More Murals of Austin

More Murals of Austin.    I am adding to my list.   Want a free fun activity you can do with your kids?    Go on a hunt around Austin for the best or your favorite mural in Austin.  

Here is a listing of the Murals of Austin we have found so far.   

Comment if you know any good ones that I still need to check out.  There are always new murals around Austin so let me know you favorite.   


1) “Astronaut with Pizza” – Behind Brick Oven Pizza - 1209 Red River St downtown

2) “Red Whale” – Behind Brick Oven Pizza - 1209 Red River St downtown

3) “Mosquito Head” – Behind Brick Oven Pizza - 1209 Red River St downtown

4) “Smile” –  Next to Hey Cup Cake at 1511 S Congress Ave 

5) “Mary” – Side of  Tesoros Trading Company Retail 1500 S Congress Ave 

6) “Western Dog” – 2717 S Lamar Blvd Austin

   

7)“Greetings from Austin” 1720 S. First Street, on the southern exterior wall of Roadhouse Relics

8) “Hi, How Are You?” frog – At the corner of 21st and Guadalupe, across from The University of Texas at Austin

9) “I love you so much” – On the side of Jo’s Hot Coffee shop on South Congress.  242 West 2nd Street, Austin, Texas 78701 

10) "Living the good life" 1114 Cesar Chavez , Austin

11) "Til death do us part" located at 419 Congress Ave

12)  Austin, Texas Post card mural - located at 3700 Guadalupe 

13) "Alright, Alright, Alright" located at 1603 S. 1st St. 

14) South Side Austin Mural -  at the 23rd St Artisan Market

 15)  South Side Austin Mural -  at the 23rd St Artisan Market

16) North Side Texas Mural -  at the 23rd St Artisan Market

 17) University of Texas Tower North Side wall -  at the 23rd St Artisan Market

18 ) "Quiet the Mind" located on 2428 Guadalupe St

19) "Smile now cry Later" located on 2428 Guadalupe St

  

20) "He smiles, but he doesn't see" located on 2428 Guadalupe St 

21) "Wasabi" located on 2428 Guadalupe St

  

22) "Won't you be my Neighbor" on the side of Home Slice located at 1415 S Congress Ave,

23) "Willie for President" located at 1423 S Congress Ave 

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Twisted X Brewing Company

Another day another Brewery in Texas Hill Country. This time we stopped at Twisted X with some friends. It is just a few miles down the road from Salt Lick BBQ in Dripping Springs.   This brewery offers small batches of craft brews.  You can sample beers on specially-made flight paddles with 4.5 oz. samples at $2-$3 a piece.

I tried a Hibiscus Beer but made it a shandy with Lemonade.   They have a food truck on site that offers fried pickles, loaded french fries, hot dogs and more.  On the Saturday we went there were lots of bikers and kids.   They have multiple sets of corn hole,  lawn jenga, sting hook bar game and open space to throw a frisbee or ball.  Dogs are also allowed.  On a great weather day drive out and have lunch and enjoy the free live music with a beer while you sit outside. Our kids loved playing outside with the other kids who came.

 

Free Brewery Tours are available and no reservations are required.  They are on Saturdays at 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 5:00 pm & Sundays at 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm

Hours:
Thursday – Saturday 11 am – 9 pm
Sundays 12 pm – 8 pm

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Kolaches What Are They and Where to Find Them

What are Kolaches?  Kolaches came to the United States with Czech immigrants that settled in Texas. You can get Kolaches everywhere here in Texas but I had never even heard of them living on the east coast or west coast.  They must be a Texas only thing.  They are a meat filled pastry that are usually made with sausage but other varieties sweet varieties are available like apricot and poppy seeds.    Here are some places to pick up those delicious Kolaches here in Austin.

1) Krispy Kreme - I have been going to Krispy Kreme for donuts my whole life and I just learned that Krispy Kreme in Austin has 7 kinds of Kolaches baked fresh daily. (Ham and Cheese, Jalapeno Sausage and Cheese, Bacon Egg and Cheese, Pizza, Potatoe Egg and Cheese and Sausage and Cheese. )

2) Lone Star Kolaches - This place has a wide variety of Sweet, Sausage or Egg Kolaches and has been my favorite.   There is a whole wall of Kolaches to choose from.

3) Kolache Factory - This place was similar to Lone Star and has a wide variety of Sweet, Sausage or Egg Kolaches but for some reason I like the Kolache bread at Lone Star better.

4) Shipley Do-nuts - Has over 8 kinds of Kolaches you can pick up while also getting a dozen delicious donuts. 

5) KC Donut Store - Offers  Donuts, Croissants, Tacos and Kolaches - This one place can serve all breakfast needs.  Sweet or Savory. 

6) Even the Grocery Store check out frozen Kolaches at HEB you can microwave at home just like those mini waffles and pancakes. 

If you have never had one they are definitely worth a try.  

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15 Playground Restaurants in Austin

Well it has been a while since my first post here on Austinmogger.com. In my first post I detailed 10 Playground restaurants to take your kids to where you can eat and the kids can have fun.   See the full blog here.   But a quick run down of the first 10 Playground restaurants are listed below:

1. Flores Mexican Restaurant – (South Austin) 
2. Phil’s Ice house / Amy’s Ice Cream  (Downtown) 
3. Angels Ice house - (Spicewood) 
4. Stubb's Bar-B-Q at Graceland Grocery - (West Austin) 
5. North by Northwest – (Southwest Circle C Area)  
6. Salt Lick – (Driftwood) 
7. Waterloo Ice house - (Southwest Circle C Area) 
8.  Doc’s Backyard – (Sunset) 
9. Ski Shores  - (Lake Austin) 
10. Mandola’s Italian Restaurant – 2 locations (South West Austin) & (The Bee Cave / 620 / 71)  

Now for 5 More!!!!

11) Hat Creek Burger Co. (Burnet Road Downtown) 5400 Burnet Dr Austin, Texas 78756 

Hat Creek offers delicious burgers, salads, chicken sandwiches, and chicken flashers or grill cheese for the kids.  They have yummy milk shakes too.  For the adults they do serve beer and wine.  This location has a giant wooden structure for kids to climb and a slide. (breakfast tacos and eggs are also available) 

12) Hat Creek Burger Co. (Westlake) 5902 Bee Cave Road Austin, Texas 78746

This location offers the same food as above but offers a much larger play area. 

13) Tratorria Lisisna (Driftwood) 13308 FM 150 West Driftwood, TX 78619  - This is an upscale Italian Restaurant that is next to the Duchman Winery.  If you are going here with kids I recommend ordering take out from Trattoria Lisina and eating outside at one of the many tables in the shade and next to a pretty large playground or tables under the tress next to vast open fields for the kids to run around.  Then you can buy a bottle of wine at the winery and have a pleasant afternoon.    Bonus: you can go back in and get a scoop of gelato after you finish your food.   Kids will love the gelato and playground.   Click here for a review of this restaurant and winery. 

14) Austin Pizza Garden (Oak Hill) 6266 W Hwy 290 Austin, TX 78735  - This pizza place has a great playground and even better pizza.   There is a private room upstairs where they show kid movies and give away free popcorn.   Not available every night. Fun Fact:  It is supposed to be haunted. 

15) Joe's Crab Shack (Round Rock) 2401 S. IH 35 Round Rock, TX 78664 - Joe's is great if you like crab.  We always get the buckets of peel and crack crab.   My kids love it.   This play set is huge.   It is two stories high and has a sand pit all around it.  

When I go to another 5 I will compile the list again but for now happy eating out as a family.  

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Bowling in Austin - Westgate Lanes

It has been a rainy weekend and with the weather not great for out door activities you need to come up with some great indoor ones for your kids.   We decided on bowling this weekend at Westgate Lanes.   It is has 40 lanes and they have Bumpers that you can select for each bowler.  We added bumpers to both of our kids lanes so when they were up to bowl they popped up and for the adults the went down.  These are great for preventing gutter balls and keeping kids happy.   Also  since bowling balls are heavy there have ball ramps for the kids to use to send their ball down the lanes.

They even have Rock-n-Bowl which is bowling with the lights down and the black lights on and fun music at 11 pm on Saturday and Sunday but this is more of an adult thing.

It is open 7 days a week. Sunday - Thursday 9:00am - Midnight and Friday & Saturday 9:00am - 2:00am.


Prices:

• Monday - Friday before 5:00pm -  Adults $3.50 Or Hourly $21.00 per lane, per hour 
• Monday - Friday after 5:00pm Or Weekends and Holidays - Adults $4.10  Or Hourly $27.00 per lane, per hour.  
• Shoe Rental is $3 per pair

For food they are burgers are fries from CeCe's Burger and Fries.  Plus vending machines.

For drinks there is the "Home of the 13th Frame Sports Bar"

 

There is also an Arcade Room with an air hockey table.

This can easily be an hour or two of fun for the whole family.

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Staycation - Lakeway Resort and Spa - Lakeside Resort in Austin's Lake Travis

Want to try a stay-cation right here in Austin.   The Lakeway Resort is 30 miles from downtown Austin.  It is a hotel on the Lake with a spa, great pools and amazing views of Lake Travis in Texas Hill Country.    We have been to the Oasis on Lake Travis for sunset but found the sunset was fantastic from the porch off the lobby bar here with less crowds.  You can sit in a rocking chair and watch the sunset with a glass of wine.

 

There actually 3 pools, a deep pool, a giant hot tub, an adult only pool with a swim up bar and a beach entry pool with water slides and sprayers (The water slides and sprayers are only open seasonally call before making reservations.)  When we went it was off season and they were not on by my kids still enjoyed the pool.   

Most importantly parents there is a Kid Zone that has an inflatable bouncy house, movies, games and toys like Ping Pong, Air Hockey and Pin Ball.    The kids zone is only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 7pm.  But when it is open it offers a supervised play area so you can get away for those spa appointments or time in the adult only pool.   The price is included in the resort fee and you can drop your kids off during their hours as long as they are older than 2 years old.

For dinning options we ate Lake Travis Restaurant on site for dinner and breakfast.  We had lunch and drinks at the pool.  It was a great get away for a weekend and close by.

When out in the sun don't forget to protect your self and your kids.  WARNING – not all ‘sunscreens’ with ‘baby’ labeled on them are safe for your children!  See this blog on Baby Sunscreens blog for more info. 

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