Austin: Why We Need to Go Back
To celebrate the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, we spent 6 days in Austin, Texas exploring, finding beautiful views, tasting good beer, and eating great food. What we didn't realize was how much we’d fall in love with the big city and want to go back!
We know there is SO much more of Austin to see, which is why we need to go back. We thought we’d share what made us fall in love with the city so easily. Here’s a list of our favorite Austin spots (so far) that got us hooked:
Mount Bonnell’s sunset views
A friend of ours recommended Mount Bonnell for a life changing sunset. We arrived about a half hour early, walked up the many stairs, and explored the area to find the perfect spot to set up camp. We found a cozy seat next to a tree that overlooked the river and enjoyed the pretty views to come. We would definitely go back to Austin just for those sunset views.
Tip: go early! This will save you when trying to find both a parking spot and snagging a good spot to watch the sunset.
Claiming our spot for the sunset.
Running downtown around the river
After a couple days of a lot of beer and tasty food, we needed to get a run in. We had spotted a trail that looped around the river downtown that we wanted to check out. It was a 7 mile loop and was slightly busy. If you’re looking for less busy, we’d recommend checking out the south side of the river across from downtown. After the run, we felt like we saw so much of downtown Austin - from close up and afar.
Snapping a shot of downtown while running the loop around the river.
Enjoying coffee AND beer at Wright Bros
There’s a first for everything, and this was one of those times. We were spending time in East Austin and walked past not only a shop that served coffee… but also beer! We had never been to somewhere that served both, and because we’re both coffee and beer fanatics, it caught our eye. We knew we had to check it out. It ended up being one of our favorite spots because one moment we were sipping coffee, and the next moment we were enjoying a sip of beer. Why not have the best of both worlds? Wright Bros definitely had it figured out.
A short but fun wine-filled road trip to Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg is about an hour and a half west of Austin with a population of just over 10,000. The best part? The drive there has wineries left and right. We did a quick day trip and were fully focused on drinking wine. While we didn’t make it to all of them, we did sight see and were shocked at how big and majestic some of these wineries looked! One of them was a legit castle with beautiful wide-open views!
The winery that caught our eye that day was Bingham Vineyards. It looked like a huge, elegant barn with beautiful wood siding. Right when we walked in we were greeted by friendly faces and were given a rundown of the wine tasting.
Each winery we visited was similar to Bingham: friendly staff, delicious wine, and a great environment! We 100% recommend taking the drive out to Fredericksburg.
Kate enjoying sweet wine and great vibes.
Sipping beer and enjoying live music at one of our favorite breweries: Lazarus Brewing
Oh what we would do to be back at Lazarus, sipping a tasty beer…
Cody testing out Lazarus’s flight.
We continued to check out East Austin by hopping over to Zilker Brewing to grab a bite to eat at one of the food trucks, and then decided to check out Lazuras. We soon learned it was our vision of the perfect brewery: many seating options (including the outdoors), live music, games, food, and of course many beer options.
We loved it so much that we ended up coming back a second time to grab a crowler to-go of Kate’s favorite beer, a Hefeweizen.
Throughout all of these experiences, we fell in love with Austin. We loved the people, vibes, weather, and all of the local shops! We know we only scratched the surface of things to do and explore in Austin, so we’re looking forward to making it back. Especially to grab a crowler from Lazuras again!
