Lady Bird Lake: Exploring Austins Greenbelts

On our second and last full day in Austin, we decided to start the day with a nice stroll. My sister in law had done a bit of research and found a trail along the shores of the Colorado River and Lady Bird Lake which is a small dammed lake they created within the Colorado River. It sits on the edge of downtown Austin and it was a pretty busy place when we got there.

Actually, first things first, on their quest for morning coffee, which @mrsbozz and I don't imbibe in, her sister and brother in law found this great Mexican pastry shop down the road from where we were staying. Comadre Panderia has actually gotten a bit of recognition over the years and it is a quite popular place. After trying the various pastries, I can definitely tell why. If you look at the photo above, in the upper left are a couple apple empanadas, below that is a key lime doughnut, then I don't remember what the other two are.

Needless to say, I thought the empanada was going to be the best thing in the box, but it turned out the key lime doughnut was everyone's favorite. You need to check this place out if you visit Austin Texas.

After driving over to the parking area near where we decided to walk, we got out of the car and started our trek along the shores of the Colorado River. There isn't much to say about this path. I plan on just letting the photos do the talking for much of this post. As I said before though, it was quite busy. There wasn't a moment when a runner or group of runners wasn't flying past us in one direction or another. It became pretty apparent that running clubs use this trail as a regular spot for their get togethers. Perhaps it is even some kind of loose variation of "parkrun" like @steevc attends.

As we were walking, we got to a point where there was a park with a softball game going on. I felt obliged to try and take a few shots of the game. You can't really see what is happening because there was a pretty heavy shrub barrier the further down the fenceline you went, but you kind of get the idea in the photo above. I remember when my nieces had these early Saturday morning fall games with their travel teams.

The park was a really good mix of nature elements, but also views that reminded you the heart of downtown was just across the river. We came upon a group of people at one point who were there volunteering clearing some of the underbrush and vines that had started to encroach on the path. It was nice to see that the community cares a lot about this space that has been created for them to enjoy.

I forgot to mention, part of the reason we had such a small breakfast was because for lunch that day we had planned on meeting my wife's relatives for some authentic Texas BBQ. That's a story for a different post though.

This walk on the Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail lasted just about 43 minutes as we weren't looking to break any land speed records. We covered a distance of 2.07 miles and my heart rate was at an average of 88 bpm, so as you can see it was a pretty leisurely stroll.

I can definitely see why people enjoy coming here, and if I lived in the area, it would be a regular spot for me to get some exercise. Part of me wonders how many people make a full circuit around the lake part of their daily routine.

If you get the chance, I highly encourage you to check out this hidden gem in the heart of Austin!