Thinking of taking a few days(4) off next month with the wife and kid(12 yrs old) for the express purpose of enjoying some time in the Canyon Lake\Guadalupe\Comal area...and thought maybe some of yall could offer up little known places to stay or things to do. Touristy crap like Schlitterbaun and in general anywhere in New Braunfels is out..we went to Gruene last time and had a blast...river fun without all the tourists.. So....oh experts of all things...give me what you got. WHere would you go and what would you do if you were me? note...being of less than prosperous means...expensive things are probably out...lets keep it reasonable.
To stay economical and away from the crowds, avoid Schlitterbahn. Assuming everyone in your group can swim, go tubing on the Guadalupe and/or Comal. The Guadalupe is the best long float; on the Comal, you can even spend a whole day if you want to renting tubes from Prince Solms park and going down the tube chute all day. (This is assuming that everyone can swim and all that.) Some people camp at the campgrounds in New Braunfels to spend more time right on the river. The rivers are more crowded on weekends, needless to say. Anyway, lots of fun...
I would suggest getting the thinnest ball of string you can find, and running it across the river at some choke point. Then sit back and watch as drunk tubers get caught in it and probably start fighting each other.
the comal will be packed, trust me. guadalupe is a better bet, but the waters are little rougher, but nothing your kids couldn't handle. i'd do gruene again. a lot less people, not too expensive, real nice scenery, and decent restaurants and lodging. and who knows, maybe you can catch a decent show at gruene hall.
Just finished a trip to Gruene today for tubing down the Guadalupe, had a blast! It was my first time gettin' sick afterwards unfortunately... remember, when you're laying in a tube all day it's hard to notice being drunk even after a good deal of beer... it's once you get out of that tube and fall on your face trying to get out the river that it hits you! You can pass that info along to the 12 year old I guess... Oh and the Gristmill over in New Braunfels is a nice place for a post tubing dinner...
