Willie Nelson Concert

Willie Nelson's 81st Birthday Concert at The Backyard

I finally got to see Willie Nelson perform on April 29, 2014. It was his annual birthday concert at The Backyard. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm a Texan and you have to see Willie perform at least once if you consider yourself a real Texan. As much as I was looking forward to this concert (for many many years), I was a little disappointed. After all...the man is 81. His better days are behind him. But, he played all of his classics and did better than I think I'd do at 81. He sort of said the lyrics more than sang them, but he can still play that guitar. His band members were equally as old, including his sister on the piano. The youngest band member was the guitarist pictured to the the right of him above. But, you could tell he really didn't want to be there. I'm fairly certain he was drunk or stoned or both. I have no regrets and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a cool April evening outside and the warmup band (The Peterson Brothers) was truly amazing. Surprisingly, the Peterson Brothers was the highlight of the evening for me. 

If you get the opportunity to attend an event at The Backyard, I'd recommend going. But, avoid the hot summer months if you can. It's a totally outside venue and can get really hot. Reserved folding chair seats are worth the extra money. You get a better view and are generally more comfortable. However, if you're there more to socialize, drink and people watch, bring a blanket and hangout on the grassy lawn. Either way, you'll enjoy what Texas has to offer on a clear night outside.

Hamilton Pool

5 Stars

Hamilton Pool

Hamilton Pool...ahhhh! If you only make it to one natural swimming hole in your entire life, it should be Hamilton Pool. This place is so much more than a swimming destination. The rocky over hang that shades the pool is simply breathtaking. The water spills over into the pool from above. The maidenhair fern grows naturally where the water spills over the rock. Make it a point to walk all the way along the interior wall under the rocky ceiling. These pictures should give you a sense for the size of the pool & rocky overhang. (Look for the tiny people in the first photo.)

TIPS & INFO:

1. Get here early. Get there early. Did I say, "Get there early"? The place fills up quickly & once it's full, they won't let you in. It'd be a shame for you to drive all that way just to have to turn around and head home.

2. Hours: 9am-6pm daily, weather permitting. No entry after 5:30pm. Swimming ends at 5:30pm.

3. If it rains, you won't be able to swim because of e-coli levels. Call ahead to make sure you can get in & that you can swim. (512) 264-2740

4. It's rocky steps all the way down and all the way up. So, if you have mobility challenges, this is not the place for you. Expect to carry small children on the way up...I know...I'm a Mom.

5. Given the steps and overall rocky terrain, I'd encourage you to only bring what you can carry on your shoulder or your back. Avoid bringing a large cooler if you can...although I did see some college kids lugging in their big cooler the last time I went, but they were young and stu...never mind.

6. Get all the rest of the scoop here.

Anderson's Mill

3 Stars

There really was an Anderson Mill! Did you know that? I didn't until I saw a sign on RR2769 while I was taking a shortcut to Lakeway.

Replica of Anderson's Mill house

The Mill & museum is open to the public the 4th Sunday of each month, March thru October 2pm - 5pm. The grounds, Mill & museum are maintained by the Anderson Mill Garden Club. The cost for all upkeep comes from private donations. There's a lot of history about the Mill on the Internet. So, I'm not going to post it. You can start reading about it here. When the property is open, you can tour the replica of the Mill and a small museum dedicated to the Thomas Anderson's family.

Mill wheel inside the Mill house

The museum contains some of the family's belongings. It's a great piece of history right in our own back yard.  If only the original Mill was still around...

Outside picture of the Mill house with a replica of the Mill wheel

Krause Springs

5 Stars

Krause Springs Pool

Krause Springs is an amazing spring fed watering hole just outside the city limits. The water is cool & refreshing. The grounds are lush and tropical. There are huge old Cypress Trees scattered throughout the park with picnic benches nestled underneath for shade.  The entrance fee to the park is quite reasonable & if you go on a scouting trip to just check things out, they'll likely let you in for free to just take a look around. Near the entrance is a beautiful garden that I'd highly recommend checking out...especially if you are into gardening. 

Spring-fed pool

The first level of the grounds (which slops down from the entrance) is where the pool is located. The pool was built to capture a large volume of the 68 degree spring water for pool swimming before it spills over the cliff into the Cypress Creek below.

Cypress Creek below the pool

Walking down some rather steep steps takes you to the lower part of the grounds where the creek is located. It's not a huge space, but large enough for plenty of floating. Speaking of floating...bring your floats. It's the best way to experience the creek. It's a bit warmer than the pool above. There's a rope swing & rocky shore perfect for catching some sun. The water that spills over from the pool above cascades over the most gorgeous collection of maidenhair fern that I have ever seen. 

Stream below with room for floating & a rope swing

Huge old Cypress Tree

TIPS & INFO:
1. We were told that they never turn anyone away, but I imagine it can get quite crowded. Get there early to secure a picnic table. There are a lot of them!
2. Krause Springs isn't too far from Hamilton Pool. So, if you get turned away from Hamilton because of the crowds, head over to Krause.
3. There's an onsite bathroom (with a shower) for changing.
4. You can bring in coolers, food, floats and all the other watering hole paraphernalia.  
5. There are no trash cans. You bring out your own trash. So, bring an extra bag.
6. They sell ice in case you run out or forget yours.

Picnic tables shaded by Cypress Trees

7. There's a food truck onsite, but it wasn't open when we went. I'm not sure if it's operational or not. Bring your own food & drinks.
8. The slope down to the pool is a bit of a hike. The steps down to the stream are quite steep. If you have walking and/or mobility challenges, this isn't the place for you. 
9. There's onsite primitive camping for an add'l fee. No water or electric. We didn't camp, but toured the camping area. It looks really nice with shaded trees, picnic tables & fire pits.
10. Check out Opie's BBQ on your way to the park. It's simple...meat & beans.  Yum-O. 

Gruene Texas

5 Stars

Gruene Texas

Texas Clay Festival 2013 - Gruene, TX

Gruene Texas (pronounced Green) has it all.  I love this little town.  There is so much to do here that makes me happy, happy, happy.  This weekend we made our "I've-stopped-counting" trip to Gruene to attend the annual Texas Clay Festival.  I blogged earlier about this festival.  I always go with a of couple things I want to buy.  This year, I bought three pieces.  I bought a platter to place candles in that sits on my fireplace hearth, a beautiful green & blue bowl for K to display his garden harvest and another pumpkin for Halloween that will be A's when he moves out of the house someday. <sniff, sniff>  I had my eye on a half a dozen other items, but if I would have purchased them all there'd be no reason to go back again next year.  

The Gristmill

After we made the first pass through the festival, we made our way over to the Gristmill for lunch.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  I didn't mind the wait as I listened to the guitar singer belt out some country classics and we waiting under the shade trees for our name to be written on the big chalkboard.  Our Texas-sized lunch was just as yummy as every other time we've made a visit.  I'm so glad this place takes an hour+ to get to or I'd be visiting it every single weekend.  I love this place that much.  I think Gruene has got to be one of my all time favorite small Texas towns.

Waiting for our name to make the chalkboard

Open air seating at the Gristmill

Our day in Gruene ended with our usual family tradition....a stop at the Gruene Toy Store followed by a homemade smoothie from the shop next door.

Brushy Creek Skate Park

5 Stars

Brushy Creek Skate Park

I'm not a skater, but I've been to the Brushy Creek Skate Park dozens of times with my kids.  Here's why I like this park: it's free, it's clean and it's safe.  This is one of three skate parks I know about in the Austin area.  All of them are free.  Building a public skate park run by the city is a risky proposition.  Someone could get hurt and sue the city.  For whatever reason, however, the city has a free skate park and I haven't heard anything about a lawsuit of any kind associated with the park since I moved here.  It's another reason I love Austin so much.  

Ramp at the Brushy Creek Skate Park

This particular skate park is in the Brushy Creek Sport Park that runs along the Brushy Creek trail.  The park also has football & soccer fields, a baseball field, a playscape, basketball courts, a frisbee golf range and a building housing public restrooms & a concession stand.  It's truly an amazing park right in my own "backyard".

Large Bowl

The skate park itself also has a lot of nice features.  Ramps of all kinds, a large and small bowl, stairs and other amenities I can't identify or label dot the skate course.  Right next to the park is a covered picnic area for parents of younger children to sit and watch.  Although the park is frequented by older teenagers, they are all very respectful of the smaller kids when they come to enjoy the park.  I haven't seen a collision involving an older and younger child yet.  BMX bikes aren't allowed, but I do see the occasional teenager try to give it a go with his bike.  The skaters tend to give these kids the cold shoulder until the eventually leave.  

Small Bowl

Although I consider this a really safe park, I wouldn't recommend dropping off your younger-than-16-year-old if at all possible.  Some of the older skaters smoke and curse.  Generally speaking, however, most of the kids are well behaved and come to skate vs just hang.  Early mornings are the best time to visit if you have younger kids.  I suppose this is because the teenagers are still sleeping.  They arrive after 10am and well into the afternoon hours.

Even if you don't skate or don't have a child that skates, this a fun park to come and just watch the kids do tricks.  Skateboarders and scooters are both welcome.

Mighty Fine

5 Stars

K was out of town this weekend dove hunting and so I took the day off on Friday. After doing some errands, I decided to visit one of my favorite burger places. Austin is known for hamburger joints, taco places & BBQ.  Most locals have a favorite in each category and are pretty opinionated about their selection.  My favorite burger joint happens to be Mighty Fine.  I like this place for two reasons: great burgers AND fries & exceptional service.  But, it's not cheap.  My 1/4 lb cheeseburger, fries & small shake was $9.  For a family of four, that can set you back $30!  So, we try to make our visits to Mighty Fine a special occasion.  Having a Friday off of work by myself fell into this category for me.

Mighty Fine

Customers queue up to order their burger from friendly employees.  Burgers are cooked medium well, but you can order one cooked medium, which is our family preference.  They tell you it'll take a few minutes more for the specially cooked burger, but 3 more minutes of wait time never seems long to me.  While they're ringing your order up, they always, always, always ask you how your day is going.  Make a note of this...they never fail to ask the question.  Employees are making a real effort to create a human connection in this question and I like it.  We've become a society that overlooks the human aspect in simple things like shopping and ordering a meal.  I like to be reminded that we're all just trying to make it in this world together and being friendly isn't such a hard thing to do.

1/4 lb Cheeseburger, Fries & a kid's Shake

Back to the food...  order a burger AND fries.  They cut their own fries and make each patty by hand and you can taste it.  You can also order a kid's size shake.  It'll give you a great sweet treat without making you feel so full you need to be rolled out to your car.

RFID Tracker

Seating is comprised of community benches.  You'll be given an RFID tracker to place on your table so that they can bring your order to you when it's ready...pretty cool huh?!  So, there's no one calling your number over a loud speaker when your food is ready.  I really like that...yet another opportunity to connect on a personal level.  



There are four other interesting aspects to this place that make me like it even more.  They are:

1.  A fun hand washing station for children & adults alike.  You stick your hands into the wetting machine and it does the rest.  Try it out for fun no matter your age.
2. There's a cool electronic board in front of the window where they make the burgers.  Move your hands across the board to see what happens. This is great entertainment for the kids
3. At the Mighty Fine in Cedar Park, there's a two-way mirror in the men's room.  Ok...this sounds kind of creepy, but it isn't.  If you don't know about this, you'll just think it's a mirror in the dining area.  But if you happen to be a guy, you can see customers primping in the mirror while you're washing your hands.  How funny!

   

   Two-way mirror in the dining area.
4. I'm not sure about the men's room, but the ladies room has a chandelier hanging from the ceiling.  How many times have you seen that in a burger joint restroom?!

   

   A touch of class!