So it's certain - I should have been a travel writer so I'd get paid to travel. I think I'd turn out an interesting product. I've been in San Antonio just 24 short hours but so far, I love it. The travel here wasn't necessarily easy. 3:30 a.m. wake up to get to the airport for 7 hours of travel via two separate flights. There are universal truths of travel and many of them made me laugh. The luggage carousel for example - everyone runs to the luggage carousel just to stand there and wait. And once the thing starts moving - sheer panic. Husbands take one side wives the other, just in case the suitcase gets past the first person. "Dale, check to make sure that's really ours!" The funniest part was that the suitcase was brown with pink polka dots. Really lady, there aren't too many of those running around. Good chance it's yours.
After a longer than intended nap at the hotel I found a sports bar two blocks away with the Oregon/USC game on. I also found two Duck fans in town for a conference. Birds of a feather really do flock together and come to find out we knew some of the same people back home. The sad reality is there are no, I mean no fast food restaurants in San Antonio. This only becomes a concern at midnight when one realizes they haven't eaten anything since noon and is trying to grab a quick bite. Normally I find Dick's Last Resort entertaining (they make a living off insulting their diners-genius), but after calling in an order that I had to scream in to the lobby phone and pushing my way through throngs of really drunk WSU Coug fans I almost decked the waiter when he said "here's your salad - I tossed it for you." Not in the mood mister, and take off that awful Bon Jovi wig!
I can't begin to tell you how wonderful this morning was. Bright sunshine and a seat along the river walk basking in the glory of it all. I should have been a Texas girl. I walked all over town - from the Alamo (really small in person) to the Majestic theatre where I picked up one ticket to see Larry the Cable Guy tonight. What are the odds? I can't wait! My souvenir mission for Texas was a new pair of cowboy boots. You'd be surprised at the response I got at the Visitor's Bureau when I inquired about an authentic place to get boots. Like that was a new question... I walked all over the city trying to find this hole in the wall shop that has been in San Antonio since 1917. It was worth the hunt. The guy running the store looked like he could have been Mafia except he was Hispanic. He was super personable and really funny. Oddly one of the two styles he pulled out for me was made in China. How can an authentic boot shop in Texas sell boots made in China? A sad reality he said - boots only make up 10% of the shoe market these days so most boot makers are out of business. Of course, being the good closet Texas girl I am I bucked up to buy the all leather, made in the USA, non-gringo (his words, not mine) dark brown boots. I'm in heaven. I've got them on right now with my jean skirt and Seahawks t-shirt (even though the Cowboys stomped them today in Dallas) and I'm wearing them to see Larry tonight.
The hotel we're in is the second oldest in Texas, or something like that. It's very pretty and there are historic pictures of famous people visiting the hotel all over the lobby. Downtown San Antonio is pretty dead. Really dead and run down in spots. The river walk is super crowded and really beautiful but it's funny - even restaurants that have a street access and a river walk access let the street access go and spend all their money making the river entrance grand. So the street level of most of San Antonio isn't quite what I'd imagine. There's tons of commercial realestate up for grabs if you're looking to start something new.
These boots are made for walkin' and that's what I'm gonna do. Back outside to take in the Texas culture and figure out how I can bottle it up and bring it home. Don't mess with Texas people - be safe out there.
After a longer than intended nap at the hotel I found a sports bar two blocks away with the Oregon/USC game on. I also found two Duck fans in town for a conference. Birds of a feather really do flock together and come to find out we knew some of the same people back home. The sad reality is there are no, I mean no fast food restaurants in San Antonio. This only becomes a concern at midnight when one realizes they haven't eaten anything since noon and is trying to grab a quick bite. Normally I find Dick's Last Resort entertaining (they make a living off insulting their diners-genius), but after calling in an order that I had to scream in to the lobby phone and pushing my way through throngs of really drunk WSU Coug fans I almost decked the waiter when he said "here's your salad - I tossed it for you." Not in the mood mister, and take off that awful Bon Jovi wig!
I can't begin to tell you how wonderful this morning was. Bright sunshine and a seat along the river walk basking in the glory of it all. I should have been a Texas girl. I walked all over town - from the Alamo (really small in person) to the Majestic theatre where I picked up one ticket to see Larry the Cable Guy tonight. What are the odds? I can't wait! My souvenir mission for Texas was a new pair of cowboy boots. You'd be surprised at the response I got at the Visitor's Bureau when I inquired about an authentic place to get boots. Like that was a new question... I walked all over the city trying to find this hole in the wall shop that has been in San Antonio since 1917. It was worth the hunt. The guy running the store looked like he could have been Mafia except he was Hispanic. He was super personable and really funny. Oddly one of the two styles he pulled out for me was made in China. How can an authentic boot shop in Texas sell boots made in China? A sad reality he said - boots only make up 10% of the shoe market these days so most boot makers are out of business. Of course, being the good closet Texas girl I am I bucked up to buy the all leather, made in the USA, non-gringo (his words, not mine) dark brown boots. I'm in heaven. I've got them on right now with my jean skirt and Seahawks t-shirt (even though the Cowboys stomped them today in Dallas) and I'm wearing them to see Larry tonight.
The hotel we're in is the second oldest in Texas, or something like that. It's very pretty and there are historic pictures of famous people visiting the hotel all over the lobby. Downtown San Antonio is pretty dead. Really dead and run down in spots. The river walk is super crowded and really beautiful but it's funny - even restaurants that have a street access and a river walk access let the street access go and spend all their money making the river entrance grand. So the street level of most of San Antonio isn't quite what I'd imagine. There's tons of commercial realestate up for grabs if you're looking to start something new.
These boots are made for walkin' and that's what I'm gonna do. Back outside to take in the Texas culture and figure out how I can bottle it up and bring it home. Don't mess with Texas people - be safe out there.
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