With Memorial Day behind us, Summer has (un)officially begun in the Lone Star State. That means we’ll all be planning summer cook-outs, camping trips and fun vacations! Though there may be plenty of places to splash around, when it comes to waterparks, in Texas, that means Schlitterbahn. With a Schlitterbahn in nearly every part of the state, it’s easier than ever to have “the hottest coolest time in Texas” as they say.

When I was growing up, there was only one Schlitterbahn however, the original one in New Braunfels. The first time I ever went there was with my church youth group when I was 12. It was the summer between 6th and 7th grades and it was a blast! I did develop a fear of the enclosed “soda straw” slides on that trip, however. The first one I tried to go on, I had a mini panic attack and literally could not breathe at all for the entire ride.  I loved the tube rides though, and Schlitterbahn clearly made an impact on me since I still remember that first trip more than 20 years later.

I wrote this article for Wide Open Country and I learned a ton of cool information in researching it. For example, did you know the word “schlitterbahn” has a translation in German? I always thought it was someone’s last name. Another cool thing about Schlitterbahn is their conservation efforts, they reuse a lot of interesting things in really unique ways. Click here to check out the rest of the list.