Travis Investigations

Take a dip into the Barton Springs pool, which measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. Over the years, people from all walks of life, from legislators to free-spirited have been drawn to this fantastic pool where even Robert Redford learned to swim at five years old. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record-setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000 in recent years.

Nestled within the Lucky Lizard curio shop, the Museum of the Weird is one of the world's last authentic dime museums continuing in the tradition of P.T. Barnum. The museum boasts a variety of unusual attractions, such as monsters, 3,000-year-old mummies, freaks of nature, shrunken heads, giant lizards, wax figures, and Fiji mermaids. It also features unexplained paranormal subject matter like ghosts, UFOs, and a replica skull of Bigfoot, and is home to the world-famous Creature in Ice.

Celebrate Eeyore's Birthday Party every April at Pease Park, where the bizarre and unusual are perfectly normal. This celebration highlights Austin’s lovably odd, free-spirit culture at this iconic annual spring festival. Eeyore’s Birthday Party features games, face painting, henna, temporary tattoos, live music, drum circles, dancing, and singing. Costumes are certainly encouraged. So rummage through the closet for those tutus, fairy wings, hula hoops, and flower crowns.

One spark of inspiration is all you need for your next big idea at the Thinkery, where each exhibit is hands-on, play-based learning, with activities and content appropriate for visitors of all ages. Create colorful works of art, take apart toys or build and launch gliders at the Spark Shop. See, feel and hear the connections between water and sound at the Currents exhibit. Find out how color, light, and shadows impact the environment at the Light Lab. Participate in sensory exploration, chemical reactions, and edible minerals in the Kitchen Lab. Imagine buying and selling delicious fruits and vegetables or collecting eggs from a pretend chicken coop in Fresh! Farmers’ Market. Step outside to the Backyard and scale the heights of a universally-accessible, custom-designed climber, or rest under the branches of a native elm tree.