I just returned home from another great weekend in Austin, TX visiting my boyfriend! I think one of my favorite things about Austin is how vibrantly individualistic it is: food trucks, nature/city vibes, cool houses, beautiful views, and a blend of people.
This is my THIRD post about my Austin travels & recommendations. Be sure to check out Part 1 & Part 2 for even more!
ACTIVITIES
- Austin City Limits: ACL is a yearly 2-weekend festival in Zilker Metropolitan Park. It is great music, great outfits, and atmosphere. Though I was almost crushed more than once in a mosh pit at Rezz, completely destroyed my sneakers, and lost my voice at Illenium – I wish I could’ve gone to more days. My favorite artist live was Shawn Mendes & Illenium.
- Hamilton Pool Reserve: This natural pool is about 40 minutes outside of Austin. You can swim, picnic, watch fishes, and explore the waterfall! Don’t forget to make reservations.
- Pennybacker Bridge: AKA the 360 bridge is an arch shaped bridge across Austin Lake that provides beautiful, panoramic views if you climb up to the short 5-10 minute hike
- Rowing Dock : After a delicious brunch, we thought it would be fun to rent kayaks and take them down Lady Bird Lake.
- Arcade Games: I feel like every bar in Austin has some type of game; ranging from new school (air hockey, Mario Cart driving, basketball) to old school (PacMan, Space Invators, Donkey Kong, Star Wars). Most of them have GREAT happy hour deals as well!
- Buffalo Billiards
- Recess Arcade Bar
- Kung Fu Saloon
- Parlor & Yard
- Full Circle Bar
FOOD & DRINKS
- TLC Austin: This is a little hidden treasure. My boyfriend & I came here for date night on a Monday, which also happened to be All Night Happy Hour! All of the seafood is wild caught & sustainable. I ordered the Seafood Gumbo with Shrimp, Oysters, Crawfish and Crab & No Rice. We also shared the Develed Eggs.
- Jack Allen’s: Get the Bacon Wrapped Texas Quail
- Cover 3: Great restaurant to catch a sports game! We watched the Astros & Red Sox game here and I swear from every chair in the restaurant you have a great view to a TV. Highly recommend the wings (no breading) & vodka martinis.
- Gureo’s Taco Bar: We went here before the festival and the restaurant is surprisingly huge! It was still breakfast time so I got an omelette with chorizo, spinach and roasted vegetables. My boyfriend got a steak taco & pancakes (yes, pancakes at a taco bar.) I also indulged at the salsa bar to top my omelette!
- Cannone Cucina Italiana Super cute food truck downtown where my boyfriend picked up a slice of pizza!
- Blenders & Bowls: We stopped to get an açaí bowl after energizing for a nice day of kayaking
- JuiceLand: I ended up getting a cold brew with unsweetened coconut milk, but next time I would definitely try the Hot Liquid Gold: ginger, turmeric, lemon, honey. If it’s a hot Texas day, the Wild Child smoothie looked yummy: pineapple, mango, banana, dragonfruit, lime, coconut oil, maca, and pea protein.
