I love the idea of the riverboat to watch the bats - doesn't look too expensive either. Apparently you can bring a little picnic on board, but it is super important to reserve and to get there early or they will give your reservations away!
Karen, Nice selection! The San Antonio stuff looks good as I don't know any of it so we will be tourists nearly as much as you. As for Austin, part of that is playing tourist too since altho we live here we've not done any real touristy things!
Here are a few other things of interest. They have a very nice interactive children's museum which comes highly recommended. Also there are several ways to see the bats. You can park and go on foot, pay for a kayak or canoe and enjoy the river while observing the bats from the water, or see it all from a large riverboat (electric)which includes an hour cruise on the water of Lady Bird Lake. I'm going to check it out but the free swimming pool near us may be open this year (last year they said they would close it but they may have changed their minds). Also, at Eddy Pools in downtown Austin they have a free cinema night and you can watch the movie from the pool or not as you wish. There is also a duck tour (the kind in the amphibious vehicle) that covers not only the lake but also the downtown including the Texas State Capital building. Must be reserved ahead of time. One thing somewhat unique to Austin is the quantity and quality of the mobile food trucks. You had one on the list that apparently serves doughnuts. Never seen that one and since I don't like doughnuts I wouldn't have eaten there. But there are tons, except they do move around and I'm not sure where they are all located. However, I can research that or we just take our chances, part of the adventure! There is a free tour of the University tower which has a great view of the campus and the city. I thought that might be interesting. Only available on the weekends. Never been myself. Amy's Ice Cream is apparently the best there is in Austin--made with real full cream buttermilk. Now that is what I call ice cream! Whole Foods Market is definitely worth a visit. Been there several times. Also a good place for a meal--although prices are not cheap the food is quite good. Barton's Springs is beautiful, there is a cost to the pool altho it is free between 9 and 10 pm. Also located close by is a place to rent canoe or kayak, $12/boat/hour and if you get there before noon you get two for the price of one. don't know if that interests you but it is definitely a cool (literally) activity. The Caverns sound cool, also highly recommended--and a great place to be on a hot afternoon! Also there is a smaller but about as good cavern on the way to Kay and John's house right off of I-35. It also comes highly recommended. Might be an interesting excursion on Sunday afternoon! Of course same could be said for the one in San Marcos, nice way to break up the trip to San Antonio. That's about it on my end. I'm learning things about Austin I didn't know! And looking forward to being a tourist, nice way to lay back and relax!
http://www.bestaustinfoodtrucks.com/
It is where I found the doughnuts actually!
Nice selection! The San Antonio stuff looks good as I don't know any of it so we will be tourists nearly as much as you. As for Austin, part of that is playing tourist too since altho we live here we've not done any real touristy things!
Here are a few other things of interest. They have a very nice interactive children's museum which comes highly recommended. Also there are several ways to see the bats. You can park and go on foot, pay for a kayak or canoe and enjoy the river while observing the bats from the water, or see it all from a large riverboat (electric)which includes an hour cruise on the water of Lady Bird Lake. I'm going to check it out but the free swimming pool near us may be open this year (last year they said they would close it but they may have changed their minds). Also, at Eddy Pools in downtown Austin they have a free cinema night and you can watch the movie from the pool or not as you wish.
There is also a duck tour (the kind in the amphibious vehicle) that covers not only the lake but also the downtown including the Texas State Capital building. Must be reserved ahead of time.
One thing somewhat unique to Austin is the quantity and quality of the mobile food trucks. You had one on the list that apparently serves doughnuts. Never seen that one and since I don't like doughnuts I wouldn't have eaten there. But there are tons, except they do move around and I'm not sure where they are all located. However, I can research that or we just take our chances, part of the adventure!
There is a free tour of the University tower which has a great view of the campus and the city. I thought that might be interesting. Only available on the weekends. Never been myself.
Amy's Ice Cream is apparently the best there is in Austin--made with real full cream buttermilk. Now that is what I call ice cream!
Whole Foods Market is definitely worth a visit. Been there several times. Also a good place for a meal--although prices are not cheap the food is quite good.
Barton's Springs is beautiful, there is a cost to the pool altho it is free between 9 and 10 pm. Also located close by is a place to rent canoe or kayak, $12/boat/hour and if you get there before noon you get two for the price of one. don't know if that interests you but it is definitely a cool (literally) activity.
The Caverns sound cool, also highly recommended--and a great place to be on a hot afternoon! Also there is a smaller but about as good cavern on the way to Kay and John's house right off of I-35. It also comes highly recommended. Might be an interesting excursion on Sunday afternoon! Of course same could be said for the one in San Marcos, nice way to break up the trip to San Antonio.
That's about it on my end. I'm learning things about Austin I didn't know! And looking forward to being a tourist, nice way to lay back and relax!