Overlooking Lake Travis at The Oasis.
flat Texas. The Hill Country is where rolling hills stretch out to the horizon, carved by meandering creeks and rivers shaded by leafy Texas Live Oak and Bald Cypress trees. Lakes welcome boaters, and anglers and visitors splash in refreshing swimming holes and gentle streams. In springtime, sprouting Texas bluebonnets add hues of royal blue, maroon and lavender within pastures and along highways. Local vineyards are recognized worldwide for their bountiful wine choices. And visits to the Hill Country gateways of Austin and San Antonio enhance any trip with world-class museums, history and culture. WhileanAustinvisitcouldincludetouringthepinkgranite state capitol or a hike around Lady Bird (Johnson) Lake dotted with kayakers and canoes, I begin my adventure at the Oasis on Lake Travis, a multi-level restaurant and shopping complex. Built on a bluff, the platforms offer incredible lakeside panoramas, especially at sunset. “How’s that for an office view?” says Jesse Foster with the Oasis Texas Brewing Company on the complex’s upper level. “You drive to the Hill Country and you feel like you’re somewhere else. You kind of forget you’re in Texas for a little while.” Lake Travis is one of the Austin area’s string of manmade lakes created through flood control dams along the
Stonehenge II at the Hill Country Arts Foundation, Kerrville.
ROAMING THE HILL COUNTRY By Richard Varr
I know I’m in the Texas Hill Country, but for a few moments I find myself whisked away to the English countryside. That’s because I’m walking amidst a circle of stacked stones that looks like prehistoric Stonehenge atop a grassy field. But after a closer look—and a snap back to reality—I soon realize these stones aren’t stones at all but instead steel and plaster replicas. “We call it our strange art installation,” quips Executive Director Sarah Derousseau of the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Kerrville when explaining that the inspiration for so-called Stonehenge II came after a local landowner visited the English monument. Built on his property more than 30 years ago, the smaller replica was more recently relocated to the Foundation’s grounds. “People like that it’s an unusual thing to have,” adds Derousseau, “and it was done well for what it is.” What also might be considered unusual is to find a region of such hilly countryside in what’s generally perceived as
ROAMING THE HILL COUNTRY
COAST TO COAST SUMMER MAGAZINE 2020
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