9 Weird Things to Do in Austin

The Cathedral of Junk in South Austin is the work of artist Vince Hannemann – the so-called Junk King. It’s a staggering structure, made up of everything from car bumpers and road signs to crutches and CDs, and a lot more besides. It was started in 1988 and has been constantly growing ever since. It is literally in the artist’s backyard, so visits are by appointment only. Despite that fact, it has become a really popular place of pilgrimage for lovers of weirdness and art.

Hippie Hollow is about a 30-minute drive northwest from downtown Austin, on the shores of Lake Travis. As the name suggests, it started out as a popular hangout during the Free Love era in the 1960s and just never changed. It remains the only clothing-optional park in the entire state of Texas. It happens to be quite a pleasant park, too. Spanning 109 acres, it has some nice nature trails, designated swimming areas, drinking fountains and restrooms. For fairly obvious reasons, it’s an adults-only place.

Wild Bubba’s is just outside of Austin, near the Circuit of the Americas, but is well worth the 15-mile drive. The menu famously features some really unusual meats, including yak, buffalo, antelope, elk, kangaroo and wild boar. A meal here makes for an interesting story to tell and they’re actually really tasty, too. The Zombie Burger (no, it’s not made of zombies) is highly recommended and features a half-pound patty with Pepper Jack cheese, spicy mayonnaise, jalapenos, bacon and more, all for about $9. Try it with yak for a taste of some lean, mean, hunger-killing cuisine.

If you’re looking for some weird and unique souvenirs, you’ll almost certainly find them at this South Congress store. The maze-like shop is packed with weird and wonderful knick-knacks, from folk art to time-worn treasures. You can find old toys, impressive jewellery, busts, skulls, globes, sports memorabilia and more than we could possibly list here. The South Congress area is home to several weird stores like this so, in the extremely unlikely event that you don’t find something to your liking, you can shop around.

The Museum of the Weird is what happens to a curios shop when it reaches a certain size and level of oddness. It originally opened as a gift store with a small section at the back for the really weird stuff – shrunken heads, suits of armour and Fiji mermaids – but the owners, Steve and Veronica Busti, soon realised that there was more value in sharing their weird finds with the world, rather than selling them. Apparently, the world agreed, because the museum expanded to the point that it’s now the gift shop which is the afterthought. Tickets cost about $12 for adults and $8 for kids.

Austin is known for its weird and wonderful attractions, and Peter Pan Mini-Golf is perhaps one of the best examples of that. It opened in 1948 and has two 18-hole courses, both littered with bizarre statues and obstacles. Many of them are naturally related to the popular tale of the boy who never grew up, though others are just completely random. I’m pretty sure there was no mention of a T-Rex stomping about Neverland in the original text! One round costs about $7 for adults and $5 for kids, with the east course supposedly being the easier of the two.

About 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats roost under the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, making it among the largest urban bat colonies in the world. Come to the bridge at dusk to see them all take to the sky to feed. You can watch from on the bridge or the nearby riverbanks and there are even boat tours which provide a unique perspective. It’s quite a dramatic sight and a real must-see for Austin.

Austin’s nightlife scene is certainly varied, but Lala’s still manages to stand out. The little dive bar is bedecked with Christmas decorations, including lights, a tree, elves, candy canes, pictures of Santa and more. Even the jukebox is loaded with Christmas classics! The owner apparently put the decorations up for Christmas 1972 and just never bothered to take them down again since he thought the bar looked better for them. Even though the owner has since changed, the décor hasn’t.

We can almost guarantee that you will never be as interested in the bowel movements of poultry as you will when visiting Little Longhorn Saloon. The bar is sometimes also called Ginny’s. Come on a Sunday between 4pm and 8pm, put down a $2 bet and get a number. If the chicken relieves itself on that number, you win a prize – it’s as simple, weird and strangely fascinating as that. It’s amazingly popular, so you should arrive early if you want a good view.