We started on Friday morning by meeting for breakfast at Bribery Bakery in the Mueller area of central Austin - a unique bakery with some awesome rich delicious breakfast fare. It was cool enough to sit out on the patio, to begin our day!
Our first stop after breakfast was the Austin Zoo - a rescue zoo - small but nice - where we walked around about an 1 1/2 hours looking at animals - it was quite nice. They even have a train that we rode and enjoyed! Stayed there until about 1pm.
We had heard of our lunch stop in Dripping Springs, Pieous, and it lived up to its fame! The pizza was super tasty, and next door they have a coffee shop/deck called Pie-a-Tea - so cute! Definitely worth the stop!
Made it to our destination - The Exotic Zoo - in Johnson City - not more than 1 1/2 hours from Austin - where we rented the Bear's Den and the Ostrich Nest - the names of our two cabins. They each had two queen beds, small fridge and microwave - so not the best for cooking. Best to bring your food pretty much all made and prepared - but you can grill outside - which we did! All linens provided- pretty nice room - and a good price! Outside the cabins was a kiddie pool, a bigger pool, a playscape, petting zoo, and fire pit - all part of the beauty scenery where animals roamed just the other side of the fence - including kangaroos, deer, pigs, and camels! We relaxed and swam all afternoon before we grilled chicken - for nachos and jalapeno poppers!
We also decided to do a "halfway to Christmas" party where we made ornaments and gave little gifts - it was great fun.
The next morning we went on the safari tour of the zoo (part of the cabin package price) - we hopped aboard a tractor pulled wagon and they took us all over the property, where animals roamed and came to our hands to feed! This was SO MUCH FUN! This safari is worth experiencing, even if you don't stay in the cabins!
After our tour, we drove into Johnson City (super close) and had lunch at Pecan Street Brewing - delicious - but there was a wait for a table!
We drove back and enjoyed another afternoon of swimming and relaxing, and even feeding the camel that showed up just before dinner - tonite it was grilled burgers and Chuy's dip (we made and brought with us!)
Our final day we enjoyed breakfast again on our deck (we just brought muffins, scones, and fruit for each day) and checked out, and drove into Blanco (not far, either!) for lunch at Redbud Cafe (except some got a coffee at Bean & Biscuit first). The cafe was delicious - I had a Mediterranean wrap. We sat on the picnic table on the square afterwards and played a jelly bean game - crazy disgusting! Then we recorded and sang our annual family song!
We ended our trip with the Buggy Barn Museum down the road, still in Blanco, where we listened to a tour guide show us buggies used in movies, then he took us for a buggy ride!
It was not an expensive trip, and with some planning, it turned out to be a success - all being together for fun, sun, and animals!!!
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