Back (part 2)
More thoughts from San Antonio trip:
There were more trees there than I expected. Probably because of The Alamo, I was expecting dry, sparse land without much foliage. There were lots. The Riverwalk was loaded with beautiful trees, tons of noisy birds every morning in the trees. Even the Alamo area had been built up into a pretty park-like atmosphere.
Of course there are 'touristy' distractions. Across the street from The Alamo, there are a Ripley's wax museum, Guinness records attraction - that kind of garbage.
There was a restaurant called Steers and Beers. When the lights were on, you could see a few lights were out and the lit sign spelled Stee and B. I thought it was cool because the name still rhymed.
Although we liked the hotel, apparently at least one person on the staff doesn't make enough. First night in town we ate at a place called Zuni Grill, but didn't finish our meals. So, Lori called the hotel from the table, just to check if there was a refrigerator we could use. 'Yes', they said, no problem, lots of room. The clerk put our room number on the bag and took it away. Lori had 2 thin grilled pork chops go in the refrigerator on Thursday, but only 1 thin grilled pork chop on Saturday afternoon when we had our leftovers for lunch.
With a 4 day trip and no band to work, we had room for 'dressier' clothes and time for a 'nice' meal. We chose Las Canarias, one of the nicer dining options on the Riverwalk - part of the hotel La Mansion. Very nice - great food and outstanding service. Check it out if you go there.
One afternoon, we went to the Mexican Market (there was probably another, more proper name for it but that's what it was. Not very impressive, but we did buy some Mexican candy.
The other worthy-of-mention dining was at Schilo's deli, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. German deli serving home-style cooking - great space - really good food. Lori and I both had Jaegerschnitzel - pork tenderloin with a mushroom gravy. We went back there for breakfast on the day we left. Nothing beats 2 eggs and a brat for breakfast!
We didn't plan it, but the Saints were in town to play their 'home' game against Atlanta - downtown was all abuzz on Sunday.
Finally, the International Accordion Festival - the reason we went in the first place - was terrific. The title links to the festival's website. I think we saw all but 2 or 3 of the bands. Augie Meyers and Los Skarnales were standouts. We bumped into Donna & Bill - Brave Combo fans we know from St. Louis. One of the stages actually had the stage on one side of the river and hillside seating on the other side of the river. Boats would cross between the stage and the audience frequently.
Even more fun - Lori won a plane ticket at the festival. Southwest Airlines was a sponsor and one of the booths sold strawberry shortcakes. If you bought a shortcake, you got a chance at winning a ticket on Southwest - anywhere they fly. They drew one name each evening and you didn't have to be present to win. Apparently they announced Lori's name on Saturday night, buy we weren't at the right stage. On Sunday afternoon, Lori went for another shortcake, was filling out her ticket for Sunday and the booth worker said "Lori Young? You won yesterday!" Way too cool!
There were more trees there than I expected. Probably because of The Alamo, I was expecting dry, sparse land without much foliage. There were lots. The Riverwalk was loaded with beautiful trees, tons of noisy birds every morning in the trees. Even the Alamo area had been built up into a pretty park-like atmosphere.
Of course there are 'touristy' distractions. Across the street from The Alamo, there are a Ripley's wax museum, Guinness records attraction - that kind of garbage.
There was a restaurant called Steers and Beers. When the lights were on, you could see a few lights were out and the lit sign spelled Stee and B. I thought it was cool because the name still rhymed.
Although we liked the hotel, apparently at least one person on the staff doesn't make enough. First night in town we ate at a place called Zuni Grill, but didn't finish our meals. So, Lori called the hotel from the table, just to check if there was a refrigerator we could use. 'Yes', they said, no problem, lots of room. The clerk put our room number on the bag and took it away. Lori had 2 thin grilled pork chops go in the refrigerator on Thursday, but only 1 thin grilled pork chop on Saturday afternoon when we had our leftovers for lunch.
With a 4 day trip and no band to work, we had room for 'dressier' clothes and time for a 'nice' meal. We chose Las Canarias, one of the nicer dining options on the Riverwalk - part of the hotel La Mansion. Very nice - great food and outstanding service. Check it out if you go there.
One afternoon, we went to the Mexican Market (there was probably another, more proper name for it but that's what it was. Not very impressive, but we did buy some Mexican candy.
The other worthy-of-mention dining was at Schilo's deli, just a couple of blocks from our hotel. German deli serving home-style cooking - great space - really good food. Lori and I both had Jaegerschnitzel - pork tenderloin with a mushroom gravy. We went back there for breakfast on the day we left. Nothing beats 2 eggs and a brat for breakfast!
We didn't plan it, but the Saints were in town to play their 'home' game against Atlanta - downtown was all abuzz on Sunday.
Finally, the International Accordion Festival - the reason we went in the first place - was terrific. The title links to the festival's website. I think we saw all but 2 or 3 of the bands. Augie Meyers and Los Skarnales were standouts. We bumped into Donna & Bill - Brave Combo fans we know from St. Louis. One of the stages actually had the stage on one side of the river and hillside seating on the other side of the river. Boats would cross between the stage and the audience frequently.
Even more fun - Lori won a plane ticket at the festival. Southwest Airlines was a sponsor and one of the booths sold strawberry shortcakes. If you bought a shortcake, you got a chance at winning a ticket on Southwest - anywhere they fly. They drew one name each evening and you didn't have to be present to win. Apparently they announced Lori's name on Saturday night, buy we weren't at the right stage. On Sunday afternoon, Lori went for another shortcake, was filling out her ticket for Sunday and the booth worker said "Lori Young? You won yesterday!" Way too cool!
posted by Paul at 7:15 AM
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