I promised I’d post a recap of our trip to visit our friends Geoff and Kelly in San Antonio. What? You doubted me?
Everyone knows you can’t take a trip to San Antonio without going out for Mexican and margaritas right? Right. Here’s the thing though – my friend, Kelly, well, she’s a tad on the picky side when it comes to food. And by picky I mean that she doesn’t eat anything green, spicy, stringy, chewy, mushy, crunchy, sweet, savory, meaty, tangy, raw, overcooked, or canned. Okay, okay. I’m just kidding. Kind of. ;) But, really, Kelly is definitely the choosiest eater I’ve ever met. So when she conceded to going out to a Mexican restaurant during our stay, I knew I owed her one. They took us to a local hot spot, Los Barrios, where I may or may not have indulged in a margarita or six.
The next morning Kelly treated us to a breakfast of homemade oatmeal pancakes – which by the way were really yummy. After that we were off to visit the Japanese Tea Gardens. I read the signs along the route, all pointing us to the Japanese Tea Gardens. You can imagine my confusion, then, when we arrived at the park entrance and saw that the sign was welcoming us to the Chinese Tea Gardens. For the purposes of this blog, I’ve decided to just call them the Asian Tea Gardens so as not to upset either side.
Later that afternoon we visited a really cool grocery store where they had a humungo butcher case stocked with all kinds of rubbed, marinated, and seasoned meats. We each picked out something that Geoff grilled later that night. Seeing as how I’m not a big meat eater my choice was pretty simple, though I must say that even the variety of ready-to-grill chicken breasts was impressive. The only item that swayed my attention was the veal tongue (tastebuds and all) at the end of the counter. Poor thing was probably just a lickin’ away at its Salt lick and BAM! No more french kissin’ for you.
Moving right along though.
Sunday morning we decided to visit a safari drive-thru experience thing. Basically, it was a place where you pay an entrance fee (a really hefty one at that!) and then drive-thru (hence the name) the park and stop to see lots of wildlife along the way. It was a neat place with lots of animals. I was pretty impressed with this guy myself…though is it just me or does he look a little suspicious? One too many close calls at the Salt lick presumably.
That afternoon we did the Alamo. Have I mentioned I’m not so much a history buff? Yeah, not so much. I’m maybe slightly ashamed to admit that I was absolutely clueless as to what the heck the Alamo was all about. Apparently a visit to San Antonio isn’t complete without a stop there though. So here’s the obligatory picture for your viewing enjoyment.
I was pretty excited for the next item on our itinerary: the Riverwalk. I’d heard a lot about it. And for good reason. It was a great place to visit. I had anticipated there being more shops there, but as it turned out it was mostly restaurants. Never one to turn down the opportunity to dine out, though, I was game to dine al fresco at an Italian favorite of Geoff and Kelly’s. Again, they didn’t let us down with their choice. We closed out the evening with the Riverwalk boat ride. And the best news? I escaped with just one mosquito bite. It found a way to my ankle, presumably sucking around the gaggles of bug spray I’d applied. Clever little bloodsucker.
On our last day we walked from their house (they live on an Army base) to a place called the Quadrangle. Apparently it was once used as a prison for Geronimo. Don’t make fun of the fact that the extent of my knowledge on Geronimo is that he was native American. Maybe related to Pocahontas or something? Don’t email me. I’ll look it up, alright? Anyway, back in the day they kept animals on the grounds as well. Kelly (or Geoff I don’t remember which of them) said that the animals were there to provide food. I’m guessing that means the Army guys slaughtered them and fed them to Geronimo (roasted peacock anyone?). Anyway, there are still animals there today (inside this quadrangle place) and they are said to be decedents of the food animals. Cool huh?
All in all it was a super fly weekend. It was so nice to be in the company of good friends again. And to have another couple to play games with (even though they handed our arses to us on a platter thankyouverymuch). It sucks that they live so far away not only because we just generally enjoy hanging out with them but also because our little guys are only about 18 months apart in age and it’d be fun to watch them grow up playing together. And speaking of our little guys…Adam (our adorable Godson – but who’s bragging?) wasn’t so keen on either of us. So, while I did get in that squeeze I was looking forward to, it wasn’t until we were leaving and even then it wasn’t exactly consensual. But whatever. With a face like his, how could I resist?
