San Antonio

Today we awoke to a bright blue sky and that delicious feeling of having NO plans. We readied ourselves, had cereal and a pear, secured another night at the San Antonio KOA, and then went across the street to wait for the city bus.

Right on time, the bus arrived, and, before we knew it, we were at the Alamo! Jack loves historical places, and so do I, so we relished the Alamo and its museums. I loved the model of the compound as it looked back in 1836, with the thousands of Santa Anna's troops surrounding and marauding the 200 Texas soldiers holed up in the former church.

I think that the title of "hero" is tossed around too much, and too many of us are credited with "bravery." But these people who proclaimed "victory or death" and sent out letters begging for more help with the defense of the compound... heroes. No question in my mind. Brave? You betcha. This is a moving place to be -- a shrine to some great Americans.

Next we went to the River Walk. There are dozens of riverside cafes, offering all kinds of refreshment for the city's locals and for us tourists. We shared a meal of 2 beef tenderloins, a baked potato, and baked beans.

Sharing a meal is a great way to save money. This lovely meal cost us less than $25, including tip. The other thing we accomplish when we can agree on a meal to split is that we don't eat too much!

After our delicious lunch, we walked over to the River Center Mall and found a hair cutter, who sold Jack and me each a haircut. Mine's shorter than it's been in a very long time, but... it's cute!

Next, we walked the 10 blocks or so down to the Market Square. This is a huge shopping mall of Mexican goods of all descriptions. We escaped without buying anything, but it was cool to look at all the brightly colored and shiny objects.

Back to the River Walk, we were ready for a break. A guy hawking his cafe's Happy Hour lured us in, where we each enjoyed a margarita and shared a plate of onion rings -- all for $6, including tax!

I'll have time to go through my photos soon. I'm just now downloading a bunch, including ones from Huntsville Rocket Center and Disney World!