The Wednesday after Christmas we woke up early to go to San Antonio. #1 BIL, his wife, and youngest daughter are here from Toronto and we wanted to show them around a bit. #3 BIL joined us, driving his brand new Chevy Impala. San Antonio is such a beautiful, romantic place we could not help but take them there first.
I drove to the first gas stop and let the missus take over. The missus drove the rest of the way. It was appreciated too, as I was so tired from the short night’s sleep. The drive really went by quickly. When I was a kid this drive seemed to take forever.
When we arrived in San Antonio we checked into the Omni Hotel. The brothers went off to play golf while the rest of us went to Souper Salad for lunch.
After lunch we headed toward downtown. We parked at Rivercenter and walked across the street to the Alamo. I actually did not go in this time, as the missus and I had to find a hotspot at a Starbucks. Needed to make a payment that a bank error had kicked back. *grumble grumble imcompetent grumble grumble*
After that we just walked all over downtown. Browsing through shops and strolling along the river. We offered to take a boat tour, but Daiso (#1’s wife) and my niece were not interested.
Speaking of my niece it was so nice to hang out with her. I had not seen her in around seven years. Really smart kid. She is in her last year at the University of Toronto where she majors in Art History with a French emphasis. She actually speaks fluent French as she was in the French program from her entry into primary school. I remember when I first met her at age 6. She was so cute and chubby. I would entertain her with these funny voices I make. My niece actually went to acting classes way back then so she could learn how to make funny voices too. Cute, huh? Now this girl is taller than me and no longer amused by those old voices. Rats. haha
One of my daughter’s gifts from Santa was a promise. This promise consisted of getting her ears pierced. So we went to Icing at the Rivercenter and had it done. She looks so pretty now. Prettier!
We took our tired feet back to the hotel. There we collected the brothers who had a good time playing golf despite all the wind. After cleaning up a bit we left for the Mercado or Mexican market. This place feels like Mexico without having to cross the border. You can haggle in the shops and see all kinds of neat products from south of the border. The shops were closed when we arrived. But that was not a problem. We were there for Tex-Mex food, which we found at Mi Tierra (might have spelled that wrong. translates as my nation). Dinner was good and filling. Though I worried about Daiso when she bit into a jalapeno. She did not enjoy that.
Went back to the hotel and kicked back. My kids were washing up and I needed to go to the loo. So I took an elevator downstairs. Found some restroom near the banquest rooms (and my niece on the phone hehe). Went in and had a seat. I hear this guy moaning from the handicap stall and it’s not from pain mind you. Did my best to try and ignore the sound. Then this woman speaks, “All these wonderful years. Three perfect children.” My first thought is the radio station is piping in a dedication to the song. But when the woman moans I realize that the dude in the handicap stall is not doing a solo act. Cannot believe they are bumping uglies in a public restroom with people coming in and out. At least two other men came in while I was there. I’m so embarrassed to encounter them, I just left.
We slept in the next day and it felt so good. We drove over to Trinity University where #3’s daughter goes to school. She is in Houston, as the campus is closed for the holidays. We walked all over the campus. Really nice hilly campus for 2,000 students. Would not mind if my kids chose this school.
After that we drove to a nearby mall and ate lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack. We had some calamari and crab dip as an appetizer. I tried the crawfish etouffle’ and it was scrumptious.
After lunch we drove on to Austin. There we checked into the Renaissance Hotel. The place seemed so empty with its huge atrium courtyard. I doubt that 10% of the rooms were being rented.
We arrived a bit late in the day. Our niece wanted to read so the rest of us left her at the hotel. We went to The Oasis, which is a neat open air restaurant that overlooks Lake Travis. Our goal was to catch the sunset and we did. Quite lovely. They had some neat sculptures on the property too.
We left The Oasis and drove over to #5’s house after picking up the niece. There we had a great meal that #5’s husband cooked. We really got stuffed as there was so much food.
The next day we slept in. Then we visited the restaurant for breakfast. While we were there I recruited the hostess to help me with a most important scheme. I needed a rose. A big bright red rose would be perfect and she found me one. Free too. Then I gave it to my missus as a reminder of our 20th anniversary. She was very pleased. 
After breakfast we drove over to Mount Bonnel (sp?) for another view of Lake Travis and some huge homes. Wow! Talk about nice. After that we drove over to the Austin Museum of Fine Arts, which is a beautiful looking plantation home located along the lake. We drove over to the University of Texas. The plan was to walk over the campus, but the rain came and drove us back to our cars. We cruised around the campus where we could. Then we moved over to look at the capital through the rain. This is the closest I have ever been to the building. Really need to go inside someday.
We drove through the rain which started flooding the streets a bit. Our destination was a forgettable catfish restaurant. They fried everthing there and had no salad to speak of. It was not even worth a plug. After lunch we drove back to Sugar Land.
Really had a nice trip. Hope the inlaws enjoyed it. They went on to New Orleans, though they should return today or tomorrow.
