Catchy Name Needed

We got home from San Antonio a little bit after 8:15 last night, by which time columbina had given up on me, which was a bit frustrating. (And of course that's assuming that Col was there in the first place, which is not necessarily the case.)

The reason we got back so late is that we farted around and didn't leave SA until after four. We should have stayed two nights, really, but it was Rob's idea to come back after one night, and I have to admit that while I felt like the mini-suite at the Omni was an amazing deal (at $135), two nights of it, at $300 after taxes, would have seemed like an awful lot. The Omni is not on the Riverwalk or downtown at all, which I guess is why it was relatively reasonable. It was on I-10 north of 410, for those of you who know the geography there enough for that to make any sense at all. There were a zillion restaurants right near the hotel - including a County Line, which is the best BBQ in the world as far as I'm concerned - but did we eat at any of them? No, we went to North Star Mall to the Cheesecake Factory so that Rob could have his damn Romano chicken that he loves. Cheesecake Factory is alright (if you can ignore the ridiculous decor) but I get tired of going there. And I always think it's a bit overpriced.

Anyway, that was Wednesday. Yesterday we got up and had the breakfast buffet at the hotel, and we didn't get going very early, which was my fault (mostly because I didn't sleep very well), and so I think it was nearly noon before we got to the Alamo. It didn't help that I got turned around downtown and it took us a while to navigate our way there. I know my way around San Antonio in a general way but I am no expert and the streets downtown are not a grid so it's not terribly easy. But we got there eventually. At the Alamo we rented audio guides, which really helped me to enjoy it more. I am a fan of guided tours in general and the Alamo has never had any such thing. (On the other hand, it's free. I imagine those two things are related, don't you?)  I don't know that I really learned that much that I didn't already know - bits here and there, I guess - but it was still interesting.

After we got done with that - and it took a good while, we stopped in the middle and goofed around in the gift shop and stuff - we went down to the Riverwalk and walked around a little and had lunch. We ended up having Mexican at a place that was sort of a hybrid fajitas-and-burgers kind of place, I forget the name of it. It was alright but if we were going to have Mexican we should've just gone to Casa Rio in the first place. (Or Mi Tierra, except I can never remember where it is exactly.)

We also went to a bead store on the way out of town, which is one reason we were so late getting home. I found some cool little drops that look sort of like milagros, though, so I'm glad I went. New earring components, yay!

The funny thing is, one of the reasons I wanted to drive around the Hill Country in the first place was because we've been talking for several years about moving up there when we retire. But New Braunfels never occurred to me, I don't know why. I was thinking of places like Wimberly and Dripping Springs that are a bit closer to Austin. But New Braunfels is a decent size town (~40,000 pop.), and it's on the freeway more or less halfway between Austin and San Antonio - a little closer to San Antonio - which means both of them are easy driving distance. And it's really pretty, I have to admit. And Rob is in love. (And it's not like we're moving up there next week, or even next year, in any case.)

We didn't really get on the road until about noon Saturday. We left the house at 10, but we stopped to eat breakfast and then stopped again in Clear Lake to give the listing papers to the realtor, finally. (It's listed, now, but doesn't yet have pictures online, darnit.) Then we drove straight down I-10 for 100 miles or so. I usually think I-10 west of Houston is ugly, but either the trees have grown up a lot more, or it was just the time of year - or possibly both - but it was very pretty and green, pretty much all the way. There were wildflowers, although not as many as I have seen in past years. (I don't know, does the state of Texas still do all that seeding on the side of the freeway like they used to? That would explain why there weren't so many, if they've stopped.)

We got off the freeway at Luling, and cut across to San Marcos. I can't go on a holiday and not go shopping a little, and San Marcos has all those outlet stores. It was late in the afternoon by the time we got there, so while it was still busy, it was possible to find a parking place. We didn't stay long - but we did buy some stuff at the Pottery Barn/Williams- Sonoma outlet. It was mostly kitchen odds & ends- some of it we'll be giving to Rob's Mom when we finally get up there, since Mother's Day is coming up and her birthday is right after that.

Then after that, we went down the freeway to New Braunfels. I wasn't even originally planning to spend the night there - I think I tried San Marcos first, because I was thinking it would be cheaper since NB is more of a tourist town, but they weren't. I ended up with the Hampton Inn in NB, partly because it had a "hot breakfast" included in the price - it turned out to just be sausage and eggs that were hot, but it was still a decent breakfast. Anyway, it was around 5:00 by the time we got there and we decided to go ahead and get dinner, since we had had a late breakfast and no lunch. I had seen a billboard for a restaurant called Oma's Haus which I'm pretty sure has been around forever, so we went there. It was pretty unprepossessing from the outside but the food was good, as it turned out. You could tell it was one of those places where the locals go, not just tourists. I didn't realize it, but Rob had never really had German food before. (No German restaurants in Galveston.) He had chicken schnitzel, and I had a potato pancake plate, which came with sausage. (It came in Oma size and Opa size, but I stuck with Oma, and just had one pancake.) And we split an apple strudel for dessert, which was oh-my-god good, it really was. It's a good thing we only ordered one - I think I could've eaten about two by myself!

Let's see, after that we went and checked into the hotel - which turned out to be practically right across the freeway from where we already were - and we watched a little of the Astros game, and then decided to go driving around before it got dark. The thing about New Braunfels is, it has two rivers right in the middle of town, which makes it really pleasant and pretty and green. The original tourist attraction was just the river itself - you rented tubes and went floating down the river. (I did it once or twice, years ago.) Then a while back they built this huge water park - Schlitterbahn - which was so successful they've now built a couple more, including one in Galveston. But while the town has grown since I was last there, it still feels like a small town, in a good way. I think Rob liked it so much because it felt sort of Ohio-ish to him - there are some very similar little German towns in Ohio.

Tired. Been to Hobby Lobby, Kohl's, Penney's & Macy's. Did find some clothes on sale. I hardly ever seem to go shopp