Badu Park - Llano, Tx - Apr 2010

Our favorite place to stay in the Hill Country is Badu Park in Llano, Texas. It's a small, city operated park that has 11 sites with full hookups for $15/night. It's little more than a parking lot that backs up to the city park along the Llano River, so the sites themselves are not very attractive and when it's full, your neighbors are an awnings length away, but the view is beautiful and worth it in our opinion. We were lucky and got an end site, so had great views.
The park is situated on the north side of the river -- right by the dam. The falls make for a pretty setting. In the photo below, the park and RV parking area are on the right side -- right at river's edge. This was taken from the historic bridge that crosses over the river (see next photo.)There is a walking trail along the river and we enjoyed taking a stroll every day. Here we are at dusk and you can see the bridge over the river.
Looking down from the bridge to the Llano River on the downstream side of the dam.
A few steps from the bridge is downtown Llano with an assortment of shops, museums and restaurants. This is a cabin that had been moved here from one of the nearby ranches.Three short blocks from the RV park is Cooper's Barbecue -- oh my goodness, one of the best BBQ joints in Texas. All their meat (at least 8 different kinds) is slow cooked on these huge, outdoor pits. The line to get your food wraps around the outside of the building and when you get to "the pit" you point at the meat that you want and the server cuts as much as you want. He then dunks it in a tangy, vinegar-based sauce (if you want) and slaps the meat on a plastic cafeteria tray. You then take the tray inside, the meat gets weighed and sliced and you pick up your side dishes including cole slaw, potato salad and three different kinds of fruit cobbler. The dining room is the opposite of fancy -- long wooden picnic tables and benches that allow you to sit side-by-side with your neighbors. Your meal is eaten off of a sheet of butcher paper and there are rolls of paper towels on the table that encourage you to be as messy as you want. Beans, bread, onions, pickles and jalapenos are all-you-can-eat. The tea is cold and delicious and either sweet or unsweet.

We always go for the brisket and sausage, but the turkey, chicken, ribs (beef and pork) are also delicious.
And while we're on the subject of food (geez, I think we gain 10 pounds every time we stop in Llano) another place that cannot be missed is Chrissy's Bakery. It's a mere block away from the RV park and we walked over often. She makes an assortment of cakes, pies, donuts, cookies, sausage wraps and biscuits, but our all time favorite treat is the sweet pretzel. We've never eaten anything like it. It's made from a layered pastry dough that is rolled up with brown sugar, caramel bits and chopped pecans. Then it's twisted into a large pretzel shape and baked until it's flaky and lightly crisped on the outside, but tender and moist on the inside. Then the whole thing is drizzled with almond-flavored icing. Oh yum, my mouth is watering.
From the RV park, we enjoyed many colorful sunsets over the river.
Oh yes, there are wild flowers there too.