Babymoon #2 At Lakeway Resort and Spa

Hello my friends! Nate and I took off last weekend for a baby moon getaway. I’m going to share a bunch of photos from our resort by the lake and some of the meals we enjoyed out in Lakeway, Texas. Our first baby moon (when I was pregnant with Milo) was down on South Padre Island, about 6 hours away fro Austin. You can read all about that trip here.

For this second baby moon, I had originally planned a bigger bucket list trip to a city on the other side of the country. Since Nate and I were vaccinated in April, we both had the itch to travel. But as other necessary trips started stacking up (I have a couple weddings to attend in the next few weekends) and my pregnant belly started taking up more of my energy, the idea of a high-stamina trip with lots of moving around didn’t sound so fun. I was dragging my feet on planning it, and the indecision was taking up too much mental space. 

So I asked myself why I was being so slow to book the flight and hotels, and I realized it’s because I actually didn’t want to go on a trip while I was pregnant. I talked to Nate about it and explained that I really want to save that bucket list city for a time when I can enjoy the breweries and vineyards and drink as much coffee as I want. For the baby moon, I really just wanted something where I could relax and sit around by the pool and rest. Ahh! It feels so nice to discover the things you truly need, express them to the people who love you, and have those needs met! 

So we’ll save that other trip for after I’m done with pregnancy. For our baby moon, we picked Lakeway Resort and Spa, located right on Lake Travis in Lakeway, Texas. Enough chatter about it, though. Here are some pics from our stay: 

Things I loved about Lakeway Resort and Spa

• It’s in a really beautiful area! Lakeway is stunning. I haven’t really spent much time there, but it’s only 30 minutes west of Austin. The “lake” is technically the Colorado River, but the largest part is next to a dam and called Lake Travis. There were tons of boats out of the water all weekend. 
• The pool was gorgeous. The adult-only pool is a three-tiered heated pool with waterfalls, a walk-up bar, and a separate hot tub. We spent lots of time just lounging! There’s also a separate kid-friendly pool with fountains and a huge waterslide, and a third pool with a volleyball net. 
• There’s an accompanying spa, so you can book a massage for your stay. Ok, I totally meant to book a prenatal massage for this weekend, but I procrastinated and by the time I looked into it they were already filled up! So don’t do what I did…be sure to book early. 
• The lakeside rooms have a lovely view of the sunset. We had a king size lakeside room with a balcony, and I loved sitting out there and watching the boats and the sunset. 
• Onsite parking for guests. I loved not having valet, haha. I’d prefer to just walk 40 steps to my own car whenever I need it. 

Things I would change about it:

• The rooms are a bit dated. This isn’t a bright/modern/new resort, so the rooms have popcorn ceiling and yellow paint and typical early 2000s carpet. They’re clean and nice and the beds are super comfortable, but the vibe isn’t “new.” 
• I wasn’t crazy about the restaurant. The in-house restaurant is pricey, which is expected if the food is phenomenal…but it wasn’t. So if my pancakes cost $16, I want them to be REALLY good pancakes that come with a side of bacon. But these were just 3 small regular buttermilk pancakes that were “meh.” (Side note: Nate has eaten there for dinner in the past and he says he remembers it being good, but we decided not to risk it on this trip and we ended up eating elsewhere.) 
• I wish they had room service! We would have loved to order breakfast to be delivered in the morning, but that’s not an option here. You have to walk outside to go to the restaurant and pick it up. I mean…first world problems, but as long as I’m listing pros/cons I’ll mention that. 

All checked in and ready to relax! The hardest part about leaving was saying goodbye to Milo for three days. I kissed him goodbye and then we left during his nap so he could just wake up to the other family members who would be with him at our house all weekend. 

We immediately changed into our suits and hit the pool! (Haha, wearing the exact same swimsuit top as I did in our baby moon in 2019…)

A (virgin) mango daiquiri for me. I was feeling alllll the summer vibes. 

I read a lot of really top notch literature on this trip. 😉 Ha! Y’all, I filled up my kindle with a bunch of beach reads and chick lit, which is something I love to read on vacation! It’s mindless and fun and totally helps me relax and unplug and rest my brain for a bit. 

We ordered burgers from the poolside grill for dinner, lounged and read and talked, and then roasted s’mores in the evening. 

S’mores with my man. I love him so much! It was pretty crazy to have so much uninterrupted time together. We kept saying “can you believe life used to be like this all the time?” 

In the evening we went to the Back Porch and ordered some drinks and sat in the rocking chairs and watched the boats go by. And then it was off to bed! 

Good morning, day 2! We both slept in until we felt rested, and then checked the clocks…8:30 am. Haha. It felt soooo late! (Milo is typically awake by 7, so we’re up at 6:30 on a normal day.) I savored the beauty of a slow morning pour over, journaling on the balcony, and starting my day on my own time. #itsthelittlethings. We brought our coffee set-up (beans, scale, grinder, gooseneck kettle, purified water, and ember mugs) which seems really high maintenance until you wake up in the hotel room and get to enjoy a perfect cup of coffee. And then it all seems worth it. 

And then…back to the pool! We had another relaxing afternoon of lounging, sipping on drinks (beer for Nate, sparkling water for me), reading books, plunging in the pool, and enjoying the restful day. 

This was Nate’s first time to get his leg wet in a YEAR! He’s had open wounds due to the compound fracture and fasciotomy from last April’s car crash, so he’s been dealing with skin grafts and weekly wound care appointments for 12 full months. He couldn’t even get his leg wet in the shower – he had to wear a silicone sleeve every time. Summer 2020 was brutal because he couldn’t swim at all (you know how hard that is if you live in a hot southern state.) He was finally cleared to get his leg wet just before our baby moon, so this was actually our first time to go swimming together since the car crash. Grateful doesn’t even begin to describe the way I felt. He still had to keep his leg covered and out of the sun due to all the scars, but that seemed so minor compared to everything else from the past year.

For Saturday dinner, we went to Hudson’s Fine Hill Country Dining and LOVED it! Oh my goodness! Everything was fantastic. 

It was formerly called Hudson’s On The Bend. It opened in 1985, briefly closed in 2017, but was reincarnated a year later in its current version. 

We got some patio seats, ordered a glass of cab (we both picked the same wine on this night – that rarely happens!), and enjoyed the live dinner music.

The patio was lovely. If you ever find yourself in Lakeway, Texas and need a fancy date night out, Hudson’s is your spot. 

Our appetizer was a special that night (we snagged the last one available): scallops wrapped in elk prosciutto, covered in preserved lemon and caviar. Decadent. 

It’s a game-focused menu, so they have lots of menu items that I don’t typically see. I ordered the MacFarlane Farms key lime grilled pheasant breast: Pan Roasted | Key Lime Marinaded | Chocolate Tomatillo | Roasted Pablano | Caramelized Onion | Smoked Tomato Gritts | Mixed Vegetables.

And Nate ordered the elk tenderloin: Pecan Wood Smoked & Wood Fired | Pommes Puree | Crispy Brussels Sprouts | Lump Crab Meat | Chipotle Butter Sauce. Both of our entrees were fantastic!! 

Haha, I’d be lying if I said a lot of our conversation that weekend didn’t revolve around this little guy. My sister drove down from Dallas to stay at our house with him, and every time she texted us a video we’d stop what we were doing and gather around the phone and ooh and ahh over how cute and perfect and precious he is 

Diner was sooo good, we decided we needed to order two deserts! We got strawberry bread pudding and homemade vanilla ice cream. It was baked right when we ordered it, so it took about 30 minutes to arrive at our table but was 100% worth it. Bread pudding is one of those desserts that is either the best thing in the world, or totally bland and gross. Hudson’s version is definitely the former. 

And then a chocolate turtle pie with white chocolate drizzle and berries. It was the perfect way to wrap up the evening! 

Our third and final day started with a lazy morning in bed and a slow cup of coffee. We headed to the fitness center a little later for a Peloton ride to kick off the day. Holy moly, that HIIT class kicked my butt! Again, it was really fun to enjoy riding next to Nate after a year of him not being very mobile. He’s not able to stand up on the cycle, but I’m just really thankful that he A) has his leg, and B) is able to move it now. 

And then it was time for more sunshine! Sunday was the day that was originally forecast to be thunder storming all day, but it ended up being the sunniest! 

It was also pretty empty at the pool on a Sunday, so we got most of it to ourselves and enjoyed a lazy afternoon of lounging/reading/sipping on beverages/talking.

Aaaaand of course we stared at adorable pictures of Milo all day, too. Gosh, it was hard to be away from him all weekend! He had a really good three days of bonding with his auntie, though. She took him swimming a couple times, and he discovered that he can bring his Tonka truck (aka “caaaaa”, his favorite toy right now) into the shallow area of the pool and push it around.

One more shot from my view by the pool. It was such a lovely and relaxing weekend! Exactly what this pregnant mama needed before the third trimester kicked into full speed. 

For dinner we drove out toward Spicewood (about 20 minutes from Lakeway) to try to wood-fired pizza at Pizzeria Sorellina. We got two pies (a green pie with pea and walnut pesto, and a ‘Nduja sausage pie), a Caesar salad, and a giant peanut butter cookie for dessert.

It was a sweet place! There’s a huge back patio that has live music on the weekend (it was wrapping up when we got there, since it was pretty late on a Sunday evening) and the entire area just feels sooo spacious and far out in the country. I actually ran into a girl I know who’s working there now, and she told me that the stars out there are even brighter than they are at Joshua Tree because there’s really no light pollution out in Spicewood. 

And the next morning we packed up to head back home! There’s a Greater Goods Coffee on the way back in to Austin, so we stopped there for a pour over (me) and a cappuccino (Nate). 

I don’t go to this coffee shop very often in Austin, but there’s a great location on the east side as well. I was really impressed with the knowledge level of the baristas and the quality of the coffee! Note to self: go to Greater Goods more often.

And that was our baby moon! Short and sweet and very rejuvenating. I’m really glad we decided to do something local and low-key. I mentioned this in my first baby moon post, but Nate and I aren’t very good at planning vacations to relax; we typically want to go to a new place and try #allthethings and go go go for the entire trip, and we come home exhausted. So this was a very different type of experience for us, but after all that 2020 put in our path, it was a much-appreciated weekend away. We hopefully have many decades left of traveling together, so we’ll cross off some of our other trips in the future. But for our baby moon, Lakeway Resort was perfect.