Tuesday Nov. 12. It turned a bit cold and windy, a frigid cold front came down from Canada. So far it's the coldest weather we've had here. We figured this would be a good day to go back and see some of the areas we saw from the trolley ride. Our first stop was Market Square, which has been in operation in the same location for over a century. It offers an assortment of Hispanic and Southwest wares. They say you can watch artists at work, since it was so cold I think they were taking the day off. The first shop we stopped at Gary found a straw cowboy had he liked, but of course we had to see all the other shops for a better hat or price. Murphy's law, we went back to the first one he saw. We then went to the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum several blocks away. Along the way we visited the Spanish Governor's Palace, the Spanish built in 1722 to guard against the French that wanted to take over the area. Over the years it changed from residential to commercial. The city of SA purchased the property in 1930 and restored it into a museum. The volunteer at the desk said it never was a governors residence. We found an entrance to the Riverwalk, it was warmer and easier to navigate than the city streets to go to the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum. We passed the Majestic Theater just a block from the Buckhorn, Gary wanted to go in and see the theater. They do not offer any tours of, so we bought tickets to the Celtic Thunder for the 19th. Perfect timing. At the door of the Buckhorn Saloon a "cowboy" informed us about the museum, he seemed very authentic down to his goatee. We had lunch and an adult beverage in the saloon before going into the museum. There must be a couple of hundred dead animals mounted on the walls. It is the oldest saloon in Texas established in 1881. For a museum it wasn't too bad, they had a special place for the Texas Rangers, Texan History and even a Bonnie and Clyde gallery including the bullet riddled car they were killed in.
Wed. Nov. 13. It was still a cool day but perfect for walking. McCallister Park about 20 minutes from here is huge, probably 2 or 3 times bigger than Minto Brown Park in Salem. We saw quite a few deer, some of the bucks had large racks of antlers. We picked up 7 geo caches along the way so we saw a lot of the park, they have several soccer fields, a large fenced dog park and quite a bit of natural areas.
Thur. Nov. 14. The cold front is gone, one night it got down to 34 degrees here in SA. We went back to McCallister Park, took Luci to the dog park to run some of the "stuffing" out of her. After we left there we walked trails geo cacheing. This time beside the deer we saw two foxes. When they first came out of the brush it scared me, I couldn't tell what kind of animal they were and my first thought was cougar. The two of them watched us for a while then went back in the brush. We went to lunch at a Taco Cabana, a large chain of Mexican fast food restaurants. I don't know if they were good or if I was just hungry after several hours of hiking in the park but I just wolfed them down.
Fri. Nov. 15. We decided this would be a perfect day for taking the Riverwalk boat trip that runs through the heart of the downtown business district. Just below street level, it gives you a completely different feel of the city. The Riverwalk was originally designed for flood control, they have guillotine doors they can close when needed. Hotels and restaurants line the walk. Our boat driver was a lot of fun and informative. The day after Thanksgiving, SA has an annual Christmas parade on the river. We had to buy tickets for a spot to watch the parade. You could see all the lights being put up in trees along the way for the Christmas season. We had snacks an adult beverage at Dick's Last Resort not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. The waiters hurl insults at you and make crazy hats with rude wording. Mine was "As seen on Golden Girls gone wild" and Gary's was "Thank goodness Viagra works better than the Rogaine. It was fun(?) much better suited to a younger crowd or else I'm sensitive about my age.
Sat. Nov. 16, Back to McAllister Park for Luci to play and more geocacheing. After we took Luci to a self-service dog wash for her first real bath. She didn't seem to mind, wagging her tail through most of it including the dryer. We started to defrost the frig in the coach, it has to be empty when it does to the repair shop. We will be in a Days Inn south of the city for 4 nights. Watched some college football, couldn't get the Duck game, watched the Oregon State game, they were doing poorly, ended up turning it off. Still don't know who won.
Top to bottom: Market Square; Riverboat ride; Dick's rude hats; inside Governor's Palace and Buckhorn Saloon
TTFN Gary and Pam
No comments:
Post a Comment