Texas weekend Trip Report
Mar 11th, 2008 | 10:04 AM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Texas weekend Trip Report
Quick Trip Report:
Flight to Dallas cancelled. American Airlines did the right thing and rebooked me (before I even arrived at the airport) through LA to San Antonio. Got the very last (and last row) aisle seat on full plane. Arrived 3 hours later than planned, but at least I arrived. Others weren’t so lucky.
My husband arrived much earlier, hung out and changed our dinner reservation to a later time. So, changed clothes and went to dinner at Boudro’s, which we liked a lot. It’s a very nice space, and the food was very good. I had “Big Tail Little Tail” and my husband had pork tenderloin. The only negative was that there might have been a little too much black pepper on the tenderloin. Very nice place. Oh yeah, I had the Prickly Pear Margarita, too. The flavor was excellent, but it was a little on the weak side. Didn’t have guac because it was so late (sat down close to 10 p.m.) I didn’t want to eat that much. Walk on the Riverwalk after dinner.
The next day we had to be in Austin at 6:00 for dinner with our nephew and his wife, so we made a day of getting there. After coffee in the hotel bar, we drove first to New Braunfels (nothing there), then to Gruene, which we enjoyed. The people around town are so nice, some of the wares were great, some not so great (although I did get two really nice pairs of earrings), loved poking around, seeing the old buildings, the dance hall, etc. Spent a couple of hours there.
Continued on to Austin, where we knew Stanford (“our team”) was playing UT in baseball. Sat in the Stanford section. We only stayed 4 or 5 innings, but it was fun (Stanford, not ranked this year, eventually won the game 6-5). We were amazed at the size of the crowd, and all the orange!! It was fun.
From there, went downtown. Toured the capitol building (the rotunda is very impressive, the rest looks like all other capitol buildings), then drove around Congress and various cross streets. Walked the length of the commercial part of 6th Street. Stopped in at the Driskill, which is a beautiful old hotel (at least the public areas that we saw). Had a drink at a bar whose name I don’t remember. South by Southwest Film Festival was going on, so it was crowded for that – in fact, the bar had a private party going downstairs. We were upstairs -- expensive drinks, but very tasty.
Then drove to The Salt Lick. Loved the place. It was very crowded, but our nephew and his wife had arrived first (with a 6-pack of beer; it’s BYOB) so we sat very soon after we arrived. It’s fun, not so noisy that you can’t converse, and the food is delicious (we had the family platter – ribs, brisket and sausage, which comes with bread, beans, cole slaw and potatoes).
Next morning, we got up and had coffee at Starbuck’s/Hear Music on the Riverwalk. Walked over to the Marketplace, which had a Tejana music festival going on – a band every 20 yards it seemed. We just walked around and listened to music, there was no shopping of interest to us and we weren’t hungry. We did stop in at the new museum.
From there, we walked through Hemisfair (nothing there) and La Villita (interesting old buildings).
Took the trolley to the King William District. Really enjoyed our walk down King William Street – the houses are quite impressive. The fact that there’s no detectable architectural style, and that one house could be a conglomeration of 4 or 5 different styles, was a kick. Had tea and dessert at the Mad Hatter, great place (very busy, too, at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon). Decent food, nice vibe, free WiFi.
Took the trolley back to the Alamo, where we happened upon a live “vignette” (recreation). Toured the Alamo, listened to the history from a docent (very interesting).
Went back and got our laptop, sat in the bar at the Westin where they have free WiFi, and watched the Stanford women’s basketball game on Slingbox. Walk on the Riverwalk again.
Dinner with acquaintances at Acenar. Nice place, but didn’t like the food that much. The enchiladas are too tightly rolled, so you taste more tortilla than filling. Walk on the Riverwalk again (sense a theme?).
Next morning, had breakfast at Guenther’s, which we enjoyed a lot (both the place and the food – it’s always nice to find a local place like that, instead of eating at a chain restaurant – thanks for the recommendation). Since it was a rainy Monday, there was very little wait. From there, we drove up to Natural Bridge Caverns. We weren’t even sure we’d have time to take the tour before I had to leave for the airport, but when we arrived, the 60-min. tour of the Jeremy room was leaving in 1 minute, which was perfect. Very impressive. My husband had never been in any caverns before – I’d been to Luray Caverns in Virginia many years ago.
Off to the airport and home. Had a great 4 days!
Flight to Dallas cancelled. American Airlines did the right thing and rebooked me (before I even arrived at the airport) through LA to San Antonio. Got the very last (and last row) aisle seat on full plane. Arrived 3 hours later than planned, but at least I arrived. Others weren’t so lucky.
My husband arrived much earlier, hung out and changed our dinner reservation to a later time. So, changed clothes and went to dinner at Boudro’s, which we liked a lot. It’s a very nice space, and the food was very good. I had “Big Tail Little Tail” and my husband had pork tenderloin. The only negative was that there might have been a little too much black pepper on the tenderloin. Very nice place. Oh yeah, I had the Prickly Pear Margarita, too. The flavor was excellent, but it was a little on the weak side. Didn’t have guac because it was so late (sat down close to 10 p.m.) I didn’t want to eat that much. Walk on the Riverwalk after dinner.
The next day we had to be in Austin at 6:00 for dinner with our nephew and his wife, so we made a day of getting there. After coffee in the hotel bar, we drove first to New Braunfels (nothing there), then to Gruene, which we enjoyed. The people around town are so nice, some of the wares were great, some not so great (although I did get two really nice pairs of earrings), loved poking around, seeing the old buildings, the dance hall, etc. Spent a couple of hours there.
Continued on to Austin, where we knew Stanford (“our team”) was playing UT in baseball. Sat in the Stanford section. We only stayed 4 or 5 innings, but it was fun (Stanford, not ranked this year, eventually won the game 6-5). We were amazed at the size of the crowd, and all the orange!! It was fun.
From there, went downtown. Toured the capitol building (the rotunda is very impressive, the rest looks like all other capitol buildings), then drove around Congress and various cross streets. Walked the length of the commercial part of 6th Street. Stopped in at the Driskill, which is a beautiful old hotel (at least the public areas that we saw). Had a drink at a bar whose name I don’t remember. South by Southwest Film Festival was going on, so it was crowded for that – in fact, the bar had a private party going downstairs. We were upstairs -- expensive drinks, but very tasty.
Then drove to The Salt Lick. Loved the place. It was very crowded, but our nephew and his wife had arrived first (with a 6-pack of beer; it’s BYOB) so we sat very soon after we arrived. It’s fun, not so noisy that you can’t converse, and the food is delicious (we had the family platter – ribs, brisket and sausage, which comes with bread, beans, cole slaw and potatoes).
Next morning, we got up and had coffee at Starbuck’s/Hear Music on the Riverwalk. Walked over to the Marketplace, which had a Tejana music festival going on – a band every 20 yards it seemed. We just walked around and listened to music, there was no shopping of interest to us and we weren’t hungry. We did stop in at the new museum.
From there, we walked through Hemisfair (nothing there) and La Villita (interesting old buildings).
Took the trolley to the King William District. Really enjoyed our walk down King William Street – the houses are quite impressive. The fact that there’s no detectable architectural style, and that one house could be a conglomeration of 4 or 5 different styles, was a kick. Had tea and dessert at the Mad Hatter, great place (very busy, too, at 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon). Decent food, nice vibe, free WiFi.
Took the trolley back to the Alamo, where we happened upon a live “vignette” (recreation). Toured the Alamo, listened to the history from a docent (very interesting).
Went back and got our laptop, sat in the bar at the Westin where they have free WiFi, and watched the Stanford women’s basketball game on Slingbox. Walk on the Riverwalk again.
Dinner with acquaintances at Acenar. Nice place, but didn’t like the food that much. The enchiladas are too tightly rolled, so you taste more tortilla than filling. Walk on the Riverwalk again (sense a theme?).
Next morning, had breakfast at Guenther’s, which we enjoyed a lot (both the place and the food – it’s always nice to find a local place like that, instead of eating at a chain restaurant – thanks for the recommendation). Since it was a rainy Monday, there was very little wait. From there, we drove up to Natural Bridge Caverns. We weren’t even sure we’d have time to take the tour before I had to leave for the airport, but when we arrived, the 60-min. tour of the Jeremy room was leaving in 1 minute, which was perfect. Very impressive. My husband had never been in any caverns before – I’d been to Luray Caverns in Virginia many years ago.
Off to the airport and home. Had a great 4 days!
Trending Topics
Mar 12th, 2008 | 08:48 AM
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Since it's my thread, I don't mind the OT question!!
We love the slingbox. Have had it since it first came out, and use it all the time, primarily to watch "home" games when we're away. Picture quality is not fantastic (although they're coming out with a true HD version), and you do need a solid internet connection. We take it with us everywhere (although I don't think we'd lug the laptop along to Europe or Africa, we do take it and have used Slingbox everywhere we travel in the US, including Hawaii).
We love the slingbox. Have had it since it first came out, and use it all the time, primarily to watch "home" games when we're away. Picture quality is not fantastic (although they're coming out with a true HD version), and you do need a solid internet connection. We take it with us everywhere (although I don't think we'd lug the laptop along to Europe or Africa, we do take it and have used Slingbox everywhere we travel in the US, including Hawaii).
Mar 12th, 2008 | 09:19 AM
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
Volcanogirl, here's the link. I'm pretty sure you can get it at Best Buy or Fry's. The basic version is only $149 or so, and there are no subscription fees. Check out the newer (and of course more expensive) versions, which pass through an HD signal. I haven't looked at that yet - it wasn't available when we bought our's.
http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox
http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox
