architecture is beautiful and the building itself is filled with history. From the gorgeous grounds surrounding the Capitol, the names and pictures of the first African Americans to serve as state legislators or Constitutional Convention delegates after slavery was abolished, to the rotunda in which the pictures of all Texas’ former governors hang, you know from the moment you walk through the Capitol’s doors that history is made within this building.
Despite the beauty of the soaring Capitol dome, the intricate mosaic depicting the seals of the six nations that have governed Texas on the gallery floor, and the clever use of the Texas star throughout the Capitol (you’ll find it emblazoned on the lights, in the ceiling, even on the door hinges), the most impressive thing about the Capitol was the fact that we were able to enter and roam about without undergoing any security checks. Incredibly, we visited the Capitol on the day a small airplane targeted and crashed into Austin’s IRS building.
When we walked through the door, we stopped and looked around for the metal detector. There was none, although a guard was walking about. She smiled, walked over, said hello to my son and asked if we had any questions. We stammered that we had none. After we walked away, we whispered to each other, wondering where in the world was the security. When we walked into the rotunda, we were astonished at the beauty of the gallery dome.
I hesitantly took out my camera but was sure pictures weren’t allowed. When I held up my camera to the officer on duty he smiled and waved at me to go ahead. My family spent an hour and a half roaming through the Capitol. We took pictures, sat in the Texas Senate Chamber and the Texas House of Representatives Chamber.
We rode the elevators, walked through the library and spoke to staff. We actually felt like the State Capitol was our building, and that we had a right to roam about and see how things were run. I realized after we left that it is our building but that feeling of ownership when it comes to our government and to public spaces is becoming extremely rare. I highly recommend visiting the State Capitol for the architecture and also just to experience the feeling of walking unencumbered by fear and security through a government space. Oh, and admission is completely free.
Plan your Austin vacation to coincide with the city’s many festivals. No matter when you visit, two days isn’t enough time for all the things to do in Austin.
