Posted: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 06:49 AM - 31,798 Readers

By: Erin Cargile

The view is looking good these days at The Oasis.

“This is what we would like everyday,” said Jon Silva, general manager of the restaurant that overlooks Lake Travis.

Customers are flocking to the lakefront restaurant to see the transformation.

“Yesterday was the busiest Sunday in the history of the company that wasn’t a holiday weekend,” said Silva.

Tom Kilburg and his wife made the drive from Georgetown.

“It’s what we saw about 15 years ago the first time we were here,” said Kilburg.

Dianne Francesco, who is visiting from New Jersey, pulled up a picture on her phone of the dry lake she snapped two years ago from the same spot. The exposed land is no more.

“Looks great,” Francesco added.

Traffic on the water is up, too.

“Sailboats, speed boats, cigarette boats, everything you can imagine — and this weekend they were all dodging each other,” said Silva.

Angela Jones and Danny Wilson rented a boat Monday. It’s something they haven’t done in years.

“They said, ‘Good thing you’re coming this week because this weekend will be crazy packed,'” said Wilson.

Not everyone was able to hold on through the drought and cash in on Mother Nature. Carlos ‘n Charlies still sits empty after shutting down, but word is some people are considering reopening the once-popular lakefront restaurant.

“I think it’s wonderful, wonderful for the lake, wonderful for everybody that uses the lake,” said Simon Bradwell, one of the longtime boaters on Lake Travis. “Right now, there’s a lot of debris in the water, there’s a little bit of a safety issue. But if you’re careful, it’s great to have the lake back.”

He keeps his boat at Emerald Point Marina. Now that the lake has risen, he has to take a shuttle to get to it. Over the next month, the marina will be moving and re-anchoring the docks closer to shore.

*  Story Contributed by: Erin Cargile