The Leaf Group

Nestled within the Lucky Lizard curio shop, the Museum of the Weird is one of the world's last authentic dime museums continuing in the tradition of P.T. Barnum. The museum boasts a variety of unusual attractions, such as monsters, 3,000-year-old mummies, freaks of nature, shrunken heads, giant lizards, wax figures, and Fiji mermaids. It also features unexplained paranormal subject matter like ghosts, UFOs, and a replica skull of Bigfoot, and is home to the world-famous Creature in Ice.

Take a dip into the Barton Springs pool, which measures three acres in size, and is fed from underground springs with an average temperature of 68-70 degrees, ideal for year-round swimming. Over the years, people from all walks of life, from legislators to free-spirited have been drawn to this fantastic pool where even Robert Redford learned to swim at five years old. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people and has seen record-setting numbers of visitors nearing 800,000 in recent years.

The breathtaking beauty and unusual construction of the Texas Capitol are the stuff of legends in the Lone Star State. View artifacts of Texas history, including the original flag from the Battle of San Jacinto, historical paintings, and some of the original Senator desks from 1888. Take a guided tour through the Capitol Building, which has 400 rooms and more than 900 windows. Then check out the Capitol Grounds, which spans 22 acres featuring historical buildings, 17 monuments, and beautifully landscaped lawns.