Seeing: J. Lorraine Ghost Town (outside Austin)

Chloe and I arrived in Austin on an early morning flight from Atlanta and settled in at my parents’ house. After a couple hours of hanging out at the house and down by the river where Chloe even found some nice fossils, we decided to find something to do. My parents had been to a 10th anniversary of geocaching breakfast earlier in the day and knew that part of the celebration would be continued at a ghost town. Where there would be corn dogs (gag) and wi-fi…do ghosts surf the web these days?

So we all six, my mom, my dad, Chloe, my sister, my soon-to-be-BIL, and Chloe, jumped in the car and drove down to Manor, Texas. Upon arrival, we were not greeted by ghosts of J Lorraine but by bicyclists. In fact, we felt quite out of place not sporting a bike rack or the standard biking gear.

As we entered the ghost town, I found my mind being very confused. Local hangout? Bike riders hangout? Live music fan hangout? This place almost seemed like there was something for everyone. My mom made her way back to the geocachers and “made contact”, then we continued to explore. Chloe locked herself in the jail. My mom and I got “lost” in a maze of wooden fences. Chloe played horseshoes. The “barn” had some kid-friendly geocaching activities as well as a tv which was informing us that a storm was moving in on us. Chloe didn’t trust the “barn walls” and corrugated tin roof of the barn in the case of a stom … smart girl.

While I don’t think the J Lorraine Ghost Town is worthy of a road trip, it might make a great diversion if you are headed down I-35 through Austin on a weekend. Free admission and good fun for about an hour. More if you like cheap beer, maybe 🙂

chloe in jail

Chloe in the town