A Downtown Park on Lake Austin (without the traffic)

I always feel so blessed when I drive across the Congress or Mopac Bridges and take a quick glance left or right, catching an eye full of our precious Town Lake (I still refuse to call it Lady Bird Lake. I'm all about short names and that just doesn't quite work for me). Walking around the lake will surely set your mind in relax mode, but I frequently don't want to search for a parking spot during the busy times.

I recently found another portion of Town Lake that not nearly as many people seem to know about. It's immediately East of I-35 on the North side of Town Lake at Fiesta Gardens. I had heard of Fiesta Gardens before (and had even been to a few events there myself), but I never traveled passed the facility. There is a massive park on a peninsula right next to it!

HOW TO GET THERE: From most places downtown, take E. Cesar Chavez passed I-35. Take a left on Comal. Go until it hits the water.

TIPS TO MAKE THE MOST OF IT: Keep driving down the park - going East - until you hit the small boat launch. The parking lot ends and the park becomes a peninsula of grass and trees.

COST: Free