As some of you know, we visited San Antonio last week and were able to spend four days just checking out our new city. It was FANTASTIC! Needless to say, this could be a long post. :) Here's the day-by-day rundown of our trip:
Thursday, March 22
We dropped the Muggster off to board him for the weekend and headed to Atlanta to catch a mid-afternoon flight to San Antonio. Thankfully, it was an uneventful trip and we made it there in one piece with all our luggage. (I can't say the same for the trip home!)
We picked up our rental car, and much to our alarm it was a purple PT Cruiser! Let me just say that I am not the type of person who enjoys driving around in a vehicle that looks slightly like a mini-hearse and effectively channels Barney. Not my thing. Oh well...at least we had a car I guess.
We checked into our lovely Doubletree hotel and scooted across the freeway to the Texas Land & Cattle Company to meet someone (former director of debate @ Trinity for those who care to know) for dinner. This place is a chain, but a good one...with yummy steaks!
Friday, March 23
Woke up bright and early and headed over to campus to meet with a few people in the speech com. department at Trinity. Before lunchtime, we were able to check out J's new office digs, shop for and purchase nice new office furniture, and take a short campus tour. Jarrod was like a little kid in the candy store when shopping for office furniture. At least I know he'll be happy in his new office!
Next up, a trip to a campus restaurant called the Skyline. This place is like the Mag Room (for all you Wake peoples) and it is very appropriately named since it overlooks the city skyline and has a gorgeous view! This is the place to network with the campus administration and faculty...so of course, I did a little networking of my own, in the quest to obtain new employment.
That afternoon Jarrod got to meet with an architect, a tech gu-ru, and a couple physical plant types to completely re-design the new debate room. We look forward to seeing how that turns out!!!
After meandering around the campus, and then around the city for a little bit, we met two of Jarrod's new colleagues and their wives for very fun dinner at a...wait for it...mexican restaurant! I mean a real, authentic tex-mex establishment that in no way resembles the kind of fake mexican food we seem to find so often on the eastern side of the country. Then we went to a Texas ice house (click here to read about ice houses!) before returning to the hotel and collapsing!
Saturday, March 24
Rise and shine just in time for brunch. And by brunch I mean more mexican food at a different restaurant called Panchito's! (Another plug for authentic tex-mex found in South Texas: when you ask for tortillas, you don't get the flat, bland boring ones that anyone can buy in bulk from Sam's Club. You get fresh, homeade, puffy and warm tortillas that taste like heaven!)
After lunch, we waddled (because we probably gained about 15 pounds in that one sitting) out to Barney and bravely set out to explore the "inner loop" of San Antonio. With map in hand, we drove EVERYWHERE! We found our dream house (for the bargain price of $585 k) and learned a ton about the real estate, the neighborhoods, the architecture, etc. San Antonio is really a fascinating city, and we never knew much about it beyond the alamo, Seaworld, the River Walk, etc. There is a lot more out there where the locals dwell!
After 5 or 6 hours of exploration and a quick trip back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner, we headed out to the gorgeous hill country home of Jarrod's new department chair. There we met everyone in the department and promptly learned that these folks are completely down-to-earth, sincerely nice and genuinely FUN to hang out with! We enjoyed some catered local barbeque (yum! brisket, baked beans, and sausage! yum!) and banana splits, good laughs, and good times before heading back to the hotel just before midnight!
Sunday, March 25
Earlybird gets the taco! We were up and moving at 8:00 a.m. to go to the Taco Taco Cafe for breakfast. Yes, for breakfast. For a breakfast that puts IHOP, Waffle House, and whatever your local favorite ma and pa pancake joint is to absolute shame! If you visit us in San Antonio, YOU WILL eat at the Taco Taco Cafe at least once and YOU WILL LOVE IT!
Trusty Barney took us around the city some more, and we looked at more houses before heading over to the airport. Once on the plane we sat back and realized that we are going to be SO HAPPY in SA!
The evening got a little hairy when we showed up in Atlanta and discovered our luggage didn't make it, and then didn't get home to Athens til mid-night, but hey - that wasn't enough to taint our trip. We can't wait to go back!
A few of my favorite highlights before I shut up about this and get back to work: driving past local bars/clubs featuring flamenco or salsa dancing, eyeing all the adorable boutique shops, learning that SA holds an annual festival event in April called Fiesta that apparently rivals Mardi Gras, finding out that we can own an old home from the early 1900's just like we've always wanted, driving past about a thousand mexican restaurants/steak joints/bbq places and knowing that we will never have bad food!
Thanks for reading...sorry to ramble! Next task: Must sell loft so that we can buy a new home - FUN!
Thursday, March 22
We dropped the Muggster off to board him for the weekend and headed to Atlanta to catch a mid-afternoon flight to San Antonio. Thankfully, it was an uneventful trip and we made it there in one piece with all our luggage. (I can't say the same for the trip home!)
We picked up our rental car, and much to our alarm it was a purple PT Cruiser! Let me just say that I am not the type of person who enjoys driving around in a vehicle that looks slightly like a mini-hearse and effectively channels Barney. Not my thing. Oh well...at least we had a car I guess.
We checked into our lovely Doubletree hotel and scooted across the freeway to the Texas Land & Cattle Company to meet someone (former director of debate @ Trinity for those who care to know) for dinner. This place is a chain, but a good one...with yummy steaks!
Friday, March 23
Woke up bright and early and headed over to campus to meet with a few people in the speech com. department at Trinity. Before lunchtime, we were able to check out J's new office digs, shop for and purchase nice new office furniture, and take a short campus tour. Jarrod was like a little kid in the candy store when shopping for office furniture. At least I know he'll be happy in his new office!
Next up, a trip to a campus restaurant called the Skyline. This place is like the Mag Room (for all you Wake peoples) and it is very appropriately named since it overlooks the city skyline and has a gorgeous view! This is the place to network with the campus administration and faculty...so of course, I did a little networking of my own, in the quest to obtain new employment.
That afternoon Jarrod got to meet with an architect, a tech gu-ru, and a couple physical plant types to completely re-design the new debate room. We look forward to seeing how that turns out!!!
After meandering around the campus, and then around the city for a little bit, we met two of Jarrod's new colleagues and their wives for very fun dinner at a...wait for it...mexican restaurant! I mean a real, authentic tex-mex establishment that in no way resembles the kind of fake mexican food we seem to find so often on the eastern side of the country. Then we went to a Texas ice house (click here to read about ice houses!) before returning to the hotel and collapsing!
Saturday, March 24
Rise and shine just in time for brunch. And by brunch I mean more mexican food at a different restaurant called Panchito's! (Another plug for authentic tex-mex found in South Texas: when you ask for tortillas, you don't get the flat, bland boring ones that anyone can buy in bulk from Sam's Club. You get fresh, homeade, puffy and warm tortillas that taste like heaven!)
After lunch, we waddled (because we probably gained about 15 pounds in that one sitting) out to Barney and bravely set out to explore the "inner loop" of San Antonio. With map in hand, we drove EVERYWHERE! We found our dream house (for the bargain price of $585 k) and learned a ton about the real estate, the neighborhoods, the architecture, etc. San Antonio is really a fascinating city, and we never knew much about it beyond the alamo, Seaworld, the River Walk, etc. There is a lot more out there where the locals dwell!
After 5 or 6 hours of exploration and a quick trip back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner, we headed out to the gorgeous hill country home of Jarrod's new department chair. There we met everyone in the department and promptly learned that these folks are completely down-to-earth, sincerely nice and genuinely FUN to hang out with! We enjoyed some catered local barbeque (yum! brisket, baked beans, and sausage! yum!) and banana splits, good laughs, and good times before heading back to the hotel just before midnight!
Sunday, March 25
Earlybird gets the taco! We were up and moving at 8:00 a.m. to go to the Taco Taco Cafe for breakfast. Yes, for breakfast. For a breakfast that puts IHOP, Waffle House, and whatever your local favorite ma and pa pancake joint is to absolute shame! If you visit us in San Antonio, YOU WILL eat at the Taco Taco Cafe at least once and YOU WILL LOVE IT!
Trusty Barney took us around the city some more, and we looked at more houses before heading over to the airport. Once on the plane we sat back and realized that we are going to be SO HAPPY in SA!
The evening got a little hairy when we showed up in Atlanta and discovered our luggage didn't make it, and then didn't get home to Athens til mid-night, but hey - that wasn't enough to taint our trip. We can't wait to go back!
A few of my favorite highlights before I shut up about this and get back to work: driving past local bars/clubs featuring flamenco or salsa dancing, eyeing all the adorable boutique shops, learning that SA holds an annual festival event in April called Fiesta that apparently rivals Mardi Gras, finding out that we can own an old home from the early 1900's just like we've always wanted, driving past about a thousand mexican restaurants/steak joints/bbq places and knowing that we will never have bad food!
Thanks for reading...sorry to ramble! Next task: Must sell loft so that we can buy a new home - FUN!
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