San Antonio

[Paul56]

I'm here in San Antonio for the next coupla weeks.

Interesting thing passing through security yesterday with my laptop & CPAP machine in my carry-on... security was not interested in the CPAP machine at all but they did swab the laptop.

Customs also expressed a lot of interest in my pastrami sandwich in carry-on as well...

Customs: "Anything in that bag we should know about?"

Me: "Well, notebook... sleep machine... sandwich... medications... assorted small items".

Customs: "Sandwich? What kind of sandwich?"

Me: "Pastrami"

Customs: "Where did you purchase it?"

Me: "I made it myself."

Customs: "Where did you purchase the ingredients?"

Me: "Grocery store in Canada where I came from."

Customs: "oh okay"

Oh... the weather here today is gorgeous although very windy. I'm lovin' this place.

[elader]

Go to to the Mexican market - its not too far from the riverwalk and the dome. Great place for cheap tourist gifts.
Take the cheesy boat tour
when you pass Dicks, look up.

[Gerald]

Paul.....

Three things to do in San Antonio......explore the River Walk....eat at LaFonda Mexican Food Restaurant on Main St.....and walk through the Alamo. When I lived there in the late 1940's and early 1950's, the River Walk was just a muddy ditch....and now it's a great tourist attraction. LaFonda was my favorite restaurant then....and now. The Alamo is "sacred" ground for us Texans....and is a symbol for the independent streak most of us share.

San Antonio is a good place....with good people.

Gerald

[SharkBait]

Lots of wind here in Abilene. 50+ MPH's... They canceled the pole vaulting at my son's track meet. I was looking forward to watching them try to do that...

[Mike77]

Welcome to Texas! If you have the opportunity, you should make a trip up to Austin. We have a lot to see and do up in the Capital City!

[elader]

Welcome to Texas! If you have the opportunity, you should make a trip up to Austin. We have a lot to see and do up in the Capital City!

Hey Mike, I lived in Austin for 15 years. Up by Parmer and Mopac. Worked forst at UT Zoology and then down by I35 and Ben White. Killer of a commute. I really miss the city, the lakes, and the bbq.

Oh.. and Chuy's.

[Paul56]

Drove up to San Marcos yesterday morning. Man... cost $30 bucks to fill the company Hummer. Costs me that much to fill the tank on my little Neon back in Canada.

Thanks for the tourist tips folks... we will be doing the tourist thing over the weekend. Lovin' it here so far!

[SharkBait]

Welcome to Texas! If you have the opportunity, you should make a trip up to Austin. We have a lot to see and do up in the Capital City!

Hey Mike, I lived in Austin for 15 years. Up by Parmer and Mopac. Worked forst at UT Zoology and then down by I35 and Ben White. Killer of a commute. I really miss the city, the lakes, and the bbq.

Oh.. and Chuy's.

I almost moved to Austin a few years back. We were gonna re-locate our company there since it was the 'technology center' of the area and we wanted to be where we could attract new talent. Then the tech sector crashed and our marketing partner (The Fleming Companies -- largest food wholesaler in the world at the time) went belly up dragging about 85% of our customer base along with it. At that point we scrapped our plans to re-locate and I'm now running the business out of my house. Ouch.

I tell ya, while we were driving around looking at office space I was getting a pit in my stomach at the thought of having to deal with those extremely over filled little roads with the traffic signals every couple of blocks and waiting 4 or 5 cycles before making it thru a traffic light. I had bought a lot in Round Rock and had started construction on a new home. Luckily the home builder we were with let us out of it with a full refund (tech crash hadn't totally taken it's toll yet).

Silver lining in all of that is I'm not stuck in traffic every day...

[dieselgal]

Sharkbait you are right about the traffic in Austin! They are very intent on keeping Austin beautiful so they fight tooth and nail when it comes to widening roads and putting in new roads. This causes major crowding on the existing streets. Also you have to watch out for bicyclists they are everywhere.
I live in the Hill Country about 60 miles from SA and everytime I visit Austin or San Antonio I come home and appreciate my small town more.

[DreamStalker]

Paul.....

Three things to do in San Antonio......explore the River Walk....eat at LaFonda Mexican Food Restaurant on Main St.....and walk through the Alamo. When I lived there in the late 1940's and early 1950's, the River Walk was just a muddy ditch....and now it's a great tourist attraction. LaFonda was my favorite restaurant then....and now. The Alamo is "sacred" ground for us Texans....and is a symbol for the independent streak most of us share.

San Antonio is a good place....with good people.

Gerald

I'm in Austin but I agree with Gerald's suggestions for SA ... and make sure you check out the basement of the Alamo

Weather is fantastic today and is expected to stay like that for next week or so.

If you're into live music, check out 6th Street in downtown Austin.

If you are really into BBQ, go north a couple of hours to Llano and hit Coopers.

Enjoy your visit.

[Gerald]

Paul.....

Now that I know you've got "wheels" and are moving around, let me make a suggestion for Saturday night.

Drive north to New Braunfels.....and just on the north side of New Braunfels is the little town of Gruene, Texas. The name is pronounced "Green". This little town is on the banks of the river...and is well worth the drive. Have dinner at the Grist Mill River Restaurant & Bar....on the bluff overlooking the river.

When you're finished with dinner, walk next door to "Gruene Hall"....the oldest honkey-tonk dance hall in Texas. Listen to some good, Texas country music, dance on the worn-out floor, drink a beer or two, and soak up some of the "real Texas".

Check out the town website......

http://www.gruenetexas.com/

The weather should be perfect....and I promise a memorable evening.

Don't miss it.

Gerald

[dieselgal]

Yes Gruene is a neat little town. My husband and I spent our honeymoon in Gruene and we stayed at the Gruene Mansion.

[Gerald]

Dieselgal....

Did you stay in the main house......or one of the little rooms next to the river? My honey and I stayed in one of the quaint little rooms overlooking the river. It was the "honeymoon suite". Boy....was that unique! Probably one of the most interesting places I've ever stayed.

Gerald

[Paul56]

Went to Gruene over the weekend... wow!

Went to an area to look at some $500K+ homes last night... WOW! Saw this one home were the contractor lost his licence just as they were finishing the place up... that was 1 year ago.

Going to Riverwalk tonight.

Man, it was chilly here yesterday... but still warmer than where I come from.

[KengEsq]

Went to Gruene over the weekend... wow!

Went to an area to look at some $500K+ homes last night... WOW! Saw this one home were the contractor lost his licence just as they were finishing the place up... that was 1 year ago.

Going to Riverwalk tonight.

Man, it was chilly here yesterday... but still warmer than where I come from.

Paul,

In addition to a visit to the Alamo you might want to visit the other mission churches (get the tourist map for the mission trail) and give some consideration to a tour of the Lone Star Brewery - lousy beer but you can get a free one at the tour.