Austin, TX: UT Campus & Barton Springs

After eating some delicious BBQ, we walked through the University of Texas campus to see the UT Tower. Though it's currently undergoing renovation, you can usually go up to see the view, and to learn about the grisly sniper incident that happened in 1966. An ex-Marine barricaded himself in the tower and killed 14 people by shooting them with a sniper rifle (this was after he had killed both his wife and mother). Freaky!!! The tower was much bigger than I expected....

On the main building: "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free".





We were pretty tired by now and it was getting too hot (it must have been about 100F) so we took the bus back to our hotel, and grabbed our swimsuits. Then we were off to Barton Springs Pool! Apparently there are quite a few of these ground-fed spring pools in the Austin area, and they are perfect places to spend really hot summer days. It has a year-round temperature of 68F, so it's a little chilly (when you get in there's definitely that sense of "oh my god it's freezing!"). But then you get adjusted, and it feels so cool and nice. And the pool is huge, so there's a lot of room to swim around.



One thing that you kind of have to get over is because the water is natural (there's no chlorine or anything) there are areas where there is a lot of seaweed. Apparently this very leafy stuff helps to keep the water clean from various parasites, but it's a little freaky when it wraps around your ankle. :)



After enjoying the pool for a couple of hours, we attempted to go to a popular Tex-Mex restaurant, but it was too busy (over an hour wait!). So we opted for the next door food truck, "Kate's Southern Comfort".


photo by Michelle

Oh, this might have been one of my favorite food experiences on the trip. We got the fried pies, which are some kind of Southern dish, but basically they are like empanadas- fried pastry shells with something delicious in them, like collard greens and sweet potatoes, or chicken and green chilies, or boudin and blue cheese. Kate makes them fresh, so you have to be careful not to burn your mouth. They are delicious!



As we headed back to get ready for the evening, I stopped to take this picture of the train. I love how the blur of the train contradicts the saying on the bridge "Focus on One Point and Breathe".



On our last night, we went to get some drinks and dessert at Peche, a popular bar that sells absinthe (I didn't actually try any though, as I'm not a big fan of licorice). Peche does an all-day happy hour on Sundays, which worked out nice ($5 drinks instead of $10!). We also had this bizarrely delicious crepe cake with bacon. Yum! We finished the night on a rooftop bar with appletinis. :) Sorry for the blurry photo!


photo by Michelle

I loved Austin and I hope to get to go back soon! Thanks Courtney and Michelle for a really fun weekend!