Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum

This sculpture garden and museum, dedicated to showcasing the works of Charles Umlauf, is tucked away just off Zilker Park. You'd never expect a place like this just a stone's throw from downtown. The sculpture above is of Icarus. It's a very peaceful place, either to walk around or just sit and enjoy.

There are several ponds filled with lily pads. I love lily pads.

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The Exotic Zoo

Now that I know this place exists, I am so excited about it. So excited. It is a zoo, but a totally different experience from the Austin Zoo. Who knew there was basically a safari in Texas?! You may be wondering why I as a grown woman with no kids was at a place like this. I have an excuse. I was there volunteering with Starlight, which is a children's foundation. It's a really great organization, and there are locations in both Austin and San Antonio so check it out if you're interested in volunteering with kids.


Anyway, eye on the prize! The zoo!! I have to admit that all of the following photos were stolen from the Exotic Zoo's website-- even if I'd brought my camera, I wouldn't have had time to take photos... so this is the best I can do.

The animals actually come right up to the vehicles and the kids can feed them. The camels, bison, zebras and deer were all totally willing to come right up and eat.

Ostrich!
Zebras chilling in the shade:
There seem to be a lot of kangaroos in Texas. You even see them at petting zoos. I guess cause they like warm weather.
Water buffalo:

Another cool thing about this place is that they have cabins, and you can spend the night there. Some of the cabins overlook the animal enclosures. How great is that? I need to figure out how to rent a kid so I can have a reason to come spend the night here. Otherwise I'll become that creepy lady staying in the cabin overlooking the kangaroos.
The pool for use by people staying overnight in the cabins:
In conclusion, this place is fabulous. Take your kid or borrow one and get yourself here! I did a little online searching, and it looks like there's yet another one of these safari places near San Antonio- so if you haven't had your fill after the Exotic Zoo, check out Wildlife Ranch, which looks even bigger.

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Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds

Need a Halloween costume? Stop what you're doing and get down to Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds, a huge costume store open year-round on South Congress.
South Congress has tons of interesting shops and restaurants, and they also host First Thursday every month, which we'll blog about soon. It's a great area to find unique gifts & clothes.

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The Domain

The Domain is a new outdoor shopping center north of Austin. It's one of those new mixed use developments, and it has apartments and offices in addition to restaurants and shops. Most of the stores are luxury stores, so you may not want to actually shop here if you're cheap like we are. However, there are a bunch of good places to eat at the Domain, and it's a pretty center to walk around in. It's also the location of the annual Austin Wine Festival, which is coming up again in May.

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Lady Bird Lake & The Hike and Bike Trail

I'm just warning you: There's kind of an obscene amount of photos in this post. It's just hard to narrow it down when every photo I took is so nice. This whole weekend was so gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. After lunch we decided to walk it off by walking the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, which separates South Austin from downtown. This is probably the most popular spot in town to go for a walk, run or bike ride. Click here to see a PDF map of the trail.
Duck sighting on the lake:
Canoes on the lake, going under one of the several bridges:

Pedestrian-only bridge across the lake, part of the trail:
Statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan:

Spot on the trail for dogs to get in the water:
The entrance to the trail from the Four Seasons:

A dock on the trail. There are plenty of little docks and side areas off the trail where you can sit and take a break. Turtle sighting!
Bridge on the trail:
Entering one of the bridges:
Can you see the rainbow?

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Coldtowne Theater

We came to Coldtowne Theater to see a free performance for Free Night of Theater. We saw "Cage Match," which normally costs $5. Cage Match is a face-off between two improv comedy groups who are competing to be the champion. The audience gives a suggestion at the beginning of the sketch, and each group has 20 minutes to impress the audience. At the end, you vote for whichever group you think should go further in the competition. It was a fun show, and the theater is very small and casual- several of the seating options are couches.

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Austin Duck Adventures

Okay, so this is a very silly, touristy thing to do, but I got a free ticket from work... so why not? This is one of those vehicles that goes both on land and in the water. So we first drove around downtown, then splashed into Lake Austin. Saturday was gorgeous and the tour ended up being a lot of fun. We even learned some stuff about Austin that we didn't know before.

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Free Night of Theater

Sorry I am so tardy in posting this- I actually just found out about it, and many of the free shows are already sold out. Free Night of Theater is actually multiple nights of free shows all over Austin, at various venues. I wish we had gotten tickets to see The Producers before they were all snatched up! Don't worry- this is a yearly event, so just stick it on your gmail calendar and get ready to pounce on the first tickets next year.

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Austin Film Festival

Ok, so normally we don't post about stuff unless we've already done it and can tell you it's not a danger to your health. But I thought I should post in advance about the Austin Film Festival, which is starting on October 16th. Get your film passes now!

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Austin Asian American Film Festival

This annual Asian film festival is going on right now, and tickets can still be bought at the door for film showings so check the schedule if you want to see one. Tickets are only $8 to most of the films, and many have the director or producer present.

Last night we saw the opening double feature, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" and "Vincent Who?" These films were amazing. They were about the death of Vincent Chin, who was killed in 1982 by two laid off auto workers in Detroit who blamed him for their job loss. Toyotas and Hondas were starting to create stiff competition for American cars, and the men thought Vincent was Japanese. They beat him to death with a baseball bat, and neither of them served a single day in jail. The second movie, "Vincent Who?" discusses how little people today know about Vincent's story.

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Alamo Drafthouse

The Alamo Drafthouse is probably one of the most famous entertainment spots in Austin. A couple of years ago, Entertainment Weekly rated Alamo the #1 movie theatre in the country. Can't beat that! The theatre has several locations around Austin, and you can see anything from today's latest releases to the Rocky Horror Picture Show to episodes of your favorite shows in the theatres. The thing that makes the Alamo stand out is that they serve both beer and food-- a great variety of each.
When you sit down in the theatre, you're sitting behind a long table that stretches the length of each row. There are menus, and pieces of paper and pencils for you to write your order on. You simply write your order down and stick the paper up at the edge of the table for the waiter to pick up.

We came to see Tropic Thunder. I have to admit we were pretty boring and only ordered beer and fried pickles. But to give you an idea of what a crazy array of stuff they offer (if you aren't boring like us) here is what they recently posted on their website:

Check out these specials, inspired by Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express:

Bust a Nut
Macadamia, Cashew, Almond and basmati crusted prawns with a pineapple chile sauce

Tropical Fruit Salad
Papaya, Pineapple, Mango, Carambola, Lychee and Cherimoya with keffir lime coconut infused turbinado syrup and ginger mascarpone

Pineapple Pork
An eight ounce pineapple soy marinated center cut pork loin chop and pineapple-scotch bonnet relish with taro root hash and sesame napa cabbage slaw

Coconut Ice Cream & Rum Sauce
Fresh grilled pineapple on coconut ice cream with hot jaggery Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum sauce

Booty Sweat
Tropic Thunder Energy drink…taste like bubbly cherry

I just realized this post should maybe have gone on Chowing in Austin too. But.. double posting is getting kind of annoying, and I've already done it twice. You'll just have to take my word for it that almost every activity in Austin involves some kind of fusion of music, fun and food.

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Hideout Theatre

The Hideout Theatre is a coffehouse and theatre. The two stages in back show pretty much all comedy shows, as far as I know. Some improv, some non-improv, and they even have improv classes. We came to see their improv show "Start Trekkin'," in which Austin improv comedians create a Star Trek episode incorporating audience suggestions. The cool thing about Hideout is that you can grab a cup of coffee, or beer, or a smoothie at the shop in the front and then bring it into the theatre with you.
The show was $10. It was pretty entertaining- I think more so for Ryan since he's watched old school Star Trek.

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Farmer's Market at the Triangle

Every Wednesday, all year round, there is a farmer's market at the Triangle from 4-8 PM. This is just one of several year round markets in Austin- so there's never any reason to not have fresh local produce!

Some of the shops:
Live music in the park area next to the market:
Some kids playing in the water spraying up from the fountain:

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The Triangle

The Triangle in central Austin has apartments, shopping, and restaurants. According to online reviews, the people living in the apartments here don't like them and think they're overpriced. That sucks, but the Triangle is still packed with some nice restaurants and shops.
The landscaping is nice, and it's fun to stroll around and check out the various shops. We've already reviewed Galaxy Cafe in the Triangle, and will review more of the restaurants soon.

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