Keep Austin Weird
THIS city, THIS CITY RIGHT HERE is amazing! From the university, to it's historical landmarks, to the cultural outcroppings - it is very clear that this is a place for all.
We started our day at University Cyclery, because poor Olive is still riding her 'baby bike' on this trip. Thankfully we 'Yelped' a shop that's been in Austin since 1977, and Olive found her wheels!
Next stop - The University of Texas for lunch:
Basically we drove around campus and had watchful eyes for crowds of students - knowing during lunch hour, crowds meant good food!
We came across the food truck court - Brilliant concept! We were able to eat like kings for under $35!
Of course you can't visit a campus without stopping in the book store, cause ya gotta get T-shirts people!
Mama had to get her coffee, and just happened to run into a good friend;)
Moving off campus and into historical landmark-land:
The capital building! It's pretty sweet, most are magnificent looking, but this one was striking!
...this guy really caught our attention - we love tie-dye Jesus!
Olive was so stoked to see this piece of architecture fused with art - The Contemporary Jones Center.
And this right here on top, is an actual installation! Created by Jim Hodges, 'With Liberty and Justice for All (A Work in Progress)', 2014–2016.
The Hope Outdoor Gallery
This here is art!
The HOPE Outdoor Gallery, is a community paint park located in downtown Austin, TX. This educational project is managed by the non-profit HOPE Events and was officially launched in March, 2021. It is the only paint park of its kind in the USA and was developed to provide muralists, street artists, arts education classes and community groups the opportunity to display large scale art pieces driven by inspirational, positive & educational messaging.
While in 'Keep Austin Weird' mode - we skipped over to The Cathedral of Junk. Little did we know it was literally a pile of Junk in some guy's backyard, in a quiet suburb of Austin -lol!
It freaked Gigi out so we quietly drove by, took a photo and kept on moving. Apparently you can make appointments to view the backyard. The gentleman who created it, Vince Hannemann, started his creation on a whim and says he'll take it down when he is bored of it. In the meantime, he'll keep collecting for the piece.
Barton Springs - outstanding history and a gem of a natural beauty!
My photos don't do it justice, this place is remarkable. The spring pool is located In Zilker Park (358 acres) in Austin.
The pool itself measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees.
Barton Springs attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000!
The funniest thing during this experience, was after swimming reading about the pool's history. Being a natural spring, it is a thriving habitat for salamanders and an eel. The eel lives under the diving board - coincidentally where the kids spent most there time!
Well Austin, we did our part to keep you weird, and we loved every minute! Keep Weird Austin, Keep Weird!
