Lola Reviews: Red Bud Isle

Recently, both Lola's Daddy and I were off work -- a rare occurrence! So we took Lola out to Red Bud for the first time.

It's a lovely little off-leash dog park, and it's incredibly easy to get to. Go south on Mopac, right on Lake Austin Boulevard, and left on Redbud Trail. Then take the first left into the parking lot for the park. It's a funny little island, created when a dam broke in 1900, so it's not even on google maps (you can see it in the satellite view, but it's mislabeled).

Here is the sign they have explaining the history of the park. This is where I learned that it was created when the dam broke. Also, it became a park in 1987 and an off-leash dog park in 2001. And the reference to "hearty fishermen" cracks me up every time I read it. Who wrote this copy, Ernest Hemingway?


Here's the entrance to Red Bud. It is -- wait for it -- yes, it's beautiful. Of course, it also pretty much looks like every other park in Austin. Sandy pathway, green trees, blue sky. But there's nothing wrong with that.


Red Bud has a simple layout. It's a small peninsula, so you walk to the end of it, and then you turn around and walk back. But along the way, there are plenty of places to access the water. Here's Lola's Daddy looking out at the water.


Lola explores amongst the tree roots.


Lola keeps me company while I enjoy the view (not true; she didn't sit still for a second the whole time we were there.)


But it is a lovely view.


Lola's Daddy thought it was pretty too.


Various organizations have done a lot of work in the park, especially with things like these steps into the water. I tried to get Lola to come into the water with me. She wasn't particularly interested.


However, there were a couple of cute schnauzers. They belonged to a woman who also had a one-year-old in a stroller. Ye gods.


I wanted to entice Lola into the water with treats, but this big boy was pretty excited about the treats himself.


I did eventually get her on the bottom step, but that was about it.


So we went to a spot that slopes more gradually into the water, and she poddled around a bit.


And then, oh internet, I did a foolish thing. Remember how we got Lola to swim when we took her to Bull Creek? She totally swam. So I thought to myself, look, obviously she knows how to swim. But she won't jump out into the water herself. So I'll just plop her into the water and we'll see what happens from there.


Yeah, I almost drowned my dog.

It's not as bad as it looks! That's exactly where I put her. She's all of three inches from a big rock to stand on. But, um, she didn't seem to remember the whole swimming concept. So I had to help her.


This is about as wet as Lola gets.


But she quickly recovered, and ran to catch up with us at the end of the peninsula. (I think that all four of her feet are off the ground here. Not positive -- but it appears so.)


The view from the very tip is kinda rockin' awesome.


And so is this guy.


Lola stayed wet for a while and that always makes me laugh. Hehe. Silly wet dog.


And then we went back. And we tried to have lunch at Hula Hut, but they don't allow dogs on their patio. Even though it's a fucking huge patio and boats can dock at it. Yes, that's right. If you're on a boat and you're hungry, go to Hula Hut. They have seating for boats. But not for dogs. Dumbasses.

So we went to Freddie's instead, and everyone was very happy.