Jac and Andy do downtown

As y'all know, I had my friend Andy some to stay after Kath left last week. I'm so spoilt! But I can only assume they really did come to see me since I can guarantee that neither of them came to see San Antonio in all it's yellow dusted glory!

It was great having Andy to visit... He made me gin and tonics, did my laundry and even unlocked all the bonus monsters in Rampage (PS2 game). On Saturday we braved the drive and decided to head Downtown and wander the hear of San Antonio. I'd only been downtown at night and I'd never driven there myself. It was tricky because parts of the freeways were closed on the weekend, and no-one was sure which bits, so we planned a path through the backstreets, that was quickly foiled when we got within a mile of the city because they'd also shut the access roads that lead under the freeways! We couldn't work out why but we drove at random (Kath wins on the navigational front, sorry Andy) and eventually broke through. Parking involved finding an open air spot, working out what number it was (markings seriously in need of a recoat) then poking some folded notes into a numbered slot corresponding to the park and hoping! No receipt...very odd.

We wandered aimlessly for a while, disconcerted by the fact that the city seemed empty, then I remembered that it all happens below street level on the riverwalk - phew, no weird end of the world scenario. Bought a chocolate bar so that we could get some cash out then realised it was a bad plan on a 95 degree day! We grabbed a cartoon map of the city from a hotel lobby and tried to use that to find the Alamo (remember I told you it's really small) but luckily we were being followed by a city tourism lady in a scary aqua uniform who intervened with a real map and far too much enthusiasm. Went to the Alamo and felt like we'd gatecrashed some religious pilgrimage. The grounds were lovely though. Jo and Tony, you guys would have been interested in the various interp work. Some of it terrible and some pretty good.


The Alamo.


Smile Andy!

After that we wandered the Riverwalk. It's pretty! A bit touristy in terms of the businesses and stuff but that's ok.


We spotted this funky SAPD police boat on the riverwalk... looks like LEGO to me!


This is the stage of the outdoor theatre that's on the riverwalk...


...and the amphitheatre style seating on the opposite bank.

We then decided to get some lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, which seemed like a great plan, until they turned the music right up (Stayin' Alive) and the serving staff line danced their way through the entire song!

After that experience we fled the riverwalk and headed across to the Mexican Market where we bought Mr Squiggle and I ordered a cantaloupe fruit cup that tasted like mashed cucumber. Refreshing though!




I'll finish the tour with some random shots of downtown San Antonio. I like it. It feels like being inside a John Brack painting, but I think I've said that before (it's still true - except for the riverwalk and that's just weird).








Every city has a controversial sculpture! Most of them brightly coloured.

It may not be the world's prettiest or spunkiest city but it's growing on me...and it's far from the worst!

^_^