Hello there! I hope you had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and are ready to plow into the summer with excitement. I am ready to relive the rest of my Texas vacation with you and share the highlights and some general tips from the greater Austin area. I hope this post puts Texas on your travel radar if it is not already there!

The second half of my trip to the greater Austin area to visit my sister (see part one here for more details) was more chill overall. Not only were we quite tired from the busy first few days but the increasing temperatures definitely forced us to slow down a bit! I was soooo thankful to have a solid ten days visiting because it gave us margin to slow down and go at a comfortable pace (a necessity for chronic fatigue travels). What struck me the most about this part of Texas was how different each area we saw was from the others. Not only did the terrain vastly vary, but the flavor of shops, layout and overall vibe also depended on the area. As someone visiting, I really enjoyed that because each day felt like a new adventure that did not grow tiresome (at least not metaphorically ;).

downtown Austin

After our long few days of exploring San Antonio, Gruene and Wimberley, we decided to spend the next day relaxing and exploring local coffee shops. One thing I loved seeing was Zilker Park and Barton Springs pool within. Barton Springs is a pool made from natural spring water that is around three acres large. We did not go in the springs this time, but I could totally understand the appeal on a hot Texas afternoon!

After exploring the park we headed over to Mozart’s Coffee Roasters for a few hours to try some coffee and get some computer work done on the back deck overlooking Lake Austin. I absolutely loved the coffee and atmosphere at Mozart’s and it made me feel like I was on vacation. There were many people teleworking on the back decks with an iced coffee in hand enjoying the fresh lake breeze. We then decided to pick up some tacos from the drive-through taco place that were DELICIOUS and inexpensive.

After spending the rest of the evening napping by the pool we decided to head out for an evening drink over at my sister’s favorite local spot—Cosmic Coffee Bar & Beer Garden. This place had SUCH a great vibe where you could order a drink or coffee inside the main building designed as a log cabin and could enjoy your drinks outside in the beautifully landscaped gardens. I ordered a delicious hot chocolate and we sat out by the ponds reading our books and people-watching as the sun went down and the twinkling garden lights turned on. Even for being a week night there were plenty of people getting drinks or grabbing food from the food trucks in the parking lot or simply sitting by themselves and getting work done.

Georgetown

The next day we explored another small town outside of Austin called Georgetown. This was a charming town that was laid out in squares and had many differing boutiques and coffee shops. We had a great time investigating the shops and of course sampling another local coffee shop for our afternoon caffeine fix.

After shopping for a bit, we checked out Berry Creek and took it easy for a bit before heading back into Austin. It was great to see kids playing by the creek and people fishing on their lunch breaks!

On our voyage back to Austin we stopped at JuiceLand so I could try one of their famous smoothies and BOY ARE THEY GOOD! It is no wonder they claim to have the best fruit smoothies and juices in Texas!

clarksville and north loop

After our full Georgetown day, we spent the next afternoon exploring some different corners of Austin for some caffeine and retail therapy (there was a lot of that on this trip hehe). Even driving around the city with the windows down was a treat because of the lush greenery and bright murals scattered throughout. As a fellow artist I VERY MUCH appreciated the tribute to color and art as a part of the city design itself.

Melanie took me to a cute coffee shop called Better Half Coffee & Cocktails which is another fun nook that doubles as a cafe by day and bar by night with some yummy light fare. We each got foamy lattes and split a plate of cauliflower tots that were SOOOO tasty. This cafe reminded me of a treehouse with the way the big oak trees wrapped around the decks out back . I highly recommend!

Next we decided to lighten our wallets even more by hitting up a row of AMAZING VINTAGE STORES in the north loop area of Austin. If you are a vintage lover, you will be in heaven. If you are not, you will still find these shops to be a blast! I ended up getting a pair of hot pink platform shoes that reminded me of Barbie and were surprisingly not uncomfortable to wear.

Some of the vintage shops you MUST check out are Ermine Vintage, Blue Velvet, Revival Vintage, Big Bertha’s Paradise and Leopard Lounge Vintage Clothing. For more vintage options, see this article!

After shopping around a bit, we headed over to Vigilante Gastropub & Games to meet up with some of her friends over boardgames and drinks. Melanie and I split an incredible milkshake and fries and enjoyed playing a few rounds of boardgames!

downtown

On our way back to Melanie’s apartment, she surprised me by pulling up to a parking lot with the most INCREDIBLE city view as the sun was going down for the evening. It was great to really see the cityscape without any distractions and see the dramatic contrast against the moody evening twilight sky.

lake travis

For my last FULL day in Austin, we drove out to see Lake Travis. I was excited to see Lake Travis from Melanie’s pictures and knew it would be different from anything we saw so far. Melanie insisted that I try moon milk from Summer Moon Coffee on our way out and I was not disappointed! The drive out was stunning and full of green rolling hills as we approached the lake. And, WOW, what a lake it was! We stopped at The Oasis On Lake Travis to get some pictures of the view from above and poked around some of the gift shops. I honestly felt like I was on a beach vacation here because the view and aesthetic was so spectacular!

After getting pictures and walking around a little we continued to drive around the lake and get a glimpse of some of the amazingly fancy homes in the area. Truly this was a special part of Texas and someplace I highly recommend checking out if you are visiting!

south congress

After grabbing lunch at Cava and slowly making our way back to Austin, we decided to walk around the river trails a bit to see more city views. There were so many people out exercising or walking their dogs and the overall vibe was just happy and energetic, despite the heat! We made our way across the bridge and cooled off in the funky lobby at The LINE Austin, a luxe hotel on the river that has cafe and lots of seating area in the lobby that anyone is welcome to explore.

After resting and cooling off for a little bit, we finished our final day with a stroll down South Congress avenue. We explored a little bit of South Congress on our first day, but were hard-pressed to find parking to see the rest. Fortunately we lucked out and found a top tier spot that allowed us to easily access the swanky shops. Of course we decided to stop at Jenni’s ice cream for a yummy treat to give us the sugar boost we needed to see the stores and saw SO many cute dogs along the way. There are MANY impressive shops on South Congress but because it was getting late and we were quite drained at this point we only popped in a couple of them. The only store I really cared about seeing was Love Shack Fancy and boy was it cool! If we had more time and energy there are many other places I would have liked to explore. Check out this article for some great shop recommendations on South Congress.

that’s it

Well, that about concludes the highlights from my vacation to the greater Austin area! I feel like we did a TON but there are still many things I did not get to try or see that I would like to in the future. For example, I did not try any Texas barbecue or see any live music (I know…..I was just too tired at night). I also did not see Buc-ee's (the famous Texan convenience store) or many other small neighboring towns. I saw ONE longhorn on our drive from Gruene to Wimberley and that was pretty awesome. I guess that means I need to go back for another visit sometime!

what about you?

For those of you who have been to the greater Austin area, did I get the gist or would you add other recommendations? I hope this vacation guide and recap is helpful to anyone planning a trip to the greater Austin area or at least puts this amazing city on your radar!