our summer... July Vacation

Technically, we started our trip to Texas at the very end of June, but there was 1 VERY VERY full day of driving (14 hours on the map, but there were a lot of stops, sooo....we got in after midnight.  weary, but excited. (Since we rented a car, Todd and I that did ALL of the driving this trip!) 

The place we were staying was SOOO COOL!  It was modern w/ trendy art,  a foosball table and music-inspired stuff throughout. 

I don't know that we'll get to stay in another place that's so cool again.  

Isabella loved her room. 

(Mercer got the pull out couch... again.... )   :/   sorry, dude! 

there are several reasons why we / he does this... it works, but I know he'd love his own personal room on one of these trips!!  one day we'll be able to rent one that's big enough~

Mercer found the "microwave" in our closet... haha.  (the safe!)

We shopped for groceries (I've heard people talk about H-E-B... and now I get it - it's a great grocery store!) 

Breakfast on the balcony day 1... and many days after + drinks in the afternoon on the balcony.

We had a spectacular view of part of the city of Austin from our balcony.  

And - we could look over to see how busy the pool was or if it was closed for lightning.

  

We were entertained by watching the self-driving (waymo) cars from our balcony too!  This is the first time we'd seen them.  We really didn't have a need to call for one through Uber.... so we didn't.  (We were close enough to walk most everywhere we needed in town... and... you're not guaranteed to get a self-driving car when you use the Uber app.  I guess we should have tried, though.)

So, we just watched and were amused.  (and once or twice a little shocked when we saw them "stall" in an intersection and wonder what would happen!  They have cameras all over them & apparently will NOT go if someone jumps into the driver's seat!

Lidar (light radar) and radar are also used in addition to cameras inside & out.

A daytime shot of the foosball table + the view in the background.  Todd is pretty good at this game and pretty much dominated all of us.  (he's good at darts and air hockey too!)

We went to a minor league baseball game our first evening as our only "outing" for the day (aside from grocery shopping!)

(We were originally hoping to visit a MLB game while there, but they were scheduled away, so we missed out on that)

Mercer and I went thrifting and hat shopping in Austin one day.

He did get one.... a black one.  

... the kids played more foosball...  :)

...and, one night, we walked down to the bridge to watch the bats come out at dusk. 

This top photo is before the bats come out.  But people stand up.  The time is not the same every day -- it depends on temperature and humidity.

It was different than I expected, but -- we did it!

Todd got a cool photo of the bats in a circle.

Isabella slept in pretty much every day.... so  Mercer knocked out some work for his college class one morning.  He was taking an online course again (even though it was a holiday week, the professor did not lessen the requirements of this compressed class)  :/ 

He was taking astronomy over the summer so he wouldn't have to take Chemistry over the course of his senior year at the high school.  Smart!

We went to several different Texas BBQ restaurants.  (Franklin's was probably the most famous).. we stood in line for an hour.  And - they kept coming out to the line saying "ribs will probably be gone by the time you get to place your order, but we have plenty of brisket."    (don't panic. this is just root beer!)  :0

Todd and I took an architectural tour. 

There won't be a lot of commentary throughout these photos (not really famous buildings), but many historic and/or unique

Liked this one for the interaction with the glass façade as it intersects with the historic buildings (is is a nice way to "honor" the historic structure -- not making your structure look like it... it's different as to let the historic structure shine & "pop out."

 

Here's where this high rise office building meets a historic post office (I think)

The height of the lobby is the same height as the historic building.

And this is just inside the lobby - you can see where they encapsulated the historic building. 

Famous "Driskill" Brother's building

Lobby of the Driskill. 

We thought the 3 different column capitals were interesting / unique ... as we hadn't seen a cluster of different capitals before.  

These houses were near our hotel.... across the street and around the corner.  Alarmingly, there was glass everywhere on the ground.

  

The tour guide (and then also on the news) reported that the high-rise about a block away had (another) window fall out and shatter on the ground the day before we went on our walking tour.  "another window?!"  

ummm... ??!!

(There's a hole in the building on the left - almost all the way at the top!)

The prison (also a couple of blocks away from our hotel -- on the other side, closer to the state capital.)

The state capital

The Goddess of Liberty at the top of the dome is holding a Lone Star.

A public watering hole (historic) in front of the capital building.

Love the interesting layering of historic and modern

There was a bit of time spent in the hotel pool which had a small "infinity" edge on one side overlooking the city. 

 (there were some daytime swims, but many evening swims were had as well.) 

The kids didn't really care that they didn't go out much.  They were really just OK with hanging out at hotel and in the pool.

We went to San Antonio one day... we visited the Alamo. (the smooth plaster - mostly at the top - is what was rebuilt.)  

There were (faint) murals on the wall that were being preserved and gave a glimpse into the decorations that would have been painted throughout.

There were soooo so many people and tourists.  But - the kids hung with us and we were able to visit / learn.  We were just not able to do all of the "extras" around the campus. 

(this was a scale model in a display case of the campus)

There was a lot of construction all around the outside of the facility.  There was also an active artifact dig just outside one of the walls next to the building.  

 

There was a building across the plaza that was going to be turned into a hotel.  They were going to a great expense to save the outer walls to re-use in the construction.


 

Everything had "a look" -- beige limestone buildings everywhere (old and new)

We headed towards the river for lunch and a boat ride along the River Walk.   

We ate at one of the 1st restaurants on the river -- a Mexican restaurant that had been in operation for 70 +/- years. 

Isabella fed the ducks tortilla chips.

And fed a pigeon little chip crumbs.  (eeew!)

And - of course - you have to take a boat ride while there!

Unfortunately, just minutes after we got onto the boat... it started raining.  and raining.  and raining.  absolutely pouring.

The kids were a bit miserable.  But - after awhile - it was comedic.  We had a good tour guide in terms of his personality, but he was one of the only boat operators that was not going to stop under a bridge like the other boats (which did cause a jam at one point.) 

He talked about how dangerous it was to stop because they use the Riverwalk as overflow from the streets.... and boy did it overflow!!  That's supposed to be a sidewalk along the Riverwalk.  There weren't many people out walking during the rain storm... can you image if you were hanging out under the bridge to stay out of the rain and then a surge of street stormwater busted out like this?!  Took the photo in motion from our boat as we were NOT stopping under the bridge!

(This river feeds into the Guadalupe River) 

We had originally talked about going to a nearby UNESCO property that had a bunch of mission sites - however, it was pouring... and we were soaking and cold... so we ended up just going back to San Antonio.  

One of the days, Todd and I went one rainy morning to "Austin City Limits" for a tour while the kids chilled.  

ACL was pretty cool.  

They have multiple stages (this is the small one)

View from above looking at the main stage.

We got to go onto the main stage too.  (This is what it looks like if we were performing!)

View from the floor.

We got to see all the behind the scenes stuff. 

We learned about the 2 different photographers and viewed the photo galleries in the event spaces.

There's a poster gallery too - as each show they make a poster for.

There are artifacts throughout from various musicians.

And see the timeline of shows a ACL throughout year one to year 50.

Todd even got his photo with WIllie Nelson while he was smoking on the balcony.  haha

On our (wet) walk home, we discovered an interesting area where a branch of the river that goes through Austin was located.

The neighborhood around it just had a different feel because of all of the trees.  Glad we stumbled onto this  unique part of downtown.

(While we were gone, the kids went and decorated cupcakes in the hotel lobby on their own while we toured ACL.  That was fun for them while we were gone... they liked being able to go do stuff without us... and get to eat at the same time!  There was an ice cream thing one day too that they partook in too.)  On our walk home that same day, we stopped to get 4th of July desserts from the bakery around the corner from us that Sandra Bullock + her sister own "Walton's Fancy & Staple."   So there were plenty of sweets on this trip!

One day we went to a "museum of Ice Cream" - it was touted as one of the best things to do with kids & teens in Austin.

Maybe it should have said for little kids?  Mercer did not enjoy it at all (even the stations with ice cream tastings??! -- I think he went back for second helpings!)   

Isabella seemed to enjoy it mostly but didn't want to do all of the activities that were there.... like the pit of (plastic) sprinkles.

It was set up - in my opinion - as a place for photo ops. 

Lots of props around.  It was expensive for what it was -- a large storefront with several rooms to take photos in, a little playground, and some stations to sample a few flavors.

There was a wall with the history of ice cream on it and one featured that talked about bugs in it... in another country (obviously).    eew. 

They had some cards you could take on a display board and it assessed what kind of ice cream toppings you like based on birthday.  I would agree with this! 

The rest of the family couldn't find theirs, though. The Ice Cream Museum was closing at the end of the month, so I assume they stopped ordering cards?  bummer.

The "unusual" flavor that we all liked was the purple sweet potato ice cream.  

We talked on the way back to the hotel that we have an ice cream maker at home... we used it when they were little.  We all agreed that we should break it back out & make different flavors... but haven't done it yet! 

Those were the major things we did.  There were little things here & there - - here are images that we should remember to remind us of our 2025 family vacation.

We got take-out from the famous "El Arroyo" store. 

They are famous for their ever changing billboards.  

I picked up a little merchandise while picking up our meal.

Graffiti / painted buildings were everywhere. 

These two - obviously bat related.

Playing Oui Si game.

Todd took Isabella to a cat café in Austin.  

I think she got her fill of those this summer!!

Todd calls this building the "Jenga" building.

We thought this was a church building (views from our hotel balcony and from the pool balcony) but it was a "women's club" -- when we finally saw the other side and read the sign!!  

It had some nice details!

Unfortunately, all of the rain that we got the last few days of our vacation also hit the the hill country of Texas that was about 80 - 100 miles away from where we were staying flooded. 

(The hill country is the area in green on this map.) There was historic flooding in the wee hours of the 4th of July along the Guadalupe River. 

Over 130 people perished - including 35 children at a summer camp - camp Mystic. 

(apparently there were generations of families that sent their children to this particular camp -- it was a summer camp institution.

But the cabins that the girls stay in was located in a flood plain near the river.)  The news of all of this was unfolding on our last day there. 

Yes - for us the 4th of July fireworks we planned to watch were cancelled.  There was a natural springs pool we planned to hang out at during the day, but it wasn't sunny, so we didn't go.  Our 4th was very low-key. We were so sad for those families of loved ones who got swept away in the river... and grateful at the same time that we were ok where we were staying.  (We did see streets flooded in Austin the day before but it was nothing like what Kerr County experienced.)  

So, so tragic.

We headed back east the following morning -- packed up the rental and drove 'til we got to Mississippi. 

Before we left the giant state of Texas, Mercer and I went Thrifting in Houston while Todd and Isabella went to a bodies exhibit.  

(We had talked about taking a day-trip from Austin to Houston to do the museum + thrifting) but mapped out and noticed we would pass right through Houston and decided to hit it on our way out instead / eliminate 5 +/- of round-trip driving during our vacation week.

Here are some photos that both Todd and Isabella shared with me from their experience.  (Mercer said he would rather go shopping than to see the exhibit!) 

There was a museum district in Houston -- all of the museums located in one general area.   The Bodies exhibit was at a museum of health... makes sense.  

They had "extra" body-related stuff to do there too.

Real plasticized human bodies / body parts....

We visited our friends and former neighbors, Scott & Shelli.  

In fact, they let us stay with them in their new-to-them (historic) house. 

I had not taken a pic of my cowboy hat, so had to do so while unpacking the car  (no make-up!) 

The kids took a dip in their pool.  So did their dog.

Isabella, of course, loved their dog - Minnie Pearl.  

Mini Pearl loved the chicken that Shelli grilled that evening for dinner.  She swears this plate was full.  (best not to keep on the edge of the table, rather, the center!)  haha

We did not get any photos of our hosts.  We got photos of the Gulf of Mexico, though, from the golf cart ride.  

They're doing well.  Both of their boys are engaged to be married and excelling in their careers.

It was wonderful seeing them!  We hadn't seen them in maybe 8-10 years?  

We got home late at night on a Sunday.  Todd & Mercer had to go to work early Monday morning.  Yikes!

All-in-all...we put over 2,000 miles on the (rental) car & logged 32+ hours of driving (this map view is with no stops / no traffic).   

We did a couple more things before summer officially ended.  I went to a virtual 2 day conference on dysautonomia (to learn more about her POTS).  So informative.  

Our neighbor Orie took us out on a relaxing boat ride. We are grateful that he offers to take us out every year!

It was a beautiful day.  The clouds were perfect!

A different hat.  :)

Isabella snoozed a little.

Mercer chilled.

We all ate dinner and caught up / told Orie of our summer travels.

And.. we went to North Carolina for a few days to visit my mom.  Isabella was happy that she's about the same height as grandma now!  haha!

We had a visit with uncle Eddie.  Eddie is gracious and stops by mom's house usually when we are in town visiting.

We also got to see some family that we have not seen in a long time (many since before Covid)!

We had ice cream with uncle Mel.  and we drove to Wake Forest to visit Uncle David, Francis + a couple of their energetic grandsons that they were watching (2 of Alyssa's boys). 

Unfortunately, we had to cut the visit a little short because we noticed that there was a nail in our tire and had to get it fixed before heading back to Georgia.  (the car above is not what we were driving, but is parked in David's garage -- how fun!)

 

Isabella and I stopped in South Carolina to visit my friend Cindy (again - no pictures... what's up with that?!)  but we got to see her corgi AND her son who's at SCAD.  

Then made the final leg of the trip from Greenville to Marietta.  Thankfully, we made it back home safely.  whew!  

What a LOT of driving this summer!   

On top of the 2000+ miles Todd and I drove to Texas and back, I also logged an extra 1800 round trip miles solo (27 hours of driving -- no traffic -- no stops) for the 3 trips Isabella and I went on to Athens GA, Orlando FL and Liberty NC.  Regretfully, we wanted to branch out to the coast of NC to visit Jeff / Virginia / Aunt Becky but our schedules did not align with theirs.  AND... regretfully, we were not able to squeeze in a trip to New Jersey the week after the 4th.  We really looked at it and tried to figure it out, but just couldn't make it work.  Rose Marie spent much of the summer in a rehab center in Northern NJ.  (Tonia went into the hospital later in the summer for a follow-up heart surgery!)  Both are back home and are doing well.  

And, in July, my step-sister Michelle became a grandma again. Her daughter, Katie, had a baby girl.  So... we'll have to do Florida / NC / NJ again to visit those we did not get to see and meet the new little one!

It was the "summer of road trips."  And - we made it home the day before Isabella's middle school orientation.  

The next post will wrap up the final stretches of summer (the very end of July + the beginning of school in August).