Road Trip to San Marcos: Aquarena Springs Glass-Bottom Boat Tours.

We recently took a day trip to San Marcos, which is only about thirty minutes south of Austin City Limits. I would have told you previously that it boasted a smallish college (Texas State, formerly Southwest Texas), and a pretty fantastic outlet mall, but it turns out there is more to San Marcos than that. Who knew?

We made two stops that day, with the first being at Texas State University's Aquarena Springs, where we took a glass-bottom boat tour of the Edwards Aquifer and the springs. This has been on my Austin Bucket List for some time, and so I was excited to get to experience this with my girls! The first thing we came across was the Texas Rivers Discovery Center, which held a small aquarium and exhibit:

It also provided these sweeping views of the boat and the springs from the observation deck. Is that not the clearest water you've ever seen?!

It was a gorgeous day:

My and my little ladies (I must start doing my hair!)!

We got some great views through the glass-bottom...

...and also above water:

After the tour, which lasted thirty-ish minutes and was led by a really knowledgeable tour guide who talked in detail about the history of the springs and the animals and foliage that surrounded it, we went inside to check out the small aquarium and exhibits:

Though it was a short tour and a small exhibit, it was well worth the effort put in to taking the kiddos down there, and they loved it! I'd definitely go back!

You can find the Aquarena Springs Center at 951 Aquarena Springs Dr. San Marcos, TX 78666 (yes, that's seriously the zip code folks!). Tickets are $9 for adults, $6 for 3+, and free for those under 3. Tours are given every half hour, and if you're lucky (like we were), you'll get a small group of ten or less!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the second half of our San Marcos day trip!

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