Given that I had never been to Austin prior to attending Austin City Limits, it only makes sense that I would have went out and explored a little bit. Sure, my friend and I segwayed through Downtown and saw things like the Colorado River and the city’s capitol, but what really stuck out were two vastly different museums.
On our first day with a little bit of time to kill in the late morning, my friend and I were wandering down famed sixth street and found a delightfully kitschy and kind of junky Museum of the Weird. This museum was small, but they packed it full of strange figures, trinkets, and facts. My friend and I found it most interesting to learn about how shrunken heads get made (you take out the skull and soak it in water!). Of course there was a display dedicated to Austin’s Bigfoot, but there were also weird little sea creatures and farm animals. It’s the kind of stuff I would expect to see at an old-time carnival, but that didn’t make it any less fun. There was even a little wax museum with well-known horror figures! My favorite takeaways from the museum was learning that our hotel was haunted, and that the house we went through was where Johnny Depp stayed while filming What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
The other museum we visited was also decided on a whim, and for this one I truly wish we’d have known we were going to do it ahead of time. That’s because at the Museum of Ice Cream, price of admission comes with UNLIMITED ICE CREAM. Of course we’d just had a bunch of fruit and a donut almost the size of my face. No fear though. While I didn’t pig-out like I would have, my extra, ice-cream-only stomach made room for at least a little bit of all that was offered. Now, this place was so cool! It was all done up in pinks and cherry reds, and everything had a nice lacquer to it that really made it feel extra. There were several different themed rooms throughout the museum, each one offering different ice creams flavors to try or even candy! Since it was October, a “trick” needed to be performed in each room before getting the “treat.” The highlight of the museum had to be the sprinkle pool at the very end. It was reminiscent of a ball-pit, only much cooler (even if it was still mildly kid-infected).
Both museums offered a fun and unique opportunity I probably wouldn’t have anywhere else, so I’m glad we made time for them both during out trip. If you’ve got kids, the Museum of Ice Cream definitely has to be on your list if you head down to Austin. Heck, even if you love ice cream go check it out! And obviously, if life’s oddities are your thing, the Museum of the Weird would be a fun pit-stop on the main drag of downtown Austin. Great fun!
