I had a friend come into town last weekend for a short visit, so naturally I wanted to show off a bit of Austin. I knew we wouln't have much time, and that we would need to get some lunch in so I decided to head out to Lake Travis. We stopped at one of my favorite lake restaurants, The Boathouse Grill, ate some tasty fish, and headed out to Windy Point. If you are new to Austin, Lake Travis is west of Austin
about 20 miles and can be accessed by several roads,(see the austin.commerce maps feature to the right of this article for location). The Lake was formed in 1946 when Mansfield Dam was built on the Colorado river just north of the Hudson Bend. It is the eastern most lake in a chain of man made lakes on the Colorado called the Highland Lakes. It is surrounded by the hill country so it has very beautiful vistas all around it, especially through the Volente area and around the dam There are many public parks along the lake. Mansfield park by the dam, Windy Point popular with wind surfers, Hippy Hollow is a nudist beach, up the river Pace Bend Park has many secluded coves excellent for camping, all are beautiful. Austin.com will soon feature detailed information on Austin?s Public Parks, location, fees and times etc. including the lakes and Colorado River parks. For more information visit www.LCRA.org.
Having lived in Austin for 22 years it sometimes takes visiting friends or family to get back out to some of my favorite places around town. I do spend as much time out at the lake as I can, but I hadn?t been out to Windy Point Park in years. It really is a beautiful place, so close to town, yet a perfect escape even if you just need to breath for a couple of hours. Last weekend the water temperature got into the mid 70's which makes swimming the best cure for the early summer heat. Well that?s my latest around Austin suggested excursion. Please contact us with your spots of interest around Austin or write about one of your excursions in the Austin area. Please state in your message if we can post what you wrote. - more soon
