San Antonio Day One

We arrived here in San Antonio at about 1:30.  We are staying at the Homewood Suites on the Riverwalk.  Beautiful location.  not on top of the action but close enough to walk, but not close enough to hear the partying in our room.  Our room is bigger than the RV so we are really sprawled out!  the kitchen is the same size but the bedroom, bathroom and living room are MUCH bigger!  Of course there are a lot of children...  hope we can use the pool..

We headed out to the river and the Alamo.  did not get into the Chapel as the line was way too long.

Beautiful tile work throughout the city...

the Alamo..

food they ate back then,  I would be much thinner if that was all we had today!

beautiful grounds..

this guy/gal was having a tough time pulling the vine..  making a nest??

the river walk..

cousin Jim's place??  maybe we can get free drinks!!

lots of water falls/fountains on the riverwalk..

we might do this tour..

stopped for a bit of refreshment at the Oldest Tavern in San Antonio..

this balcony was hoppin during Mardi Gras..

we had to order a bit of food to get us by..  homemade onion dip with hand cut chips and a pimento cheese with bacon sandwich.  both were delightful but... too hot for me, I ate both but suffered.

Again we ask where is the recession? this place is so busy and lots and lots of families.  all eating on the riverwalk where the prices are not cheap..

torch of life:

La Villita has lots of art galleries..

too cute..

flowers are all blooming..  beautiful tile work

Of course we had to stop at Pat OBrien's..  suspect we won't get in on Friday or Saturday..

A beautiful day in a Beautiful city.  more to see today...















Another warm work week!

Monday started out hot and humid!  Of course with all of the wind we had last week, we had plenty of trees and branches down on the trails.  (job security). 

Before...

After...

Finally got a pic of the Eastern Screech Owl

We had to leave a bit early as I broke a crown last night while flossing!!  We went into Mexico to the dentist.  I had to wait about 2 hours to get in (this place is very busy).  It took a bit over an hour to grind down the old crown, make the molds for the new crown and make a temporary.  Price $170 for the complete crown.   I have to go back on March 28th to have the permanent crown installed.  Luckily it happened this week, at home it would cost $1500! 

Tuesday was a very hot and humid day.  Still cleaning the trails from the wind last week.

Wednesday: our very first public paying canoe trip.  it was PERFECT!!  the wind was a bit high but our location allowed us to float.  High banks kept the wind at bay!

we were so worried about the wind.  it is about 80 minute drive from the refuge to the input ramp.  we would hate to have to cancel after driving all that way.  Lunch was at Chilly Willies, were we have eaten 3 other times and the food was great!  Our hope is to come back next Dec and have 3 trips a week! 

Love South Texas!!

Shopping and hanging around

Woke up to cold weather (47) today, sounds like a shopping day to me.  After a delicious pancake breakfast we headed to the outlet mall in Mercedes.  we have not been there yet so did not know what to expect.  It ,is a high end outlet mall and pretty crowded.  we just wandered in and out of the stores, not really looking for anything in particular.   I found a pair of jeans at Ralph Lauren.  the clerk said all jeans were $19, when she rung up my purchase I thought she said $26.75!  well mine were marked $24.95, but they fit well so what the heck.  I get outside look at my charge receipt it was $6.75!!  should have bought two pair!! 

by afternoon the weather here was at 50 and in Birchwood Wi it was 55!  thats not suppose to happen!

then we headed to the flea market.  bought some Mexican 1015 Onions and Red Rio grapefruit,  What is a 1015 Onion??  they are just harvesting them now:

Released in 1983. The Texas 1015 onion was developed by the legendary Dr. Leonard Pike of Texas A&M University, it's name derives from the planting date in Texas (October 15).

Texas 1015s were grown in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas and took some 10 years to produce, this onion was dubbed the "million dollar baby" because of the enormous cost and amount of time it took to develop this exceptionally sweet onion.

1015's have flattened yellow bulbs with rounded shoulders.

Texas 1015 is the sweetest of the sweet onion varieties and I remember my mother always buying them at the local market where I grew up in Texas.

The bigger it gets the sweeter it gets. Texas 1015 onions can weigh up to a pound or more!

We have not cut into one yet but will soon! 

Since we saved so much money on the jeans and produce we headed off to Pappadeaux's for a well deserved lunch/dinner.

Eric had never been to one before, know it is a $$ chain but usually pretty good.

I ordered the:

it was very peachy and very delicious.  it cost more than my new jeans!  but well worth it.

We ordered the Papa deaux oyster plate:

although the oysters were kind of small they were both good.

I ordered the shrimp and catfish dinner.  the shrimp was a bit spicy (red pepper in the batter), the catfish was wonderful, sweet, flaky and cornmeal batter. 

Eric ordered the crayfish combo plate with dirty rice.  Fried crayfish and crayfish etouffee.  they were a bit too spicy for me but great flavor.

It was 2 in the afternoon and the place was jammed.  people just kept coming in!   we are not seeing any signs of the recession in South Texas!

Sunday started out cool and rainy.  by afternoon the sun came out, temp up to 77.  did not do anything!  just hung around the compound.

Our time here is getting short. But I guess it is time to get ready to head back home. Amost all of the volunteers will leave by the end of the month.  The three couples that came in Feb will remain until April 1. 

Hot then Cold!

Thursday morning we had our mid term meeting with our manager.  Yea, I know we are leaving in 3 weeks but she is very busy.  We think we are back next year!!  Yea!!!

We headed to Harlingen to their Historical Museum.  It was a bit windy but a warm/hot day. by 3pm it was 91 deg.  Eric had to sit in the shade!  too warm for him. 

the museum was really nice and free!  we really like free!!

I like the colors scheme..

I really like the double fireplace..

looks like my Victrola in the corner! 

what about this sink?  we had one just like it when we lived in Bridgeview!!

old time pudgy pie maker on the wall??

the hospital has some pretty creepy stuff in it, especially the maternity ward and the surgery room.

We have a bookcase just like the one in the Dr's office..

the stagecoach inn..

there was another building but it was closed for renovations.  suppose to have a stage coach in it..  maybe next time we can see it.    well worth the trip to see.

After trying twice to get into this restaurant Eric was ready to write it off.  but we tried one more time. and it was OPEN!!  yea... 

it was fabulous...

I had the Ruben and Eric had the beef brisket melt.  both were wonderful and worth the wait.  the cole slaw was perfect, the potato salad was good (different, more like cold mashed potatoes).  the fries looked good, maybe next time.  this is most definitely a repeatable place if we can figure out their hours!!

makes me hungry just looking at the picture!

We spent the remainder of the day lounging outside, me in the sun, Eric in the shade.

We had the A/C on until about midnight, the heat came on at 6:00am on Friday when I got up!  temps in the low 50's!  and stayed there all day with a few sprinkles.  a good morning to do laundry, then go to the movies.  we went to the cheap theater to see Mission Impossible.  it was not too bad.  of course they have good popcorn and as always a free refill to take home!

since we were full from the popcorn we stopped at Dickies BBQ for take out. It is a chain, not sure where it originates from, but they serve southern style not Texas style. the pulled pork was pretty good and so were the ribs.  if need be this could be a repeat place. 

high temps was 55 when we got up, it went down from there!  50 by 3:00 pm.