From the Travis Club sales gallery on Thurman Bend Road in Spicewood, the holiday season starts at the end of a drive east on Hwy 71. The rink, the tree lighting, the December market and the 5K are all in Bee Cave this year, mostly behind City Hall or on the Hill Country Galleria's Central Plaza. The calendar also starts earlier and ends later than it did two years ago. Meanwhile, the biggest planned restaurant and retail project on the Spicewood side has filed for construction in 2027 and 2028.
So a winter plan for the south shore comes down to two things: how long the Bee Cave season lasts, and what is changing on the roads and storefronts between here and there.
The Rink Now Runs Past the Holidays
Bee Cave on Ice returns Friday, Nov. 13, behind City Hall at 4000 Galleria Parkway, and the City of Bee Cave has it open through Jan. 18, 2027. That closing date is the real change. In 2024 the rink ran from Nov. 15 to Jan. 5, according to the Do512 listing for that season. This season adds about two weeks, nearly all of them in January, after the holiday guests have gone home.
The ticket has changed too.
2024 season | 2026–27 season | |
|---|---|---|
Dates | Nov. 15 – Jan. 5 | Nov. 13 – Jan. 18 |
Standard ticket | $15 per hour, skates included | $16 plus tax for 50 minutes, skates included |
Discount night | — | $11 plus tax on Tuesday community nights |
A session now costs a dollar more and runs 10 minutes shorter. The five Tuesday community nights make up for it: Nov. 17, Dec. 1, Dec. 8, Dec. 15 and Jan. 12. This is the rink's fifth winter. Community Impact covered its debut in 2022 as Bee Cave's first open-air rink, built to hold about 120 skaters at a time.
The hours matter more for the drive than the price does. Monday through Thursday the rink opens at 3 p.m. and closes at 9, with the last session at 8. Fridays run noon to 10 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. During the Lake Travis ISD breaks, Nov. 23–27 and Dec. 18 through Jan. 5, plus MLK Day on Jan. 18, the rink opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 7. It keeps those same daytime hours on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. That means a weekday morning skate with visiting grandchildren works only during those break weeks and on MLK Day. A Monday-through-Thursday skate after work means getting to Bee Cave before 8, and Fridays push the last session to 9.
The Plaza Calendar Fills the Weeks Around It
The rink sits next to a Galleria event schedule that has kept the same shape for at least two years. The tree lighting and the holiday market both ran in 2024 too. This year's dates:
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 5–8 p.m.: Light Up the Plaza. Magnolia Musical Theatre opens the program at 5. Santa arrives with Mayor Kara King for the tree lighting at 5:45, and Thompson Square plays the main set after a 6 p.m. opener. Admission and parking are free, and the Galleria says times are approximate and depend on the weather.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Jingle Bell 5K. Festivities start at 7 a.m., and races go off at 8.
- Dec. 4–5, 11–12 and 18–19: Bee Cave Holiday Market. Fridays run 4–9 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Taken together, the busy stretch at the Galleria runs from the Saturday after Thanksgiving through Dec. 19. After that the plaza goes quiet except for the rink, which runs a full month longer. For someone driving in from the south shore, that last month is the easiest time to go. There's no 5K, no market crowd and no tree-lighting traffic, and the rink is still open on its regular schedule.
Dec. 5 is the busiest single day on the calendar. The 5K fills the morning and the market runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., so a trip to the rink that Saturday means sharing the plaza with both.
Winston's Chose the Galleria
The clearest sign of where daily life is pulling comes from a coffee shop. In October, Winston's: Coffee, Provisions, Pizza changed hands at its Spicewood location, 4900 Bee Creek Road, Suite 205. That shop is now Neighbor's Cafe and still serves coffee, pizza, salads and breakfast. As Community Impact reported on Oct. 28, owner Aaron Creamer and his wife, Sally, stepped back from the Spicewood shop to focus on their Winston's at the Hill Country Galleria, 13420 Galleria Circle, A140.
For Travis Club, both shops are still there under different names. The Bee Creek Road location serves coffee on the near side of the drive, and the founders' own shop is a short walk from the rink. On a skating day, you can stop at either place.
What Spicewood Is Adding, on a Longer Clock
New places are coming to the Hwy 71 corridor west of Bee Cave, at a slower pace than the holiday calendar.
Infinite Hitting – Lake Travis, an indoor baseball and softball training facility, opened Oct. 12 at 22111 Hwy 71, Building 701, in Spicewood. For families on the south shore, it's the closest new option for keeping a swing in shape through the winter.
The bigger project is further off. SpiceQ is a proposed restaurant and retail development at 5600 Hwy 71, listed at more than 10,000 square feet and $1.8 million. Its filing projects construction from January 2027 to July 2028, according to Community Impact. Those dates come from a permit filing and could move. Even on schedule, SpiceQ won't be part of a holiday plan until the 2028 season.
Bee Cave keeps adding to its center in the meantime. Charles Schwab opened a Hill Country Galleria branch at 12532 FM 2244 on July 12. Chipotle and CAVA are planned on East Ladera Boulevard, with both targeting May or June 2027, per the City of Bee Cave's Oct. 6 meeting materials and a Lake Travis Current update. The Galleria studio Hawaii Fluid Art is now Bee Artsy, a name change and not a new business.
The Drive In, Winter 2026
The Hwy 71 trip to the Galleria is more settled than it was a year ago. TxDOT finished its raised-median work from Bee Creek Road to Bee Cave Parkway in January 2026, a $2.8 million project that ran from fall 2025, as Community Impact reported in February. That stretch is part of TxDOT's broader safety plan for SH 71 from Bee Creek Road to Uplands Ridge Drive, a 6.4-mile corridor. TxDOT's fact sheet counts 17 median breaks along that stretch, kept at chosen intersections to preserve access.
The next change is at the eastern end of the drive. Bee Cave has approved a funding agreement with TxDOT for widening, turn lanes, signal replacement and pedestrian improvements at Hwy 71, Hamilton Pool Road and Bee Cave Parkway. The Oct. 28 report gave no projected timeline. That intersection is the gateway to the Galleria, and this winter it looks the way it has for years.
Closer to home, Travis County's capital improvement list shows Bee Creek Road widening from SH 71 to Highland Boulevard as completed. A separate Bee Creek Road project from Lakehurst Road to Highland Boulevard is listed as started. Community Impact reports that design is expected to finish at the end of 2026, with the $16.6 million project estimated to wrap up in early 2028. This holiday season falls between design and construction, so the road to Neighbor's Cafe stays as it is for now.
The Petri Group keeps track of the south shore season by season, from new storefronts on Hwy 71 to homes coming available around Travis Club. To get those updates along with our curated listings, sign up to receive Exclusive Listings in Your Inbox.
Leah Petri is a top-producing Austin luxury real estate advisor with The Petri Group at Moreland Properties, specializing in Westlake, Lake Austin, Barton Creek, and premier Central Texas communities. Recognized among Elite 25 Austin and known for strategic pricing, high-impact preparation, and data-driven marketing, Leah helps buyers and sellers achieve exceptional results in every market cycle.
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