20 Miles from Louisiana

It's our last night in Texas.  The past two days have been so much fun!  Yesterday we got to San Antonio pretty early but we needed some down time.  We stayed at the Marriott, I sat in the hot tub for a long time and we had a nice dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and went to bed early so we could get an early start today.  Before arriving in San Antonio we stopped in Kerrville, Texas, where I had been told one of the very best quilt shops anywhere is located.  I was told correctly.  I spent two hours there and more money than I'll mention here.  I got to see and fondle all the latest fabrics and patterns and I even bought some fabric with Texas blue bonnets on it.  Along the drive both yesterday and today we saw lots of blue bonnets along the road.  Some patches looked as if they had been deliberately planted.  They're much prettier than I realized.

We were up early this morning and exploring San Antonio.  First we went to the Alamo.   We had been told to not expect much but we were delighted with it.  We found it very historical and well preserved.  We got there ahead of most of the crowds so maybe that was the secret.  Here are some pictures.

You can see actual bullet holes in the stone of the archway around this door.

After leaving the Alamo, we walked the entire River Walk.  We really didn't know what to expect.  I really half expected it to be like River Street in Savannah - lined with shops and totally commercial.  It wasn't!  There were some shops and restaurants but mostly just a walk along the river.  My only problem was the quantity of stairs in several places.  But the walk was wonderful and so scenic.  Here are a few pictures from that.

This duck posed for me

A tile scene on the wall along side the river

A picture of the door of one of the shops.  Gorgeous!

In the afternoon we had a barbeque lunch and hit the road for Houston.  Along the way the wildflowers were the most marvelous yet, but I was sleepy and didn't get any pictures.  We went through Houston during rush hour and that wasn't much fun.  It is really a big city and very interesting.  On the east side of the city we even saw boats where the ocean comes up to the city.  We kept on going because we had made reservations at this new Holiday Inn in a small town east of Beaumont.  The name of it is Vidor, TX.  All we can see is that the interstate highway is under major construction and all the roads are torn up.  Thehotel is brand new and great.  The people are friendly.  We had great steak fajitas at a local Mexican restaurant and are ready to call it a day.  Tomorrow Baton Rouge and New Orleans are on the agenda.  We still plan to make Gainesville, Florida, by Saturday night.  We'll be ready for a couple of days of nothing by then and it will be good to spend time with Donna and David.