Travis County

Not exactly what we had in mind, but they need the rain so badly it is hard to even complain a little bit. We spent a big chunk of the day in the Texas History Museum, which focuses on Texas before statehood. Reading the information panels, it seemed like France, Britain and Spain were the puppet masters dictating everything from afar.

For me the highlight of the museum was the hulk of the 17th century La Belle, a sunken ship that had been the last remaining ship of a French expedition, which had been sent to find the Mississippi River in the gulf. It overshot its mark, the captain was killed, and La Belle sank off the coast of what is now Texas. The ship was found and brought up in the 90s and it is a really fascinating exhibit. Lots and lots of artifacts, and the hull itself sits in the main hall.

The kids were entertained for a few hours, enjoying the replica of the Alamo and a lot of gunslinging displays. It was still raining as we left, so we had to find a food truck court with covered seating. Food trucks are absolutely the best way to get good food in Austin when you’ve got a bunch of kids and don’t want to wait for hours for seating or make reservations weeks in advance. For lunch, we went to Briscuits, whose specialty is unsurprisingly, brisket on bisquits. Lots of non-brisket options too, and I can attest to their yumminess.

After lunch, the annual trip to the great-grandparents’ grave, a visit to Joe’s childhood neighborhood, and then a quick stop at a used book store, where all the kids could choose two books each. We had a few hours of chilling back at the rental, which gave us all the energy to head for excellent pizza at Pinthouse Pizza. The more hardy in the group went on to Churro Co., but I took the easy out and headed back to the house with the excuse that baby Tommy needed to get to bed.Read more