Recently, we spent our Spring Break deep in the heart Texas! I was born in Austin and lived in the surrounding area (Round Rock and Georgetown) for the first 16 years of my life. Since my sister had just moved to San Antonio and my kids hadn’t been to Texas before, it was a good time to visit their cousins in San Antonio. The kids would also get “the tour” about my childhood days in Texas. Were they thrilled to see the houses I used to live in or the high school I used to attend (Eagle Fight Never Dies!) in Georgetown, Texas? Of course not. But it didn’t matter because they were going to see it all regardless.
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We flew in our TBM 700 (we call it “Shelton Airlines”) to Texas. Even though we were going to start our tour of Texas in San Antonio with my sister, we flew into Austin and rented our car there and then drove the 1.5 hours to hours to San Antonio the next morning. It was Final Four 2018 weekend which was taking place at the Alamodome. So car rentals were double the price at around $600-700 for the week in San Antonio versus getting it outside of Austin. We were going to go back and tour the Austin area anyway.
Day 1: Natural Bridge Caverns and Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch
We met my sister at the Natural Bridge Caverns. It got its name from two large stones that jut out and meet in the middle forming a natural bridge.
Caverns are huge under ground caves usually formed by water. They have 3 different types of tours. We went on the Discovery Tour which was about 75 minutes long. It was really interesting to see how big the cavern was and all of the columns and formations made from the stalagmites and stalactites. At one point we were 180 feet below the ground. It is 70 degrees year round with 99% humidity inside. There a couple steep walking sections that I would take into consideration for those with mobility issues. It was a great workout for me as it got my heart rate up pretty good when walking up hill.
There is also a tour where they turn out all of the lights and you get to sit in complete darkness as well as a Lantern Tour. The Caverns also have other activities like a small zip line, really tall ropes course (canopy challenge), a maze, and gem mining.
Next, we drove next door to the Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Ranch. We drove up to the window and bought our tickets (you can’t buy them online) and bags of food to feed the animals. They give you one free bag per car. We got to hand feed zebras (they warn us that they can bite), emus, burros, ostriches and more.
We stopped at the Petting Zoo area to see the baby goats, we also saw lemurs, monkeys, and giraffes.
Day 2: San Antonio Riverwalk
On this day, we did something a little different and took a Power Scooter Tour.
It was so fun riding on an electric scooter and checking out the sites in San Antonio. Our 6 year old had to ride on my husband’s scooter but the other kids ages 8, 11, and 14 did great on their own scooters. Nobody fell into the river so I count that as a success! Jose, our tour guide and co-owner of the company, was really kind and patient with us as we got used to the scooters. We went on the tour to The Japanese Tea Garden. It was about two hours round trip as we had a few stops along the way. The Japanese Tea Garden has an interesting story behind it but I won’t spoil it for you. It is an amazing oasis in the city of San Antonio. It was beautiful!
We were hungry after all that scootering so we went to Acenar, a restaurant on the Riverwalk, at around 12:30 p.m. We had reservations but they didn’t have any outdoor seating available so we ate indoors instead of getting an outdoor view of the river. If you want a river view, I would recommend getting to the restaurants earlier around opening time. I had the Chipotle Chicken.
After lunch, we got tickets and hopped on the 35 minute narrated Go Rio River Cruise. It was a relaxing ride and we also got a bit of history about the buildings and other surroundings.
We really wanted to go inside the Alamo, but due to the long line, my husband feeling bad due to a sinus infection, we just had a kind stranger take our picture in front of it instead.
Day 3: Enchanted Rock & Fredericksburg
We were going to head to Austin this morning, but decided to make a 2 hour detour to Enchanted Rock, just a little north of Fredericksburg, TX. I remember climbing Enchanted Rock when I was a teenager in Texas and thought it would be a great stop to stretch our legs and get some exercise. It is a giant, pink, granite rock/hill and it is a very steep climb. So much so, I counted it as my cardio for the day since my heart was pumping like crazy trying to hike up it. It was a short stop, but well worth it.
For lunch I found a German restaurant in the town of Fredericksburg, aptly named: The Old German Bakery and Restaurant. My kids ordered some of their German homemade pastries that they are known for. I didn’t fall into the temptation but I did have a small “mommy tax” bite from each one.
I had schnitzel for the first time! They claim to have the best in Texas. Schnitzel is hand-cut pork that is tenderized, hand breaded with homemade bread crumbs, and sautéed. It reminded me a lot of the American version: chicken fried steak. I got the House Schnitzel smothered with a creamy topping full of mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes and cheese. It also came with some German-style potatoes. It was very tasty. It was such a large serving though, that I saved half of it for my dinner that night as well.
In addition to some shopping, there were some other attractions in this Hill Country area I wanted to check out: an alpaca ranch, a wildflower farm, and a peach orchard. But we had to move on towards the capitol city of Austin. On our drive through the heart of Texas, I always had my eye open for one of the quintessential symbols of Texas: The Texas Longhorn.
We checked into our nice Airbnb in Round Rock, TX. I’ve used Airbnb (click the link to save $$ on your next Airbnb) a handful of times now and really enjoy it. This last host was super nice and added little special touches like popcorn, mints, and hot chocolate to name a few. It inspired me to start thinking about hosting an Airbnb of our own in the future.
Day 4: Georgetown and Round Rock
So the first thing we did was drive around in my old home towns. Our Airbnb was just a few minutes away from my first home that I lived in until age 8. Things were a bit overgrown.
We also drove by my old elementary school that I attended. We drove to Georgetown where I lived from 8-16 yrs old and saw my old house, neighborhood, high school, and where I had my first job. We walked around downtown at the Georgetown Square.
I had many memories here of attending the Mayfair festival, visiting the Merle Norman store and getting free makeup samples, browsing the locally owned Gold’s Department store, or getting ice cream at the parlor on the corner. Sadly none of those establishments are around today but there are many new stores and restaurants to choose from. We got cupcakes from Galaxy Bakery & Coffeehouse owned by one of my friends who still lives in Georgetown. We saved their deliciousness for after our lunch.
“Owen, there are no cupcakes under there!”
They also displayed amazing scones that I wanted to sink my teeth in, but fortunately I was able to stop myself.
I think the kids loved Georgetown. Well, maybe just the cupcakes. For lunch as we headed back to our Round Rock Airbnb, we had to stop at one of my favorite pizza places back in the day: Mr. Gatti’s Pizza!! They now have a Gattiland where you can eat a pizza buffet and play video games, etc. I thought the pizza was still pretty good after all these years. Or maybe it is just the nostalgia talking.
Austin, Texas
On our first foray into Austin, we did an Austin Duck Adventures tour. It uses an amphibious vehicle that goes on land and water. It is definitely a good tour for kids unless they (or you) don’t like really loud (human) ducks!
We had a little tour of downtown Austin and then splashed into Lake Austin for a nice view.
Day 5: Austin, Texas continued…
Since we were staying in Round Rock, that meant we had to have Round Rock Donuts for breakfast in the morning. Yes, I know this trip was a walk down “food memory” lane so my eating plan went a bit off the rail temporarily.
What did Owen think about Round Rock Donuts?….
So on this day, we wanted to get the kids a chance to play a little more before we did any more touring/history stuff. We found a really cool Children’s Museum called, The Thinkery. Normally I don’t go to zoos or childrens’ museums on vacation because we have a ton of them where we live. But if your kids need a change of pace while visiting Austin, I’d recommend this place.
We had a yummy lunch at Terry Black’s BBQ in Austin.
The sausage was “Da Bomb”!!
Now that we had full bellies, it was time for more Texas history at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. 
We saw a short “multi-sensory” film there called “Shipwrecked” about La Salle’s 1684 North American colonial expedition. I highly recommend it.
Last but not least, on our final tour of the Hill Country, we did a bat viewing tour on Lone Star River Cruises. We got a tour of the beautiful Austin skyline. We also got a great view of the pregnant Mexican free-tailed bats that come out at sunset to feed on bugs for dinner.
One of the things I loved seeing again in Texas were the bluebonnets, the state flower.
Day 6: Fly out of Austin….or at least we tried.
We had a little unplanned event as we flew out of Austin, Texas. So we ended up driving home. You can read about it here in my Fit Travel Mom facebook post to find out what happened.
Have you visited central Texas Hill Country? What attractions did you like the most? Share in the comments below!
