Texas 2013 - San Antonio

When we were in Texas last week we took a day trip to San Antonio. We didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I fell in love with what I saw. I would move to San Antonio in a heartbeat, given the chance.

We started out downtown at the Riverwalk. What a beautiful area!

The old buildings, the huge trees, flowers everywhere...just amazing. Every restaurant has an outdoor patio with wrought iron furniture and brightly coloured umbrellas. It was hard to take it all in.

We walked around a bit and then had lunch at a mexican restaurant. The lady sitting next to us befriended this duck and was sneaking it tortilla chips. I swear it was going to crawl up in her lap, it was so friendly.

After lunch, Tom had to meet a friend so we headed north of downtown. While he talked to his friend I sat in the car and looked up real estate listings, pretending I was moving there.

We really wanted to see the missions before it got dark but we didn't have time to see them all, so we chose Mission Espada for the aquaduct, Mission San José for the church, and the Alamo because, well, you have to see the Alamo, right? As Canadians, southern US history is just a story for us, but we wanted to learn as much as we could.

We were the only ones at Mission Espada. It was so quiet, we felt like we should tiptoe around.

The chapel is so lovely, and the nuns who live on the grounds keep the courtyard outside their quarters full of flowers and trees.

We took a quick trip to the aquaduct but the area was closing so I didn't get any good pictures. The irrigation system is made up of gravity-flow ditches, dams, and an aquaduct to distribute water to 3,500 acres of land.

We then moved on to Mission San José. Luckily, it is open a half hour longer than Espada. San José is much bigger, and has had more restoration work done.

There is a water-powered mill on the grounds, believed to be the oldest mill in Texas. We were lucky enough to see it working just before they shut the water gate for the day.

We heard that the Alamo was open for another half hour (did we plan our path well or what?) so we hurried back to downtown. We only had about 10 minutes so we didn't get to see very much. In fact, Tom didn't even get to go inside the mission. He dropped me off so I could take pictures and went to find a parking spot. There were so many people around that it was hard to get unobstructed shots.

I didn't get a chance to explore, so I had to settle for taking pictures of the plaques and reading them later.

(click photo to enlarge)

We wandered back along the Riverwalk and headed over to the King William historic district. It turned out to be quite a hike for two people who hadn't eaten since noon. This neighbourhood used to be part of the Alamo land, was sold off, became a fashionable area for German immigrants, fell out of favour, and has since been restored. It is quite a large area, but since my stomach was rumbling we only wandered a few of the streets.

The houses on those streets though! Huge mansions on even larger properties. Some of the houses have walking tours throughout the day.

Even the garages/carriage houses are worth a second look.

I also took pictures of a couple of the outdoor patios. We don't have outdoor areas you can use year-round in Ontario, so to see them is always a novelty.

This one was on the second floor, linking the main house to the guest house.

We headed back to the Riverwalk again and stopped for BBQ. I ordered beef ribs - wow they are huge! There were tons of fish in the river, begging for bread scraps. This one came up to say hello. He looks a bit grumpy, doesn't he? Maybe because the bread was so good I wouldn't share.

I had heard about a mexican bakery that was open 24 hours, so I dragged Tom around the streets looking for it. I knew approximately where it was, but we still ended up walking a couple of miles and found it almost by accident.

The area was still really busy, even for being nearly 10 o'clock at night. We were pretty beat by then, and we still had a long drive back to Houston, so we started the trek back to the car. We ended up walking past the Alamo again so I got another shot of the chapel, this time all lit up.

We had such a great time that we are determined to come back, for longer next time. I want to stay in this hotel with a room overlooking the water.

Do you live in San Antonio? Do you go downtown very often? I'm guessing the locals avoid the crowds, but I don't know if I'd be able to tear myself away.

Texas 2013 - Houston/Galveston

We're back from Houston! It was such a great time. I have fallen absolutely in love with Texas. The food, the heat, the people - I can't stop raving. (And Tom & I can't stop saying, "Just livin' the dream, darlin'." Heard it everywhere.)

We arrived on Saturday but our condo wasn't available until Sunday, so we stayed at a hotel near the airport the first night. The hotel manager directed us to Pappas Seafood House for lunch - what a way to start a vacation! We had crab cakes with crawfish, fried calamari, zucchini, and garlic toast with spinach dip, and then fried crawfish and catfish. Because it was our first time in Texas, the manager gave us free crème brûlée as a welcome gift. We had leftovers for days. I couldn't help but top the mini brownies we brought with us with crème brûlée and whipped cream. Does this not look amazing? (It was.)

Our condo was in Kemah, a little town southeast of Houston. It had plenty of light and space. The walk-in closet was absolutely huge - why in the world didn't I take a picture of it?

We had just been in World Market and admired these exact pillows, but figured since we were flying we couldn't buy them. I got to enjoy them for a week though.

The only thing missing in the kitchen was a draining rack - so Tom improvised. Clever, isn't he?

We were within walking distance of the Kemah Boardwalk - a carnival-type place with food, games, rides, and hungry catfish. You could throw pellets of food to them and they would just swarm. Kind of cool, kind of creepy. And that is the true colour of the water. Yum.

The boardwalk is really pretty though and being able to walk along the water after being cooped up in planes and then the car was just what I needed.

Even the police are having fun in Kemah.

 Some of the houses right at the water were amazing. I'm so jealous. Imagine the view every day?

We stopped at a bar for dinner, right across the road from our condo. It was a tiny, little place called the Loco Deckhouse that has only been open for a few months.

We got to talking with the waitress (Hi, Mari Ann!) and she gave us a list of places to visit every night for dinner and entertainment. She started calling us her "Canadian friends" and then she introduced us to the owner as "her Canadians". We didn't hit half the places she mentioned - she has energy! - but her recommendations were perfect. After dinner the owner took us across the street to his "party bus".  He rents it out and people party while he drives around I guess. It was full of flashing lights, neon ribbon lighting, even a disco ball. This was the best picture I could get - a totally psychedelic atmosphere.

The main reason we stayed in Kemah was to be closer to the beaches at Galveston. The owner of the condo told us that right now the beaches there were covered in seaweed, so we drove farther down the coast to Matagorda. It was lunch time when we got there so we asked our GPS for suggestions. "She" led us here.

It's someone's backyard full of oyster shells. Thanks, lady. So we ended up buying flautas and corndogs from the convenience store and eating them at the beach. When we got home I looked up the restaurant and right on the site it says that your GPS will lead you to the wrong address. Good to know. 

How was the beach? Well, the seaweed had made it down south as well. 

No swimming that day. But we did  have fun walking out on the bridge and then along the jetty (is it a jetty? a spit?) to take pictures of the pelicans diving for fish. I don't really like birds but I swear I couldn't stop taking pictures.

The day before we left for home, we decided to make the trip to Galveston anyway. And you know what we found? Perfect beaches. I guess the seaweed had moved along (and we had blindly followed it, of course.)

We didn't bring bathing suits or towels because we didn't expect to swim, so we had to settle for just walking along the water's edge. But we did come back the next day before we had to leave for the airport so we could experience the gulf waters. It was so warm! Nicer than the water in Cuba even (though I haven't been there in June.)

The coolest thing was the fish swimming in the water around us. They would randomly jump out of the water or would surf the waves in huge schools. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. If I'd only had a waterproof camera with me.

Oh, this was cool too. This is Callie. She's six months old and it was her first trip to the beach. Is she not just the cutest thing?

The trip home wasn't without excitement either. We had a layover in DC at Dulles. The plane from DC to Buffalo had mechanical issues so we had to wait while they flew in a replacement part from Kansas. But the plane carrying the replacement part broke down as well (I'm not kidding), so they cancelled the flight and sent us to hotels for the night. (And gave us food vouchers just as all the airport restaurants were closing.) 

The next morning we got on our new plane but they couldn't get the air conditioning to work so we were back in the airport until they could bring in another plane from Albany. Because it was such a short flight home we hadn't packed anything in our carry-ons other than some snacks and a book. So, 16 extra hours in an airport with no toothbrush, no makeup, no clean clothes. (And we finished our books so we had to buy new ones - used our food vouchers!)

We were exhausted but happy to get home to the puppies. I almost cried when the border guard  said, "Welcome home!" (we flew into Buffalo and then drove home to Ontario).

So glad to be back, but I'm already planning our next trip to Texas. Just loved all y'all!