Thanksgiving

Exploring Austin will not be exploring Austin for the coming week. If you'll be in town, here are a few things going on that you may or may not want to miss:

Alamo Drafthouse showing a bunch of movies accompanied by Thanksgiving Dinner

Yoga in the Park on Thanksgiving Day

Operation Turkey needs volunteers to help hand out 8,500 pounds of food to the homeless on Thanksgiving

See U2 in 3D at the IMAX theater

See Pop Noir at Mohawk

18th annual Turkey Trot in Waterloo Park, benefiting Caritas

East Austin Studio Tour

Happening this weekend!! A tour all over East Austin to see various artwork by local artists. Best of all, it's FREE! Check their website for all the dozens of locations.

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St. Edward's Park

We decided to check out St. Edward's Park while the weather still so nice. It's a small park, the entire trail is maybe 2 miles. On Sunday afternoon there were very few other people there. It's pretty, peaceful, and a nice easy hike/walk.

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Kayaking on Ladybird Lake

This was so much fun that I want to call in sick tomorrow and go again.The kayaks we rented were simple, beginner's kayaks. It was an amazing experience. We saw all kinds of wildlife... turtles, fish, tons of different birds including Blue Herons and Egrets. Keep in mind, this is only a few miles from downtown!

Mom & Dad kayaking past a limestone cliff:

A Blue Heron, as we slowly approached:

Whoops, scared him off...

We rented our kayaks from Rowing Dock, and the prices were pretty good. To rent a 2-person kayak for 1 hour is $15, but they've got a coupon on their website that allows you to get a second hour for free! So it's really $15 for two hours of kayak rental. And of course, that includes life vests. Another cool thing is that they have season passes for $99, so if you plan to come a lot, that's a great option.

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Mt. Bonnell

Mt. Bonnell Park has an amazing views of Lake Austin and the hills. I could sit here all day.

View of the Pennybacker Bridge from Mt. Bonnell, which is an Austin landmark. See some other great photos taken at Bonnell on Google images.

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Fun Fun Fun Fest

Don't miss the annual Fun Fun Fun Festival this weekend. I don't think we'll make it, my parents will be in town and it's not exactly a parent type of activity! This music festival is from Nov. 8-9 and includes various indie rock, punk/hardcore, and hip hop/dj music on three stages.

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Dia De Los Muertos

This weekend, the Mexic-Arte Museum put on their 25th annual Dia de los Muertos Parade. Watching the parade was free of course, but afterwards there were activity booths and food, which was $5 for adults and $2 for kids. We just watched the parade from a bar on 6th street, which is a recommended way to see it.

About a million people with their faces painted:

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Texas Book Festival

Every year the Texas Book Festival is held in Austin, with many of the events occuring in or around the capitol building.

There were tons of tents with books on display, and authors on hand to sign their books.
We went to see 4 political authors discuss the upcoming election in the state senate chamber. The calendar shows you when various authors are speaking or debating.

A couple of goats help this author to promote Goat Tales:
Inside one of the book tents:

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