New Braunfels area

[rie'smom]

We're going there in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about fun things to do besides the water park. Thanks!!!

 

[Shyvioletisme]

We're going there in a couple of weeks and I was wondering about fun things to do besides the water park. Thanks!!!

both San Antonio and Austin are only about a half hour away either direction on I-35. If you go to San Antonio, there's SeaWorld and Fiesta Texas, the riverwalk, and amazing mexican food. Austin has such an eclectic culture, fun shopping and just great scenery. You could go drive the hill country around that whole area...it is gorgeous!

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

If you're going to be that close you should go to the Alamo!

 

[rie'smom]

Cool! I appreciate the input. We're definitely going to the Alamo too.

What is Fiesta Texas, it sounds fun.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

Cool! I appreciate the input. We're definitely going to the Alamo too.

What is Fiesta Texas, it sounds fun.

it's the Six Flags park in San Antonio. it is better than Six Flags over Texas, but it is still an amusement park. Lately they have had a deal where everyone pays kids price for admission, so if you were interested you might be able to get in cheaper.

As someone else mentioned, yes the Alamo would be great to visit, it is right off the riverwalk in San Antonio.

 

[rie'smom]

Thank-you!!!

 

[2BOYMOM]

Check this out if you want a fun time:

http://www.rockinr.com/

Have done this twice and is a blast! Also New Braunfels has a German heritage. Lots of good places to eat! I love going there....

 

[rie'smom]

Thanks so much! German food!!!

 

[southernbohemian]

They have the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch near there where you drive around and look at the animals. There's also the Natural Bridge Caverns if you want to go to caves.

San Marcos has a lot of outlet malls if you're interested in shopping.

If you're coming in to Austin, there's usually a lot of free or cheap things to do. My kids really like going to the capital and that's free. Zilker Park is also a lot of fun - they have a train if you have little ones, and you can go swimming in Barton Springs Pool. They also put on a free musical (Annie) from July 9-August 14 on Thursdays-Sundays which is our favorite Austin tradition. You bring a blanket and stake a place and then go play in the park until it's time for the play to start - usually when it gets dark. The only problem is that it does run fairly late - we don't usually get out of there before midnight.

 

[Planogirl]

I would have recommended Gruene, Texas and maybe a float down the Guadalupe or Comal Rivers (which is wildly popular) but I'm hearing that there was some severe flooding recently. Does anyone know what the situation is now?

Schlitterbahn was apparently damaged but they seem to be getting everything back to normal. Ugh.

 

[mamacatnv]

We went to Schlitterbahn 2 summers ago for 10 days - had the most amazing time.
We stayed in one of the Schlitterbahn apts on the river - loved loved loved the water park.

Here are a few things we did:

Natural Bridges Caverns - amazing, we did the general cave tour and the flashlight tour. Then we went thru the drive thru safari where we had an encounter with an ostrich that to this day has us all rolling on the floor laughing.

We tubed the Comal with Rockin R tubes (we were their first ever NV guests that they could remember) the Guadalupe was running too high that summer and there was no tubing plus DD was only 8 and it scared us a bit.

Visited the Snake Farm (featured on Dirtiest Jobs)

The Alamo was worth dealing with the heat as was a visit to St. Francis Cathedral where the remains are entombed.
We took the boat tour of the Riverwalk and enjoyed the boat but didn't enjoy the commercialism of the Riverwalk, we did enjoy the outdoor market that is a few blocks away much more.

SeaWorld SA was fun

We took a sunset Bat Cruise up in Austin on Lady Bird Lake

Enjoyed dinner in Gruene at the Gristmill, and in Driftwood at the SaltLick.
Wandered to LockHart one day for Blacks BBQ
We had dinner at the "famous" Oma House and while dessert was fabulous, dinner left us hungry. We were surprised at the cost (spendy) vs. the portions and literally left hungry.

We loved our TX vacation, have fun!

 

[Aimeedyan]

Natural Bridge is a very nice cavern. I've taken kids there several times.

I have two friends that just returned from (seperate) trip to the Guadalupe on float trips and they both said they had no idea where the flooding was as there was no evidence of it. One said she heard that part was closed and it may be due to that but they didn't hear anything more than that (and floated about 6 hours without running into anything).

I think SeaWorld is great, and this is coming from a non theme park person.

San Marcos outlet mall is amazing, if you are a shopper.

 

[madge]

I have a friend at Schlitterbahn today!

 

[vettegirl]

Fiesta Texas is worth checking out and they also have a decent waterpark that is included in your admission ticket.

 

[AustinTink]

I have a friend at Schlitterbahn today!

They just reopened all three sections of the park today!

As for tubing the rivers, I believe both the Comal and Guadalupe are off limits right now. I have a picture on my facebook from Thursday showing a Rockin' R shuttle bus actually in the river.

It's a mess right now in New Braunfels/Gruene. Those poor people get flooded out on a regular basis. but they always re-build bigger and better!

 

[AustinTink]

We took a sunset Bat Cruise up in Austin on Lady Bird Lake

That's always fun! BTW, it's so funny to see people call it Lady Bird Lake. They just changed the name recently when she passed away. The locals will always call it Town Lake.