Travelling to Austin with a 7-Year-Old

June 30, 2004 2:25 PM

I will be visiting Austin, TX soon and am looking for some fun places to see or fun things to do. Any ideas? Oh, they should also be fun for a seven year old boy.
posted by caddis to Travel & Transportation around Austin, TX (15 answers total)

Best answer: Here's some stuff off the top of my head:

ATTRACTIONS
--Barton Springs is plenty fun, if cold (68 degrees year round, but people still swim in the thing). The playscape at Zilker Park (where the springs are located) is wicked fun for kids. There's also a train through the park that he might like. And disc golf.

--The Austin Children's Museum is great fun on a rainy day. It's a pretty hands-on deal, more of a giant playroom than an actual "museum".

--Bat. Bats, bats, bats. The Congress Avenue bridge is home to a ginormous colony of ~1,000,000 bats, and you can sit on the lawn near the bridge and watch them emerge. Mesmerizing.

--Duck tours. These are some kind of weird amphibious vehicle that take you on a tour of downtown as well as Town Lake.

--The Harry Ransom Center on the UT campus has a Gutenberg bible. Kids love ancient bibles.

--Mt. Bonnell. You have to climb a million steps to get to the top of it, but the view is worth it. Leave the kid with a sitter and take your honey on this one.

--If hiking is your bag, don't miss the Barton Greenbelt. Great scenery, nifty waterfalls, peaceful dope-smoking hippies--all the stuff you expect from Austin in the out of doors.

--"The Drag", the section of Guadalupe St between MLK and 26th Street, has been almost totally stripmalled, but there's still some interesting things to see, and it borders the University, which is vast and worth visiting just to wander around.

--Don't bother with 6th street unless you are a big music fan and can leave the kid at home for a night.

FOOD
--Eat migas at Kerbey Lane and at Las Manitas and decide which you like better. Then go back to Kerbey Lane and eat pancakes.

--Drive out to Driftwood and visit the Salt Lick, arguably the best barbecue in Texas. But bring your own cooler of beer, as it is in a dry county. Do not, however, give the seven-year-old beer. Children hate beer.

--Go to Threadgill's Armadillo World Headquarters and eat chicken fried steak. They also have live music pretty frequently.

That's the most "austiny" type stuff I could think of on short notice. If you have an open day, you might want to drive down to San Antonio and check out the river walk and the Alamo.

Feel free to email me if you like.
posted by vraxoin at 2:46 PM on June 30, 2004

Barton Springs is a must-do. Go on a hot, sunny day (if we ever have one again--weather's been uncharacteristically cool and wet) and bring your swimsuit. There are a number of restaurants near it--Chuy's (Tex-Mex) is an Austin institution.

There's a children's museum downtown.

The campus at the University of Texas has several museums, including one of archeology that might be of interest to a 7yo who likes dinosaurs.

Sadly, Austin lacks what normal people might consider a real downtown where you'd want to walk around, but we do have 6th Street (rowdy entertainment district), the warehouse district (spendier entertainment district), and South Congress (funky antique stores being gentrified into fashiony boutiques) as neighborhoods you might want to explore. Though the entertainment districts, perhaps not with a 7yo.

austin.about.com is a not-bad reference.
posted by adamrice at 2:55 PM on June 30, 2004

Bah. Give Kerbey Lane a miss. They've gone way downhill from their glory days. Let's just say I have a friend who's a health inspector and leave it at that.

Hoover's has excellent BBQ and kicks Threadgill's butt when it comes to home cookin'.
posted by adamrice at 2:58 PM on June 30, 2004

I vote Curra's (the south one) if you want good, moderately priced Mexican food. Try the mole (moh-lay) enchiladas. Or if you want a good burger, go to Hut's and get a Chubby Chuck. Oh, oh, and Amy's Ice Cream! The servers are very silly people, and the ice cream is great. There are a number around town, though the one on Guadalupe is the one I like best.

McInney Falls (probably spelled that wrong) is good for some short hiking. It's sorta on the outskirts of town though.

Kerbey Lane pancakes are gooooood.
posted by picea at 3:37 PM on June 30, 2004

You got to see the bats come out from under the Congress Ave bridge. Kids love seeing thousands of bats going out for a night of eating bugs.

Would also recommend Kerbey Lane pancakes.
posted by birdherder at 3:49 PM on June 30, 2004

Iron Works is one of my favorites for BBQ. My six year niece old loves to go and sit outside to eat. It is a rather interesting place.
posted by busboy789 at 4:21 PM on June 30, 2004

The bats rock. Bring a picnic and toys, because children don't always love the waiting part. You can also see the bats from boats on the river.

Also gingerbread pancakes at the Magnolia. Mmmm, gingerbread pancakes.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:32 PM on June 30, 2004

I love how Austin is seemingly the pancake mecca.

Kids - Bats, the train at zilker, the kids museum, and the capitol building. Its fun to stand on the big star and look up. There is an IMAX at the Texas State History Museum, and I dunno about yall but when I was a kid IMAX was KILLER.

I know lots of kids like to eat at the central market cafe on N Lamar because it has a big playground. And Amys for Ice Cream. But go to the Arboretum one because they have big marble cows you can sit on and play on. There is also a big pond down from the cows where you can feed ducks and see pretty scenery.

There is a lookout on 360 which is great at night for skyline view.
posted by jopreacher at 12:33 AM on July 1, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks, these are great suggestions.
posted by caddis at 3:36 AM on July 1, 2004

The Alamo Drafthouse. Movies, lots of fun, and beer. (For example - for the opening of Spider-Man 2, they have a giant velcro wall for people to jump onto.) Probably my favorite thing in Austin.
posted by majcher at 4:55 AM on July 1, 2004

Here's the details on bat watching. That page has a number you can call to find out the estimated flight time for the evening. It's pretty crowded on weekends, so try to go on a weekday if you can.

The Zilker/Barton Springs area can be an all-day event if you want--walk downstream about a hundred yards from the pool, you can rent a canoe and paddle around in the stream, or all the way down to Town Lake.

Another vote for Magnolia Cafe over Kerbey Lane. Gingerbread rules!

If you are up for a drive and a little hike, Hamilton Pool is interesting. A little closer to town, you will find the Austin Zoo, which is a little different than most zoo experiences because all the animals have been rescued from bad situations or clueless owners ("wouldn't it be great to have a pet tiger?!"). They have a petting zoo with traditional farm animals, plus llamas and such. This one is a big hit with our kids (7 and 2).
posted by whatnot at 8:49 AM on July 1, 2004

Best answer: God, I miss Austin. The Salt Lick BBQ is worth the drive to Driftwood.
posted by ColdChef at 9:00 AM on July 1, 2004

Best answer: The Texas History Museum is cool. My seven year old and 5 year old loved it. Also, Zilker is the bomb for little kids. Lots of running space and all.

As for food, I'd try Martin's (or Dirty's - the local name) on Guadalupe, just north of the Drag. It's tasty, greasy burgers are muy bueno for hangovers and hungry kids.
posted by CRS at 9:40 AM on July 1, 2004

I've lived in Austin and have only done/visited half the things listed.

You might also want to go on a Tower Tour. Nice view of the city and the university.
posted by lychee at 9:57 AM on July 1, 2004

What?! Genuine Austinites giving advice for kid-friendly stuff to do in Austin and there's not one reference to Toy Joy!?

Well, there you go. Visit Toy Joy. It's a happy place.

I lived in Austin for a bit. The bats are cool. The food is astoundingly good, varied, and cheap. The springs and greenbelts are awesome, too.
posted by loquacious at 2:49 AM on July 4, 2004