Although it has many sites to see, I loved Barton Springs in Austin, TX. It's a natural spring, that's about an 1/8 to 1/4 mile long and it's cleaned once a week, which is pretty cool (I guess I felt better about the parasite thing after learning that). The water is a beautiful blue, green and you can see the algae on the sides and little fish swimming around. There's a deep-end and a shallow-end.
The city itself reminds me of San Francisco, only smaller, cheaper, spread out and HOT! Oh, yeah and totally liberal from the rest of the state. I could probably live there for a little bit, until the heat got to me. Also, I'm a coastal person, so without the ocean close by, that might drive me crazy; however, I think the Gulf of Mexico is only two hours away. Then again, right now it's hurtin', so that's definitely a con for me. But the town is amazing. Great food, music and people. I had my first frito pie. If you don't know what it is, it's frito chips topped with chili, cheese and onions. I couldn't remember the last time I had fritos! This was heaven.
I went to some other swimming holes and tasted the BBQ, which was out-of-this-world. Everyone should visit Austin, TX at least once in their lives. I used to think Texas was just this dry, flat place with a couple buildings, but Austin is hilly and green! Check it out!
