Hippy Hollow is a clothing-optional "beach" in Austin. Now "clothing-optional" sounds like code for nudist colony, where things flop and jiggle. Not quite, as I learned. The landscape wasn’t a beach at all, but basically consisted of rocks along a hillside which emptied into Lake Travis. There is no sand or, as the sign near the parking attendant indicated, nudity in the parking lot. There’s also no lewd behavior. I like this word: lewd. I will use it more often. Now, I’ve been to nude beaches before, and there is absolutely a difference between the US variety and the European ones. In Europe you are left to "naturally" enjoy; it feels normal to be naked. Tanned mothers apply SPF to their blond ringlet children. It’s easier to feel comfortable there. In the states, there is, even with families of hippy nudists eating noodle salad and playing beach volleyball, a sexually charged atmosphere. At Hippy Hollow, no one under 18 is permitted entry, which really amps things up. It’s no longer nudist families promoting ease and comfort in ones own skin. It becomes sexual, despite what the signs indicate.
When I was younger I used to go to the nude beach, beside Robert Moses State Park on Long Island, with my mother. Jones Beach was blanket-to-blanket of Long Island, complete with radio stations and an overcrowded snack bar. "You’re not escaping anything when you go to that place." There was nothing calming or natural about it. My mother and I went to the last lot of Robert Moses because my mother insisted it was less crowded and the water was cleaner. This was true, actually, although it took an extra fifteen minutes by car to get there. My mother liked to sit on the edge of the two beaches, watching passersby reactions as they crossed the line, unknowingly into nudist territory. Oddly enough, my mother would never dream of getting nude in public. She changed her clothes in her closet or faced a wall if I were in the room. She also wasn’t a voyeur. She was a prude, but she didn’t like to think of herself as such. She raised us to call our father, "Poppa" because "it sounds more European." She was not over-protective or uptight, but she was ashamed of her body. Maybe she didn’t want Lea or me to learn this. So we sat on the edge, literally. Sometimes we’d walk to Fire Island, and eventually my mother opened up. "Catch anything?" she asked a naked older man with a fishing pole.
"Just crabs," he replied.
And my mother and I kept walking, then caught on, elbowed each other and began to laugh. "He meant CRABS, Mom."
"Oh come on, he did not!" Then after a few more yards… "Did he?" We were fully-dressed in our bathing suits, but we were walking along the ocean, not loitering.
Recently I returned to the nude beach, just this time with The Suitor, and this time in Texas. I imagined we’d both remove all our clothes. He’d rub me to orgasm when no one was watching, very careful not to get caught. Each time I was close, he’d have to stop, in fear of being discovered. Then he’d go for it when he was sure no one was watching. But we’d have different vantage points, and I’d see that someone was watching. A man was jerking off onto the ground from a bit away, aroused at how I was being handled. This would have been lewd behavior, but who’s going to tell?
So once we found a spot beneath a ledge at Hippy Hollow, I stripped down to all my pregnant naked glory, imagining myself bigger than I am. I’m recently turned on by the idea of pregnant, lactating, women and sex. I find it very hot, and I think for the most part, my days are lived in constant sexual arousal. The books say it’s to do with pregnant blood-flow, but suddenly I want to watch porn and fill our days with dirty sex. The Suitor, however, refused to get hip at the hollow. He took out a book on home improvements and began to read. After about ten minutes, I could tell he was uncomfortable. "Would you like me to put my bathing suit back on?"
"Don’t do it for me. Just explain to me what the benefit is of taking off your bottoms. I understand your top and not wanting tan lines for your wedding dress, but just explain. What’s the benefit?" The benefit?
"It’s a nude beach. It’s not about benefit."
Then he didn’t say anything. I thought this would be a sexy experience. I suppose there’s nothing sexy about a group of men with coolers walking around, fully clothed, watching the nude. "You can at least cross your legs, Stephanie, when someone walks by." It’s seedy, actually, and I’m sure it’s what he was reacting to/recoiling from. So I put my bikini bottom back on. The last thing I wanted was to make him uncomfortable. Aside from these men, who seemed like back-stage grips, it was all couples, mostly older, wearing sunscreen and over-sized hats. Some even took to the water with water noodles (those bright hollow floating wands) and blow up rafts. The hats kind of threw me off. You don’t think of nude beaches as, well, anything but naked. Sunglasses, white lifeguard noses, and boat hats make you realize they’re people, not just bodies. I suggested we go in the water, but he refused (which is very unlike him), so I got dressed, and we left. On our exit, I couldn’t help but notice a couple, about our age, spread out on their blanket. He was jiggling her breast with one hand and cupping her crotch with the other. I was jealous, even though they were putting on a show. Clearly that was their intention. I certainly wasn’t about to rat them out to the parking attendant, but I also wasn’t going to stick around and watch. I’m a doer, after all.
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IMHO, the edge was gone from here whilst negotiations were taking place. I trust everyone's comfortable with you now. You don't seem to be holding anything back now. That's refreshing.
For some reason I found that entire post amusing. Not laugh out loud amusing, but just picturing the situation.
I used to go to Jones Beach all the freaking time and it was terribly crowded, but I suppose when I was that young I didn't really mind. The people watching there was quite phenomenal.
I went to school at UT and was always too chicken shit to go to hippy hollow for fear of dirty old men and my own nakedness. I admire your spunk and sense of adventure.
There is a hightened sexual feeling when being romantic on a nude beach. The nerves and mind just seem to *feel* that much more. For anyone that wants to take sex to the next level, nude publicity is the ultimate. Its as close to swinging as you'll get without the swing! Orgasmic.
It's true. That reved up feeling is real! The arousal you feel while pregnant produces some crazy (good) dreams. I had a friend that told me she watched porn all the time while she was pregnant. I remember it kind of fizzled somethime during the 2nd trimester. So, enjoy it while you can.
Booooooo to the inhibitionists- yes I am clear on the fact that this isnt a word.. but it SHOULD be.
I am all for PDA but I've never been comfortable with nudity around strangers. At home, I could play Free Bird as I never have clothes on. BUT the truth is, I'm always one of the three women who asks for a "room with a door" at Loehmann's.
Hee! You know, most of the old men who go to Hippie Hollow are gay, right?
OMG – You are a NAUGHTY pregnant lady Stephanie. I love it. :)
Hmmmm, interesting. I'll have to comment later… I need to grab something from my nightstand!
LOL!
Hippie Hollow is all gay – all the time. Not that I care – but it's not really "the" place for breeders like you and the Suitor. :)
Nice to see Manic Moms still have time for nightstand activities!
Very interesting-
IMO, semi-public sex is good fun, but the idea of doing it when you know someone is watching is less enticing.
And I just don't get the nude beach thing. I have no objection to it, but I just don't see how I could be more comfortable without a pair of trunks on. And I certainly am not going into the water where certain body parts might be mistaken for a fish by the various predators of the water. I don't mind if a jellyfish stings me on the arm, but some parts are simply off limits. I'm with the suitor on this one, I just see no benefit to it.
Can anyone explain to me the benefits?
i never thought of myself as a prude before but ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
good for you! although if my was was being a party pooper i would have gone in the water with out him.
What annoyed me about my first trip to Hippy Hollow was that you had to pay admission. $10 I think? Perhaps that keeps it from being a pornfest full of seedy people, but what a contradition in America to have to PAY to take my clothes off when down the road I could get paid to do so. The parking attendant was also a guy oozing the California/Hollister vibe and I felt like we were being watched as the heterosexual outcasts. But I'll keep going… maybe it will eventually be unshunned for my boyfriend and I to be comfortable in our own skin, basking in the Austin sun.
A friendly warning to Philip Steven McSuitorwitz: She puked for 3 months straight. Soon she will be fully babied up and possibly on bed rest and/or no sex. Multiples can do that to a gal. And then there will be a baby at each booby and stitches and/or 'rhoids down south. This is it, dude! This is the window. Not time to be reading home improvement book unless they feature unnatural use of power drills.
And if you complain about no sex after the kids arrive, Stephanie will be so justified in kicking your butt from here into a week from Thursday.
I agree with The Suitor. Put it away, Stephanie…at least until after you have given birth.
My gilfriend and I went to a nude beach once. And the most sexiest thing (which I never thought I would do) was be intimate with her on the beach. We had a crowd of men watching before you knew it. We were trying to be 'secretive', but it didn't work. A lesbian sex scene on the beach makes for a semi-good show…depending on the nude lesbos you're watching. ;)
My husband would KILL to have me behave like that. He's a lucky dude. Hope he knows it.
ha ha ha! I love it Stephanie! As I was reading this, I couldn't help but giggle as that is exactly what my experience would be like if I were there with my husband! Only he would be engrossed in Sports Illustrated.
Isn't it so funny how men can get so prudish sometimes? And you are right, being pregnant gives you that carefree sexuality that makes you feel beautiful and horny all at once. Not necessarily beautiful as in you love the way you look when checking yourself out in a mirror, but that inner beautiful that you feel like you personify a sex goddess!
Love it!
Aren't you worried about cooking the babies?!?
Hilarious! I had no idea Austing had such a place. Of course, I haven't been in several years. Go you!
Good for you! It sounds like you have a healthy attitude about sex and sexuality. I hope you pass that to your twins.
..I bet the suitor will kick himself once he realizes the fun opportunity he passed up with you.
gosh, after reading the comments i feel like some wild woman. or maybe it's because i was raised where skinny dipping and nude bathing wasn't about sex, but about being free. in my opinion, there's no greater feeling than swimming nude. i loved this post and it made me like you more to see this playful side. also, i totally relate to wanting your partner to join in. last summer my boyfriend and i took full advantage of the nude beaches in Bulgaria, it was a great experience!
Memories of Robert Moses State Park. Thanks Steph. We beached at that last lot also. Although I never stripped there. I enjoyed nude beaching at the Caribbean and even some secluded beaches in Cozumel. There's nothing like nude sunbathing and swimming. Next time I'm in Austin I'll have to check out Hippie Hollow. But I won't have enough nerve to strip.
I just came back from a 2 weeks vacations in a naturist camp in Croatia, and it was wonderful! You're right, in Europe we're more natural about it and it is a beautiful and funny feeling to meet new people, talk to them and have fun together (play tennis, take a boat together, have dinner) all naked! Sex has nothing to do with that, and the thing I like the most is the fact that, when naked, people are all the same, you don't notice the differences of status you can immediately spot when you see somebody's clothes…
I love to see couples with children who teach them to know their bodies and to not be afraid of them, and my boyfriend just don't care if I spread my legs a bit to get a better tan…
Men look at me even when I'm dressed (maybe more!), and their looks have many more "sexual intention" than those of the men I cross in the naturist camp. I always say, the funny thing in naturist camp is that men look me in the eyes there…
So Steph, have fun there and enjoy your nudity if you like, I'm sure the Suitor will understand… it is really something one should share with his partner, and when you go back home after a day without clothes… sex becomes so much fun… :)
i think it's "hippie," and not "hippy."
Stephanie, do you actually read all these comments? There's no possible way you could.
Well, I guess you could but…wow.
Do you?
It'd be interesting to read a blog post about the comments you receive, if you use any of the suggestions, if any of them touch you and ring true. Does it start to sound like the same bullshit with every post? Kiss ass. Kiss ass. Kiss ass?
I do adore your writing though. I cant say I blame your fans.
It's one thing to be nude on a beach, but it's another to be nude and humping on the beach in front of people. I think that's gross. I don't want to see ordinary people having sex, especially in public.
Ugh..is anyone other than me totally skeeved?
This past April-i had the opportunity to spend time in FL at Haulover beach which is nude…I enjoyed feeling the sun on my nakedness and not having to deal with the wet sand in my bathing suit. It was half gay and half couples and families. I couldn't believe that i was able to let down my conservative tendencies to "shed all"…..;) I am also from Long Island and have been to the nude beach near Tobay Beach-toward Jones Beach…but that was all gay!
frg
To start, I love your blog!
Austin is Austin, and for true Austinites, pretty much anything goes. A pregant woman in the nude is beautiful and to be embraced by most people, and not in a sexual way at all. The dorks with the water noodles (I SO know what you're talking about…), they're at Hippie Hollow for a pure reason. Of course, there will be a few unsavoury perverts, but that's anywhere in town. It's very liberal and laid-back, but it's also conducive to a few good freaks. I don't know if you actually went to Hippie Hollow (or recounted it from a daydream), but it's great you got to experience a true Austin legend! It's such a comfortable, inspiring city. I hope you're beginning to feel at home and are happy! :)
Hippie Hollow looms mythically large (and they perpetuate it with the web page full of mostly beautiful naked people posed on the rocks–google it) but I think the reality of it tends to disappoint. I too noticed mainly older men, really older men, with red wrinkly skin and scraggly beards, feeling themselves up when some young women would come along. I wasn't very comfortable there either. We had our picnic and took off.
Steph, he'll either come around or not. Whatever happens will be just fine. Just don't feel like you have to change.
Hippie Hollow is just like the rest of Austin: over rated. It is mostly gays (male and female), dorky middle aged men hoping to get lucky,and “guest workers” ogling your wife /girlfriend. Don’t waste your time. BTW,Barton Springs is over rated too. If you are over 12,speak English, and weight less than 300 pounds, you are out of place. I saw a topless girl there,once. Don’t even think about wearing a thong.