Hamilton Pools // Longhorn Caverns
We kicked off Spring Break with an extended trip to the lake. The plan was to head up Thursday evening so we could wake up early on Friday and head off on some new adventures.
The first of those adventures was Hamilton Pools.
We woke up early to fog and headed out towards Marble Falls.
We have been to Hamilton Pools before, but it was back when the area was in a drought and the waterfall that defines the spot was a little more than a trickle. You can see our post on our first visit here
You'll notice that theres considerably more people the first time we visited. This is due to the time of year we visited. Hamilton Pools won't open for swimming until May. This and the fact that we got there right when they opened kept the crowd sizes very small. Since then they've also changed their policy regarding visitors. If you want to visit during swim season you need to make a reservation. Some people I've talked to are upset about this, but we're all for it since it will ensure that the pools won't get as crowded as they once were.
After a couple hours exploring Hamilton Pools we headed back into Marble Falls for some lunch.
We've heard about the Bluebonnet Cafe for some time now, so we figured now was as good a time as any to try it out.
It was your typical southern diner with simple, but good food. Of course we couldn't pass up on the pie that they're famous for. Peach for me and cherry for Jordan.
After lunch we headed back out in the direction of
. They run scheduled tours and we were trying to make the 1pm time slot.
After a brief walk to the entrance we headed down into the caverns. It was very interesting, but at a full hour tour a little long for our kids. I also think Isla was a bit scared although she wouldn't admit it.
At one point they turned off all the lights and the caverns were bathed in
total
darkness. It was a pretty eerie feeling to say the least.
After the tour we headed back towards the Hollows as we were meeting our friends the Alleys for the weekend.
After looking at the weather we noticed that Saturday was calling for a lot of rain. Even though it had already been a busy day, we figured we should shift around some of our plans and move our "boat day" to Friday.
As soon as we got back to the house we changed into swimsuits, loaded up some boat necessities and headed down to the marina.
We had a fun afternoon on the lake capped off with a trip to the pool. The live musician even obliged our Rocky Top request! It was a little bit of Tennessee in Texas!
The next day we headed to
right down the street. We have some friends that live in the Austin area that were able to meet us there as well. It was a great way to spend a rainy day under the pavilion enjoying lunch and wine.
Holden mostly just enjoyed sprinkles...
This was only Isla's second time meeting our friends daughter Avery, but they hit it off really well, and we ended up with an extra little girl sleeping over that night.
It was a really fun weekend full of great friends and beautiful scenery. I highly recommend all these places if you're up in the area.