While staying in San Marcos, TX Chris and I decided to go to the
Meadows Center for Water and the Environment to do their
glass-bottom boat tour of
Spring Lake.
We first heard about the Meadows Center from my parents who told us that back in the 60's - 80's it was a theme park called
Aquarena Springs. They used to have what was called the "World's only submarine theatre" with glass-bottom boats, mermaids, a swimming pig and an underwater clown named Glurpo. It actually sounded really cool...except the underwater clown part. There was a picture of him in the gift shop and it was creepy.
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| One of the old buildings that was part of Aquarena Springs. |
Our tour guide was one of the students from
Texas State University. He did a great job and was very knowledgeable of the area.
While looking through the glass we saw the springs bubbling up and lots of fish including a large spotted gar swimming below.
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| the springs and some fish |
We also saw some scuba divers. The water is very clear and is 72 degrees year round which makes it a great environment for scuba diving.
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| Scuba divers |
Once we finished our boat ride we decided to check out the
Wetlands Boardwalk.
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| Entrance to the Wetlands |
It was a self guided trail that had some posts with information on plants and animal life in the area.
I enjoyed doing some bird watching.
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| Some black vultures fighting over something in the water |
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| a majestic great egret |
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| Cormorant swimming in the clear blue lake |
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| Western Kingbird |
There were also a ton of sunbathing turtles. According to their website "Spring Lake has the densest population of turtles in the United States".
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| I love how they sunbathe with their feet all stretched out |
After that we went to check out the free aquarium. My favorite thing was the
Texas blind salamander which is native to San Marcos and actually an endangered species. The salamanders live in dark water filled caves and they adapted as they had no need for their sight.
We actually went back the next day to check out the
Spring Lake Natural Area. It is a 251 acre park with lots of trails for hiking, biking and birding.
Since it is winter we didn't really see any wildlife on the trail but it was still a nice hike.
We got to do all that for under $20. I would say it was well worth it.
Have you been? If so what was your favorite thing?
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