Two-Week Texas Road Trip

The first thing we did after landing in Texas was get some lunch at Whataburger and had ourselves a little picnic at Ladybird Lake. I recommend sunscreen even for a short visit!

A store in Austin that we all loved! It wasn't the cheapest, but they had unique stuff. Highly recommend checking it out. We walked around a lot and there were quite a few other stores and boutiques nearby. I recommend going out sooner than us because most seemed to close before dinner time!

Site: https://americanjune.com/

This place had a nice aesthetic and dinner was decent! The drinks were probably the best part.

This place was very chill. I liked that it had its own theme and they also had live music which I'm a sucker for. There was an upstairs area where people were feeling the music and dancing.

Judy lives near Austin had recently gotten into this hobby and I am so glad she invited us to try it out because it was a blast! Crux Climbing Center is close to the center of the city. On their website it says non-members can get a day pass for $16! Since Judy and a couple of her friends were members we were able to use their guest passes for free.

Site: https://www.cruxrock.com/prices/

We drove to Lake Travis specifically to visit this fancy restaurant, The Oasis. The views were gorgeous, but the wait is ridiculous and the food is mediocre. If I were to go again, I'd go after after dinner just for drinks and to browse all the shops nearby! It's about 30-45 minutes from Austin. The drive is beautiful.

On our third day in Austin we drove about 50 minutes to Krause Springs in Spicewood, TX. I think it cost us about $10 each to get in for the day and you could also camp overnight. We brought some alcoholic beverages, met some cool people, and soaked up some rays. I regret not swinging off the rope into the water. There's also a waterfall! They have restrooms and picnic spaces as well.

I have a Tito's-obsessed friend that had to visit this store and I'm glad we went because it's super cool inside. Very nice bathrooms. Cute merch.

4/12 - Got dinner along the Riverwalk, explored downtown

4/13 - Ate at a lovely café called La Pandaria, drove to Fredericksburg to visit the Wildseed Farm, got dinner at a Mexican place down the road

4/14 - Explored Brackenridge Park, got sushi at Koi Kawa Japan

4/15 - Visited the Japanese Tea Garden before heading West

Japanese Tea Garden: https://www.sanantonio.gov/ParksAndRec/Parks-Facilities/All-Parks-Facilities/Parks-Facilities-Details/artmid/14820/articleid/2912/japanese-tea-garden

Café: https://lapanaderia.com/

For our first night in the city we walked along the river and ended up getting dinner at an Irish Pub. It was okay. We wished we could eat at other places but we waited too long and most were full or closing.

We didn't have time to take a tour but we at least had to stop by and read the plaque. Pretty surreal!

We came here to visit Wildseed Wildflower Farms. It was beautiful. The store is super cute. My favorite part was the room that has a bunch of wildflower seeds that are divided by region of the US. Afterward we ate at a Tex Mex place called Mamacita's restaurant down the road. It was great too!

Wildseed Farms: https://www.wildseedfarms.com/

Mamacita's: https://www.mamacitas.com/

This was about an hour and 15 minutes from our Airbnb in San Antonio. It was very neat! There's a store with all kinds of gardening goodies. I thought the coolest part was the wildflower seed room where you could buy giant bags of seed based on what region of the US you're in. There's a garden you can walk all around. We grabbed a late lunch at a Mexican place right down the road. There are TONS of wineries in this area! If I went back I would look into that.

Thank goodness we stumbled upon this gem. It's near the zoo. Parking is free and so is entering. Doesn't get any better than that! There was tiny little café inside.

We stayed at the most amazing rustic desert ranch Airbnb. There were chickens running around and the host was so friendly! We loved this tiny town.

Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23682703?guests=1&adults=1&s=67&uniqueshareid=b8d1e949-c386-4e5d-95a7-f16b24bfb8b1

This Airbnb was awesome. It was basically a ranch in the desert. The hosts were so welcoming and kind and we loved the chickens and dogs roaming around. Marathon has more access to internet and cell service than Dell City and a lot more businesses, but both are so incredibly tiny. You MUST stop at Big Bend Pizza and visit with Susan. She was so fun to chat with and told us all about the town. There was a cute country store with snacks, household items and some local wine which was what I was really in there for. The sign said they serve brunch outside on occasion, too!

If you stay in Marathon you'll have to check out Gage Gardens! It's beautiful and they even have a little putt-putt set up. So many gorgeous plants and flowers!

We reserved a campsite through HipCamp and stayed for the weekend. We saw amazing views and hiked quite a bit. I highly recommend the campsite! It was much windier than expected. This was definitely one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. It was hard to believe we were still in Texas!

Campsite: https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/u/tirzahc/trips?tid=accd00d5

Santa Elena Canyon: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/texas/santa-elena-canyon-trail

Upper Burro Mesa Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/texas/upper-burro-mesa-pouroff

Balanced Rock Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/texas/balanced-rock-via-grapevine-hills-trail

This was shortly after we arrived in the park. We were so hot that we just looked for the nearest body of water and luckily found this. I couldn't believe we were still in Texas. There's a trail that goes up the side of the rock, but you can also walk through the water (I believe) all the way down. Definitely a must-see if you're on the west side of the park. This was about an hour drive from our campsite in Terlingua.

Although, as hot as we were here, it got real chilly at night and extremely windy which I was not expecting or prepared for at all. We kept joking that the spirits were pissed at for some reason. My friend and I still survived in the tent through the night - just be sure to weigh your tent down with rocks if you leave it.