Happy (late) anniversary to us!

We had a fabulous long weekend in San Antonio, and, since we've been there multiple times already we felt no pressure to run here and there filling up our schedule to the brim so as not to miss anything.

It helped that this time we stayed in a really nice hotel with beautiful grounds and a lovely pool/hot tub area.







(We stayed for free, because why would we ever pay full-price for any vacation? This is just part of John's reward for practically living in Oklahoma City for five months.) Because let me just tell you, last time we took a little getaway to San Antonio? We stayed in a little place called the Alamo Inn (not anywhere actually near the Alamo), and when you stay someplace like that you pretty much cram your weekend full of anything that involves NOT being at the motel...with the bugs and the stained carpet.

So this weekend, there was swimming, reading on the balcony, napping, plenty of walking around to see beauty (the grounds at the Alamo, the non-commercial parts of the Riverwalk, the King William District, parks), and gourmet dining. Because, doesn't everyone know the most important part of vacation is the eating?

OK, I admit we went to one very touristy locale for dinner one night. It had been ages since either of us had been to Mi Tierra. While it's a San Antonio institution, flamboyantly decorated, and always has about 200 people eating there, the food is not anything out-of-the-ordinary. It's really good, just overpriced for what you get.

Although... and I don't know if I should really be sharing this little secret...we inadvertently found a way to order fajitas for two (normally priced at $27) for only $19. It really had a lot to do with the fact that the waiter didn't ask John whether he wanted beef or chicken fajitas, so when it came with beef (which would have been fine with him, I was the one who wanted chicken - because we were supposed to be sharing!) John asked if he could just get a side of chicken. So the waiter brought him a little plate of wonderful grilled chicken and charged it as a chicken taco for $3.95. (I know, who would pay $3.95 for a chicken taco? I guess someone who would wait an hour to be seated at the most crowded restaurant in San Antonio...and us, inadvertently of course.) Needless to say, between the "fajitas for two" and bean and cheese nachos, we had more than enough food.

And because I hate to see anyone waste their money and calories on bad food while on vacation, I will share the names of the other really wonderful places we ate: Azuca, Rosario's, The Guenther House, San Antonio Botanical Gardens restaurant, and Schilo's. Warning: none are on the Riverwalk. There are a few supposedly fantastic restaurants on the Riverwalk - all very high-priced. The ones we've eaten at in the past are just good and maybe a little pricey for the food you get.

One other totally unrelated snippet of the weekend continues to make me laugh. On the way back to our hotel one evening, we overheard a man at a bus stop telling a fellow passenger, "When we used to raid villages, we'd look for the pigs, sheep and oxen." I have no context for that comment, and really, would there even be a legitimate, realistic context in which that comments would make sense? It is not 1870. And the man was not 139 years old.

I have the post-vacation blues today. They are especially bad after such a relaxing, fun weekend. (And maybe they are a bit worse because I have been on extra doses of hormones following that last surgery I had.)

Or maybe I'm addicted to travel. I'm having withdrawal and am already thinking about our next trip. I can't wait!

So, I think today will be rather unproductive. I'm already preparing for that possibility. I think I'll just blame it on the hormones.