Ready for some travel journal fun in one of the most vibrant friendly cites I have ever visited? Earlier this spring (between the snow spells) we packed our bags and headed for a week of sunshine and tacos in Austin, Texas. We met up with beautiful friends who live in the city and were getting married in an amazing location just out of the city. I found the sweetest home from home cabin on Airbnb – with goats!
It was magical to leave behind a cold and frosty UK and be welcomed by the Texas sun and friendly faces. Read on for things not to miss and a peek around the beautiful parks and neighbourhoods. I have excitedly linked throughout this post but will pop a favourite collection of must-see places and cafes to visit over on Steller that is easier to use should you be in the city! 🙂
This Airbnb is pure magic, homegrown food sprouting up in the garden, dogs and goats to greet you along with our lovely host Jennifer. The house is dreamy and our private cabin at the back was nestled away amongst the trees.
The garden was such a visual feast, we didn’t want to leave, planted with love – abundant and wild with food and flowers, scabious tangled with violets, mini ponds here and there, bees in hives and animals roaming around.
Dean’s best friend loved a back scratch!
Only a short walk away – the best coffee in town, Flat Track, with iced mint tea for me and doughnuts for all.
We do love a place where everyone is welcome.
Whenever I am in the US, I wander the neighbourhoods with my stoop and veranda envy building up gently along the way. This is a country that really knows how to do front of house – from shabby to fancy I love them all. Staying on Willow Street was the perfect choice as it’s on the East side where the food is amazing and the streets are a riot of artistic flare.
After leaving the UK it was like a tropical paradise here with abundant flowers spilling from every garden and cacti towering above us at the side of the road.
I could get quite used to living in a place where stars fall from the trees and land at your feet.
We spent lots of time wandering the area, in and out of the shade of the trees and delighting in the gardens people had created. When we were younger the stores would always be our first port of call when travelling, fast forward ten years and it’s all about plant cuttings and taking notes on how people build their rustic fences!
The weekend saw us out at the amazing passion project J. Lorraine, Ghost Town. A life-sized western ghost town built on the outskirts of town with a maze, three saloons and more.
Our friends hired J. Lorraine for their wedding and it was pretty special to help out dressing the town with hundreds of twinkling festoon lights and blooms. Then to watch it change from dusty ghost town to a vibrant place filled with love and merriment. The bride rode in on a horse, the flowers were bright and wild, the music was great, I didn’t get lost in the maze and the evening was one of the most magical and memorable ever.
If you are ever out this way be sure to swing by for one of their weekend or evening shindigs, the place has dusty props galore and a magic all its own.
Back on the road we drove up to Mount Bonnell (a high point along the Lake Austin portion of the Colorado River), to see the city from above. A happy discovery on our return was Mayfield Park a preservation centre with a sweet white cottage and lush gardens filled with more peacocks than I have ever seen before. Everywhere we looked we spotted another one up in a tree, on the roof or stalking about the grounds.
Another beautiful green space – Zilker Botanical Garden, giant butterflies floating about, Texas wildflowers peering out from everywhere, a tranquil Japanese garden and the biggest staghorn ferns you might ever see.
The sun was particularly hot this day so we headed for the shade of the trees and rose gardens in Zilker Park for an hour or two and on our walk back from the botanical park, made a pit stop at the original Chuy’s on Barton Springs road for nachos and frozen margaritas to cool off, this place is a Mexican diner with a riot of colourful decor and fast food.
One of our days we drove out to Enchanted Rock – unfortunately, it was closed by the time we got there due to adverse weather conditions – preparing for heavy rain and possible flash floods. Worth the trip if the weather is good or not just for the landscape and wildlife. We drove the scenic way through and on to Fredericksburg and Johnson City, with fingers crossed that the clouds wouldn’t break.
Couldn’t pass by these majestic beauties without stopping to say hello and just up the road possibly the best general store ever?
We promptly arrived in Fredericksburg with a downpour of rain – like I have only witnessed a few times in my life.
Buy, never ones to let the rain get the better of us, we parked up and made a dash for cover – finding Farm Haus Antiques a vintage lovers paradise. It will make you want to fill a container and have it shipped home!
Another stop not to miss if you are driving out this way – The Pioneer Museum, it is as quaint and pretty as it gets and will have your nostalgia levels at an all-time high.
Back in town we hung with friends and ate our own bodyweight in tacos, with every kind of filling imaginable.
So much amazing signage in America and in Austin there are murals and paintings everywhere, colourful buildings and decorated corners.
