TX Vacation

My father-in-law lives in Austin. We are going to go stay with him and his wife next week for a while. Wondering what stuff we should do while there. We'll probably use his house as a base to sleep and shower at and make day-trips from there. Anyone got suggestions on stuff to do with a 4-year-old daughter? She loves water parks and zoos so Shlitterbahn is already booked and we plan on doing the San Antonio Zoo. Other than that we're clueless.

The Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio is cool.
Floating the Comal in New Branfels (right around Schlitterbahn) is also fun - (slow moving safe for a 4 year old)
Sea World in San Antonio
Natural Bridge caverns is interesting to see
Austin Bat cave is cool when they leave for the night at dusk
Lots of good small food joints and such around Austin...

Oh, we're flying into Houston, so if there's something to do around there on the way in or out, that'd be cool.

joho75287 said:

The Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio is cool.
Floating the Comal in New Branfels (right around Schlitterbahn) is also fun - (slow moving safe for a 4 year old)
Sea World in San Antonio
Natural Bridge caverns is interesting to see
Austin Bat cave is cool when they leave for the night at dusk
Lots of good small food joints and such around Austin...

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I saw Natural Bridge but it looks like one of those great natural attractions that has been completely commercialized. We went to Raccoon Caverns in TN a while back and were totally pissed off how commercialized it was. Had we know that there were no un-guided tours, that we would be confined to a 3' wide path with man-made stairs and hand rails, etc. we wouldn't have even gone. No better way to take the fun out of exploration than by removing the exploration part of it.

Bring a boat. It's all flooded right now.

Nohopebobby said:

Bring a boat. It's all flooded right now.

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Sometimes I think you are Batshit Will. Then you go and make comments that make sense and are correctly punctuated.

Nohopebobby said:

Bring a boat. It's all flooded right now.

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Are you saying that because you live there and know it for a fact or is that just sarcasm based on watching the news? Is Pedernales flooded as well?

I Recomend going to Houston. I think it was the month of July I went. The one thing cool about it is ..... Not a motherfukjn thing!!!!! Dam that place. It was 113 outside and humid. Or some ****. It opened my eyes to what hell is gonna be like if it's gonna be 1000X hotter than that bullshit place. Soakin wet soon as u walk outside. But don't take my word for it.. This is coming from a fair skinned freckled fuker that sunburns in seconds and works outside all day. God that place sucked. Prob why JOHO sucks so bad.

kushKrawlin said:

Prob why JOHO sucks so bad.

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I don't live anywhere near Houston, ya jackhole I'm like 8 hours North of there!!

Patooyee - the Natural Bridge Caverns is a bit commercialized...so you might wanna cross that off your list, I thought it was neat to see, but it is "paths and handrails".

patooyee said:

Are you saying that because you live there and know it for a fact or is that just sarcasm based on watching the news? Is Pedernales flooded as well?

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Just watching the news buddy sorry can't be any real help.

I just found a flood update site with actual water levels. Looks like Pedernales is fine. We'll do that one day.

I like craftsmanship in fabrication, so Austin Speed Shop would be a must for me. You know, if you can be selfish and have a "me" day. lol

There's the boardwalk in Keemah.... 50+ foot jet boat that does rides in the bay.... Kid would love it.

It's wet down here from all the rain but it's not flooded out or anything. I'm just outside of Houston so not being sarcastic. Kush is right though, Houston does suck! If you want to do some off-road stuff, Hidden Falls Adventure Park isn't far from Austin. You can rent SxS there if you don't bring a rig. It's a nice park with some nice scenery. Austin also has a river area where you can rent a paddle boat, canoe, or paddle board and play around. Water is real clear so you can see the vegetation and fish. Plus Lake Travis is right outside Austin and they have some swimming areas for kids. There's a restaurant called The Oasis that has an awesome view of the lake and the food isn't too bad either. Not fancy or anything so good place to take the family. They got a lot of little shops and stuff to that the women are pretty fond of.

Houston has a great children's museum. My girls love it. They drive back once a year at least to go there.

Blase said:

Houston has a great children's museum. My girls love it. They drive back once a year at least to go there.

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This is true. My 6 year old really enjoys it there. There's an indoor trampoline park here in Houston called SkyZone. There might be one is Austin.

So check out enchanted rock. It's gonna be west of Austin. Unmatched hiking in the area and gorgeous views. They have some really cool natural caves that are not commercialized. You climb and tunnel until you get scared.

If you have booked schliterbaun, then you'll be close to many other super cool things.

You gotta float the camal river. Runs around the water park. Google it

You gotta pass through wimberly and hit Jacobs well, as well as blue hole along cypress creek. Great ice cold swimming holes

I think you have plenty of ideas to have a great stay there. Have fun man

gottagofast said:

There's the boardwalk in Keemah.... 50+ foot jet boat that does rides in the bay.... Kid would love it.

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x2 The boardwalk is cool and they have little water jets to play in after you get a bite to eat. So much fun to run around in at any age.

Houston is a melting pot, so there is some of the best foods here based on that. The battleship is neat, as is Seawolf park, but it'll be a huge letdown if you've ever seen the Alabama. Most of it is blocked off, so there's only so much to see. There are a ton of museums in the museum district, and the zoo is pretty good. Your wife would probably enjoy the galleria/Katy mills/Willowbrook/woodlands mall. There are a few iFly indoor skydiving around houston. There are a ton of concert venues all over like the arena theater that always have music. The heights area has nice trails to ride bikes on. There is a bat bridge on Waugh Dr just like in Austin. There are some very Hispanic areas of Houston if you'd like some legit Mexican food. The boardwalk in Kemah is neat, and has a several rides to spend the day doing. Galveston outright blows, but I've heard the pleasure pier is fun. There's a small schlitterbahn there next door to the aircraft museum. There are a ton of wineries out towards Wimberley/Fredericksburg area the wife might enjoy. If you want to float a river, I would suggest the Frio in Concan. There are several bars with live music on 6th Street in Austin. You can check out the Capital if that's your thing while you're there as well.

Which airport are you flying into, hobby or bush? Bush is way bigger and on the northeast side of town a few minutes from me. Hobby is in a less desirable side of town near the southside, but better Mexican food. Traffic is going to be the worst it's ever been as they're preparing for the superb owl next year. What days will you be in town?

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It's not exactly what got asked for but: in houston go get the steak fajitas at Lupe Tortillas. There is also a Rudy's in houston I'd you want some bbq. Austin has a ton of bbq places: Rudy's, Salt Lick, and Franklin's are top of my list.