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Mother Hoods: Heather Winn Bowman’s Austin Faves

Written by Katie Hintz-Zambrano

Photography by Photo Courtesy of Heather Winn Bowman

Heading to Texas anytime soon? If so, we highly recommend dropping into one of our favorite cities in the Lone Star State—Austin! Of course, we’ve found the perfect tour guide in Mother subject Heather Winn Bowman for all of your kid-friendly and adult-friendly needs. Read the talented textile designer and mama-of-one’s top spots in and around Austin, below!

What are your favorite places in Austin to…
Eat with the kids?Contigo or a picnic at Zilker Park.”

Eat with adults?Henri’s, Qui, and Josephine House.”

Shop for kids?Toy Joy is an Austin institution.”

Shop for yourself?Beehive, Kick Pleat, and Olive.”

Play with your daughter? “The Zilker Botanical Garden and Barton Springs.”

Play with your adult friends? “One of the best things about Austin is the music. Some of the places we like to go are The White Horse, which is both a killer dive bar and live music venue 7 days a week, The Mohawk (indie heaven), Empire (all kinds of touring bands and DJs), Continental Club (and the super intimate Continental Gallery upstairs), the Moody Theater, which is ACL Live’s new home and one of the most perfectly constructed music venues on Earth, according to my musician husband, and of course Stubbs is hard to beat for large outdoor shows (decent BBQ, too).”

Get out in nature? “There are so many great spots within the city itself, like Sculpture Falls or Barton Springs, but just outside of the city there are even more gems. I love Jacob’s Well in Wimberley, Hamilton Pool, and Krause Springs.”

Any good flea markets/thrift shops? “For curios, Uncommon Objects. For vintage duds, Feathers, and Garment Modern & Vintage.”

Any good museums?The Blanton Museum of Art.”

Where do you take out-of-town visitors? “The first thing we do with out-of-towners is go get Tex Mex at Polvos or BBQ at La Barbeque. If we want to go for a nice drive into the hill country, we’ll eat at The Salt Lick in Driftwood, which is just 30 minutes outside of town. After that, we’ll catch a show somewhere downtown or on the east side or go line dancing at The Broken Spoke.”

Any tourist-y places that are worth it to visit? “South Congress. On weekends it’s like a zoo, but definitely worth a visit. The shops and restaurants are wonderful and there’s usually live music happening somewhere. Also, watching the bats fly out from underneath the Congress bridge at dusk is pretty incredible. Austin has the largest bat population in any North American city and seeing them swarm out in huge clusters is quite a spectacle.”

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