Description: Though it was one day before the start of October, the weather was warm and sunny! We decided to venture out to sunbathe and splash around, and chose to go to Barton Springs in Zilker Park.
After finding the last parking spot left in the lot and paying our $3 entry fee, we were in the springs! Its a huge "pool" with a constant temperature from the springs of 68 degrees. That may sound not so cold, but trust me - frigid. icey. hard to tolerate. That is, of course, until you've been in a for a while and let your body adjust!
We headed across the springs (you can get to the other side at the very end of the springs - you can also observe all the people & animals playing in the "free" part to the left of the fence) to find a sunny spot so we could do some tanning. On a Sunday afternoon in late September, the springs weren't crowded but we certainly weren't alone. The vast amount of space gave everyone some privacy. After a while of resting and sweating, we decided it was time to jump in to the water!
Our friend who went first was a brave soul; she jumped right in from the side! The water was quite cold but she was the bravest of us all. I hopped in next, immediately emerging and chattering with my teeth. Then I saw a fish swim by and proceeded to yell out to my friends about that. Surrounded by concrete, it is easy to think this is just a regular pool - but it is not. Finally, our other less brave friend jumped in and was out about 5 minutes later.
We spent much of our time while in the water observing those jumping off the diving board. Partially because their outfits were interesting (jeans?), but also beacuse they looked like regulars and pros at diving in to the chilly water. Back flips, side flips, a mom teaching her daughter to dive - the Barton Springs is a great accessible body of water to do lots of learning about swimming and diving!
Not to be outdone, two of us ventured over to the diving board and took the plunge. Opting to be old-school and have rating contests on our jumps as we did in our younger years, the third friend was our judge. There's no chance of touching the bottom, so we didn't have that contest.
As we dried out before we left, we did some more people watching! There was a great mix of families, alternative rockers, college students, and seemingly out of place hardcore swimmers. At the end a girls soccer team showed up and jumped in with their uniforms on. Barton Springs is enjoyed by all, and for $3 its not a bad way to spend a day.
Read more about the history of Barton Springs at http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/bartonsprings.htm
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