Last week Tara and I headed to San Antonio for a pediatrics conference; of course we dragged the boys along with us. When we had scheduled the conference we were hoping that it would be a warm escape from frigid Wisconsin. That was not to be the case as the weather reports kept dropping the temperature forecasts up until our departure date. It didn't get much above 60 degrees the whole time we were there and we only had one sunny day, bummer!
Our journey there was not easy... it never is, is it? We had super early flights the day after the tundra pictures were taken. We were so worried that our flights would be delayed because of weather. The plane from Milwaukee took off on time, however. The problem was actually in Memphis where we circled waiting to land for at least 40 minutes. By the time we landed our layover time was up (no time for breakfast!) and we had to run to make our next flight. We boarded on time but taxied for at least 30 minutes waiting for clearance to take-off... you know we all wished for those minutes so we could eat!! When we finally arrived to San Antonio we were starving. We checked in and descended on the hotel restaurant. They actually had this cool set up where you could pick ingredients for either a stir fry or a pasta dish; it hit the spot!
After lunch, Ari and I had to take a nap since we had stayed up late packing and then woke up at 4 am to get to the airport. Tara and Andy met up with Andy's aunt Megan and had a few welcome Margaritas. By the time Ari and I were ready to go, Megan was ready to introduce us to the Riverwalk. In the course of one evening we ate and drank at three restaurants... Margaritas, guacamole, and quesadillas at Boudro's; beer and ceviche for the girls and a white russian and dessert for Ari at Pesca on the River; then rounding the evening out at... uh oh, those drinks were good... at some festive TexMex place with more margaritas, jalepeno poppers, and mariachi. As you can imagine, we crashed afterward and slept in... I didn't wake up until 7:15 am!! Thursday was a bit on the dreary side. After a late breakfast, we headed to the Riverwalk mall... not the nicest of malls but it was something to do. Then in the afternoon we walked around the Alamo. The Alamo really is not as exciting as you would think it is. It is right smack dab in the middle of downtown and is mostly a wall with a couple of buildings.
That night we had reservations at Sushi Zushi... probably the best name for a sushi restaurant ever! Andy's college friend Mary joined us for a sushi extravaganza. The wine was great and my favorite fish was the yummy yummy roll! For those of us missing home, there was even a Greenbay roll on the menu; I wonder if that is Brett Favre's favorite... After a delicious dinner we finished the night at a bar appropriately named Drink. After a chocolate truffle martini I was ready to call it a night.
The next day we attended a portion of the conference... definitely not exciting! Then because it was another dreary day, we decided to head to a nicer mall. Our cab driver was a hilarious old man; he even parked the taxi at the mall so he could come in to shop for hats... he ran all of his choices by Ari and Andy! After some shopping and a quick lunch we headed back to the hotel so Ari and I could hit the gym. We decided to have a low key night and pick up pizza and beer to bring back to the hotel and play games. Mary came to pick us up and we had quite the adventure trying to find the pizza place. Mary is one of the funniest people we have met but her sense of direction is questionable! We finally got back and inhaled the pizza while playing Phase 10.
On Saturday, it was actually sunny! (Obvious, from the picture I know!) We took a walk down the Riverwalk to La Vallita which is a little cluster of buildings housing artisans and their crafts. We had so much fun investigating the shops from fragrant candles to copper metalsmithing to a very interesting lady named Sherry that mastered the art of bonsai trees. We all got a Bonsai starter kit; we'll keep you posted on the progress. Then Mary picked us up and took us to a place called the Flying Saucer. They had every beer imaginable and an assortment of Wisconsin influenced food... bratwurst nachos and pretzels with three kinds of cheese. I had a delicious Hefewiesen and shared a pretzel with Ari. Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready since we had tickets to a show that night. We met Mary and her husband for drinks and appetizers then saw a musical called "The Great American Trailerpark." It was a hoot. The best part was that it was in this small quaint theater. They even served drinks during the show. Following the show we ate a fabulous TexMex feast at Rosarios. It was then off to the hotel because the boys had to catch a flight in the morning.
Mary and Steven were so kind to take the guys to the airport the next morning while Tara and I were left to roam around San Antonio. The concierge suggested brunch in the historic King William area just about a mile or so from our hotel... that is if you walk directly there. We started off on the Riverwalk but got turned around so we headed up to street level. An hour later we were there! Unfortunately, there was quite a wait and we wouldn't have had time to eat and walk back before it would be time to leave for the airport. So we headed back to the hotel (on the Riverwalk, no problem this time!) and had Italian food that hit the spot... we were so Tex Mex'd out. Then we watched a bit of the Packer game and headed to the airport. We were so glad we got there early because the lines were HUGE. As we were waiting, we got a call from the boys who were still at the airport... in San Antonio... 3 hours AFTER their flight was supposed to leave!! Needless to say, they were a bit aggravated. It turns out there was a giant breast cancer research conference that let out on Sunday and approximately 6,000 people had come from all over the world to attend. That meant 6,000 people crowding the airport and not all of them speaking good English, making it super difficult to rearrange cancelled flights. Long story short on our trip home: boys got rerouted through Chicago and then taxied to Milwaukee, while we went as planned through Memphis (yummy BBQ for dinner) and traveled on home in a plane that smelled like the lavatory. Not the best ending!!
For the first time in three years, Ari and I were able to get Christmas off! We were so excited to get to go home to St. Louis and Kristen, Larry, Uncle Ron, Mai, Emily would be there to celebrate as well! Things got off to a rocky start. Ari had to work the day of the 23rd and it was snowing and SO windy all day. We arrived at the airport not knowing what to expect. As we were getting checked in we found out that our flight was the only American Airlines flight leaving Milwaukee! We headed to the terminal and were thankful we brought our own sandwiches because the airport was out of food! So many people had been delayed and stranded that they were literally down to 1 brat (which the man in front of us bought when we got a soda) and a couple of hotdogs!! Not so good if you are a vegetarian! Down by the gate it was SO cold... see picture. We couldn't even take our coats off. Our plane was about 2 hours late but we were just glad we left... I was more glad that there wasn't turbulence all the way.
