"Aren't we going to see the basement?"
Pee-wee Herman - Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Not all the quotes have to be deep. Yesterday continued on I-10 W and entered the former Republic of Texas. When you enter you are greeted with a 860 miles to El Paso and the first exit heading East to West is 880. This is a big freaking state. For some perspective, that would be like driving from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, getting there and realizing you left the oven on, turning around, driving all the way back, turning off the oven, and then driving back to Philadelphia. We are currently settled in at the 580 exits in San Antonio.
On Thursday we left New Orleans with a coffee from Cafe Du Monde and made our way to Houston, Texas. Dad and I arrived in the early afternoon. Houston, like its state, is gigantic, with multiple skyscrapers and even more highways, surrounding the city in concentric circles. The purpose of this day was to pick up my brother Andy from the airport and have a nice night to relax at my cousin Scott's apartment. Scott moved out to Austin for work, but also has a place on the outskirts of Houston. Instead of the usual site-seeing we took the opportunity to catch-up with a family member we do not see too often anymore.
Friday, after a home-cooked breakfast including fresh-squeezed orange juice, the three Meeker men headed westward to San Antonio. It was a cool 99 degrees and sunny when we arrived. San Antonio is old, having been started in 1691 and the architecture reflects that of its Spanish/Mexican origins. It is a beautiful city with a mixture of old meeting new mixed in with tall shade trees and bright flowers.
Our first stop after we checked into our hotel was the Alamo as it was only a block away. The site is the most visited spot in Texas with over 26 million visitors each year. Its a neat site and in great shape. If you bypass the audio tours its entirely free to wander around the premises which includes a museum. Andy and I refrained from asking any of the workers where the basement was (a reference to Pee-wee Herman's search for his stolen bike). I must admit, over the years learning medicine has replaced a lot of my historical knowledge and the only thing I really remember about the Alamo is that I'm suppose to remember it. My suspicion is that many of you do no remember anything either. So in a nutshell, the Alamo was essentially the site of a battle between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. There were only 189 Texans vs 1500 Mexicans. Every Texan perished, but then managed to take the lives of over 600 Mexicans. Oh, and Davy Crockett was there. History friends of mine, please excuse my extremely simplified history lesson.
So after our historical site appreciation of the day, we moved on to the River Walk. The River Walk is a rather impressive 2.5 mile stretch of river that has walkways below street level along the downtown stretch of the river. Along the way there are restaurants and shops. Water taxis move up and down the river. We had lunch and were serenaded by a mariachi band and then took a stroll down the walk. The heat was getting to us, so after doing the loop we went back to the hotel for naps and a swim. We went back to the River Walk for dinner, took a water taxi ride around the loop and ended the night with an IMAX movie on the Alamo (for anyone who comes here, skip the IMAX). Another great day.
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| The River Walk |
That's about it for Texas. Our next stop is Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. We have a big drive ahead of us to get out of Texas, but at least now we have a third driver so it shouldn't be too bad.
Stats:
Miles Driven: 2134
States: PA, MD, WV, VA, TN, NC, AL, MS, LA, TX
Blog Hits: 1026
Hottest Nighttime Temp: 91 degrees
P.S. Happy 1st birthday to my niece, Addison!
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