San Antonio (Part I)

 San Antonio, Texas

When in Texas, do you do as the Texans?

Making the concession to Texas, even during Rodeo Week in San Antonio, wasn't easy. The problem was leaving my go-to sunny-weather bald-head covering, ie. my baseball hats, behind.

But the Lone Star State is cowboy hat country and my ball cap collection just wasn't cutting the mustard. Still, I hesitated. In fact, Linda made the move first back in Corpus Christi....turning her into my very cute cowgirl.

But who was that city dude beside her? Oh, the pressure!

It did take another two days to buck the cap, but when I did, I got a great deal: 
When I bought the hat,the swagger came free.

At the boot store, I did overhear this tidbit of cowboy wisdom from one woman speaking to her friend in the next aisle: “You just gotta make sure you don't squat with your spurs on.”

Stay tuned.

More cowboy wisdom about San Antonio: "It don't take a genius to spot a goat in a flock of sheep."

San Antonio seems to have some magic over us? Even Mark Twain once confessed that there wasn't much that he liked, but that he did like San Antonio.

A true melting-pot, the city has been a cultural mix of Spanish and English influences for the last 150 years. Whether on its streets or in its homes and kitchens the two cultures seem to mix beautifully...and Tex-Mex is spreading.  Just think of Taco Bell.....Señor! 

All the while honouring its past, the city seems serious about two other things: its future and the fun you can have getting there.


To use a cartoon analogy, San Antonio is like “Baby Huey”. Compared to cities like Austin, Dallas, or Houston, sure it's big, but its also without pretense...that is unless you're talking about the great San Antonio Spurs, that is!!!

Just A Big Village ?

In fact, San Antonio often feels like a big parochial village. Originally planned as a traditional Spanish town, today's bustling city is still built around plazas with many blocks devoted to open spaces. 

But that village feeling can't be any stronger than when stepping down onto the banks of the “Riverwalk” where life slows down to the pace of the river. 

The escape from the inevitable urban grind begins with your first stair step down to the water's edge.

Blowing its own whistle?!

Interestingly, were it not for some brave visionaries, this jewel might not exist.  In the

1920's, city officials were seriously considering paving over the river. 
Oh the potential of narrow minds!!!! 
Henry Ford would have put it this way:
"There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can."
And they did!
However, one aspect about the city's past did get on my nerves: the loud, deep, lonely, nocturnal cry of the many passing freight trains...its cute factor dropped from 100 to 0 in about 15 minutes.

A good helpen' of Chicken Fried Steak

Every Texan knows you ain't from here if you don't know chicken fried steak or “if the Alamo don't mean nothin' to ya” . Check out Google for that “Chicken Fried Steak” recipe but as for the Alamo, it's only just the ultimate Shrine of Liberty down here.








In fact, for the Texan, the Alamo is the place where history, legend and myth have been woven into a stirring story about the very true Texan spirit of freedom, independence, and pride.

Love me or Love me not; I don't care!

As the story goes, this state has always fought....or been fought over. In fact, 6 different flags have been known to float over this territory: those of Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate South, and of course, the United States. 

Proud Americans they might be but their independence is a state of mind born out of conflict....and one conflict in particular....the war of independence with Mexico. This one, like no other, allowed Texas to become a free, independent, flag-flying country known as the Republic of Texas.

San Antonio and the Alamo

Davie Croquette is
enshrined here.      

No city's history is more intertwined with Texas' war of independence than San Antonio, site of the Battle of the Alamo.

Ever heard of Davie Croquette? It's here that he lost his life fighting the Mexicans? But to no avail! 

The Texans were beaten so soundly that the vengeful battle cry for the rest of the war was: “Remember the Alamo”...

Davie Croquette's tomb

...a cry that gave General Sam Houston and his boys the pep in their step they needed to ultimately defeat the pesky Mexicans, create a new country, and hoist their new flag, the “Lone Star ”.

A great tip from George

My brother-in-law, George, a knowledgeable South-West ex-pat, knows his way around Mexican food and cold beer. One of his favorite restaurants down here, the Mia Tiero in Market Square, is a  big, vibrant, colourful place.  In fact, stepping into it was like stepping into the middle of a Mexican festival. 


The food was exceptional and what's more, they also served one of his all-time favorite Texan beers, "Shiner Bock"!

As for our evening, it was a feast for both the eye and the palette...and the “Shiner Bock”, simply delicioso, frio,,....and ample! 
We were even serenaded.



and got the T-Shirt too!!

Making our way home, my thoughts went to the San Jose Mission tour guide who told me that his people call San Antonio “a subdivision of heaven”. That night, they were right.

Thanks, George. A great time was had by all!

Adiós mis amigos.

Part II coming.
Until then.

The San Antonio (Part II)

San Antonio, Texas
(Part II)


A Day Out on the "Mission Trail"

 The Missionary Position

The next day came too soon! Time for some exercise. Thankfully, San Antonio has a very efficient and reliable city-bike rental system. In no time, we were out along the river, cycling to all four Spanish Missions along “Mission Trail”, each one a historical treasure and for us, a treat for all the hard work.





The stars of the show were definitely the first mission we visited, "Conception".....

... and "San Jose", the second and very large mission on our route.  It was here that we took a wonderful tour of this very extensive mission.  

One thing seemed to intrigue me though, as we made our way from building to building:

Eerie!

The faces of the natives these missions once served still, still seemed to be in the stone edifices and walls that they built.

The latter two missions on the Trail involved a lot more pedaling and sadly some slightly anti-climatic results. I guess there's a reason why tour buses only hit the first two.


As for the day, the beautiful weather, the wild life, 

the guided tours, the gentle exercise, 








.......the company, and plain good history made it amazing.


                         One great museum

Any visit to San Antonio has to include a museum visit. Our choice was the brand new and very modern Briscoe Museum, which as you can see below highlights.........

......American Western Art, telling a story of perseverance, conflict, hope, and survival in the taming of the West. It was simply an amazing place.

A "fair-ly" good time...

...At Hemisfair Park: 

On our last night in S.A, Ken and I found time to visit the official 1968 World's Fair site, Hemisfair Park, for a quick beer at the top of the Tower of the Americas. 

 Just a short walk from our condo, the 750-foot Tower's observation deck was the right place to get a night panorama of the whole city and of course,  of a “Shiner Bock”.

An added bonus:
Two quick visits to the King William District and the Historical Arts Village of La Villita were a delight.  They offered both a peek into the past of San Antonio and a welcome walk in the warm Texas sunshine. 

Oh, and one last thing:
Heading down to the lobby in the elevator one morning, an old rancher, in town for the Rodeo, saw my Canada pin and remarked somewhat disheartened that he had seem the two Olympic Hockey Games (Canada won two gold medals.) on T.V. There was some wisdom in what he said next so I thought I'd pass it on:

“Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.”

Adiós mis amigos.

Next stop: Austin, Tx
Until then.

To Corpus Christi and Beyond

To Corpus Christi and Beyond

We'd come to know Sam, our Peregrine Resort Manager on Galveston Island, as a real Southern Gentleman ... soft spoken, helpful, and polite. His advice to us when he learned that we were off to Corpus Christi: 

"Take some of our beautiful back roads. But beware!  Real estate out there is pretty cheap....so you might see some strange things."

That we did. Sure, there were lizards 

and orchids, 

and even people "talking to the animals", 

But inmates wishing to become globetrotters? 

Look closely:  "Lude Dancing" suddenly became "Dude Dancing"

Or a bad strip joint morphing into a Chippendales,...a little too on-the-cheap?  

Too much!

Moving on......

Close to “Corpus”, we made a stop at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge - winter home of the very endangered Whooping Crane, after migrating thousands of miles south from the Northwest Territories. 

Although we weren't able to get close enough for  great pictures of this 5 foot tall white marvel, 

we did see lots of these,

and these.

Oh, what a day!

There was one big "Oops!" though. Only as we reached Corpus' city limits, did we realize:  

"It's 5 o'clock and the Friday convergence of the Valentine's/Presidents' Day week-end..  Everyone wants out of Dodge!"

Hiccups came and went and we managed to make our way to our Best Western safe and sound. As a reward, we headed over to Rudy's,
the neighbouring restaurant,  for some real Texas Barbecue food.

   It was delicious and ample!  And as an added
bonus, we learned a little Spanish too: 
  Otra cerveza por favor!(which translated means  either: "Let us pray." or "Another beer, Joe.")

Downtown Corpus Christi

Saturday was the perfect day to discover this coastal city of 300,000.  Sunny and warm.

And everyone had left, so we had the city to ourselves. 

Quite quickly, some special things about Corpus quickly became evident:  

Corpus wraps around an enormously beautiful bay with 113 miles of Gulf Coast beaches!!!! 

Alone on the two main islands that make up part of the city, Padre and Mustang Islands, there are 70 miles of beach front.

Corpus Christi has the 5th largest port in the U.S. and while the military is very important, the petrochemical industry and tourism form the other two sides to its economic triangle.

Who is this subtropical
women in a cowgirl hat?

With its humid subtropical climate, Corpus has short, mild winters but long, hot summers (Saints be praised, we're here now.) .

How hot, you ask? The city's record high of 109°F (43°C) came one fateful September 5, 2000.

When I asked one nice local how bad it really was that September day, his response was:

"So hot, I saw a dog chasin' a cat and they were both walkin'.

The Trip to San Antonio, Texas

Sheer emptiness on both sides of the highway was the highlight of our 150 mile trip from Corpus to San Antonio.

e

How this state with a population of 26 million, 2^nd largest in the U.S., can have so much empty space is bewildering. Interesting to note is that Texas (26 million) and Canada (35 million) are both growing at a rate of 1.2% a year.

The City of San Antonio

Once voted "America's most beautiful city", this cheery and sunny city has 300 days of sunshine a year and, with an average temperature of 70 degrees, it also happens to be the most affordable city in the country both for tourists and the local population.

One of San Antonio's most famous features is “The Riverwalk”.

Ever growing, this urban phenomena is both unique and mystical.

Its uniqueness lies in the fact that this river feature is really a full network of walkways and archways, all entirely lined by shops, night spots and restaurants, along the banks of the San Antonio River, but a full story below the level of the streets of the city.

Its mystical nature stems from the fact that once on the River Walkway, you live the tempo of the San Antonio River and not that of the rest of San Antonio, a subtropical city, with a population of 1.3 million inhabitants 
(America's 7^th biggest).

These are just a few of the pictures taken as we strolled these waterways on our first day here, ...in total disbelief and merry bewilderment.

Enjoy!

More on San Antonio to come.

Until next time.