The Alamo

by Pa Rock

Tonight I am finishing up my seventh trip to San Antonio in the past three years. I spent several hours exploring the Alamo and its beautiful grounds during my first visit here in 2005 but hadn't had the opportunity to get back there during the intervening years. This evening I was again able to visit San Antonio's most revered tourist attraction.

The Alamo is almost hidden among the tall urban landscape of this city. The mission itself is quite small, and the remainder of the fort encompasses two or three acres that have been manicured and landscaped into a living work of art. There is no charge for admission, but donation jars are scattered about. A large souvenir shop in the main outbuilding also generates income for the historic landmark. A person could tour the mission, the other buildings, and the grounds fairly easily in half-an-hour, but a full appreciation, particularly of the grounds, will take more time.

Downtown San Antonio is a walker's paradise. The Alamo is just a couple of blocks from the Riverwalk, and El Mercado, the ethnic marketplace is a scant twenty minutes or so from the Alamo. It's a great place to relax and walk around.

The Drury Plaza of San Antonio

by Pa Rock

Our conference is being held at the Drury Plaza Hotel in San Antonio, a very nice place whose back door opens onto the Riverwalk. My "rooms" are on the 19th floor with large windows facing across the city in two directions and offering amazing views of San Antonio - especially at night when the city sparkles like a fine lace tablecloth splattered with Texas bling.

I say rooms because my digs include a nice sized bedroom, living room, and bathroom. There are two large flat-screen televisions, one in the bedroom and one in the living room, and also a small refrigerator in the living room. If it included a small kitchen I could live here quite happily forever!

The Drury Plaza is in the old Alamo Bank building. There are some interesting vault displays from its days as a bank that can be viewed in the basement. An enormous stained glass of the Alamo (the mission) looms over the front door, and it is bordered by two art deco brass plaques (each approximately 5 feet wide by 20 feet high). One of the brass plates has a laborer holding a globe with the caption, "Trust Binds the Nation," and the other has a laborer holding a hammer with the caption "Thrift Drives the Nation." Taken in total, those plaques represent a time in America's economic history that has long past.

This hotel also boasts a nice outdoor sauna and swimming pool on the 22nd floor, and, again the views are amazing.

Surprisingly, the one amenity that this fine hotel does not offer is a restaurant. A very respectable breakfast buffet is offered free to hotel guests each morning, but for all other meals one must look elsewhere. (Of course, San Antonio has some wonderful places to eat!)

My dad would like the breakfast buffet at the Drury Plaza. He is a breakfast expert, managing to go out somewhere for his morning meal most days. Dad is especially fond of buffets (what I call "trough" places") because he thinks that he gets the most for his money there. Shoney's is his absolute favorite, both based price and on quality.

I am not as fond of trough places, though, for health and sanitation reasons. I'm really not into dipping scrambled eggs from a tub that other people have leaned over, sneezed into, and sprayed with their spit. I know that someday I will be ladeling gravy over my biscuits and discover someone's dentures or glass eye!

Make mine a special order from the kitchen every time! (And while I am at the Drury Plaza, I will carefully scrutinize everything that I pile onto my plate!)

Piso Mohado!

Strangers on a Shuttle

by Pa Rock

I met the nicest lady on the shuttle from the San Antonio airport today. She had an Obama button on her bag that I was quick to compliment, and that led us into a conversation about politics, Hurricane Fay, and child abuse. The lady (we never did exchange names, but I hope that I run into her again this week) was a child abuse trainer on assignment for the Feds, and I am here for training in how to question victims of child seexual abuse - but, alas, we were at different trainings.

My new friend has met Senator Obama three times, and went on about how personable he is and how he really wants to hear people's opinions on the issues. She said that he actually listens, an unusual trait for a politician. Her daughter and son-in-law are going to the convention in Denver, and then they plan to follow him to Washington to work in his administration. She wanted to know about Arizona's Governor Napolitano, and I had lots of positive things to say about her.

And then we talked about grandchildren...

Before we parted company she gave me an Obama button, and I have worn it around San Antonio the rest of the day. A couple of people have stepped up to me and made positive remarks about our candidate. I think it's called networking!

Greetings from San Antonio!

by Pa Rock

This evening I am blogging nineteen stories above the River Walk in San Antonio, Texas. I believe that this is my sixth trip to San Antonio for job training in the last four years. It is a beautiful city, one that offers scenic vistas at every turn. During past visits I have toured the Alamo and its grounds, visited the city market, and even enjoyed the annual Fiesta. I have listened to street musicians, watched colorful local dancers, and sampled much of the local cuisine.

Today, as in all previous trips, I strolled along the River Walk, fed the ducks and pigeons (and the occasional grackel), and nosed through some of the tourist shops. Tonight I will go back down to the River Walk and stop at my favorite cantina for a plate of enchiladas.

Tomorrow the work begins. I'll try not to let it interfere with my fun!