Justin and I just returned from the San Antonio Museum of Art. We were surprised at how massive it was, though the gallery rooms were quite small, connected by a maze of stairwells and hallways.
They do have an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts which was very interesting. It really is astounding that anything still exists from 3000 B.C. Buddy was duly impressed.
I liked this ginormous painting of toucans. Though now I am craving a bowl of Fruit Loops. 
Headed over to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch today. At the entrance, we weren't sure if this was going to be awesome, or a huge bust.
Why is the "Jurassic Park" theme song playing in my head?
Okay. This was about to get interesting!
Why, hello... (with a finger ready on the window controls!)
This deer knew Justin had more food in the car. She wasn't content after the first handful and stuck her head right inside the car!
Buddy and this ram eyeing each other up.
It was so crazy how close these animals got (and how much food they could put away).
Baby!
Justin feeding a Gemsbock Antelope.
And then it posed for him.
Wildebeest, walking along with the car.
There were some very pretty, animal-free spots along the Safari route as well.
A kudu, with some very impressive curly antlers.
And then there were some seriously aggressive ostrich. These buggers knew there was food in the cars and were definitely going to get it!
Justin, trying to appease the ostrich by giving it the whole bag.
"You Shall Not Pass!"
Llama. Fuzzy llama.
The emu were much more self-controlled than the ostrich!
Though they are still slightly unnerving this close up!
DEFINITELY go to Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch if you are in the San Antonio area. It was an absolutely riot.
After a few days of clouds, rain, and storms, Justin and I were ready to get out and enjoy the sun and less busy River Walk. And as we had a coupon for a few dollars off admission, we decided to head up and into the Tower of the Americas to check out the view of the city. As Texas’ Spring Break is over, there were hardly any people, and within minutes we were up at the observation deck, taking in the beautiful breeze and seeing for miles. However, it doesn’t take all that much time to take some pictures and want to head back down, at which point we were noticing Elevator repair people and the lack of elevators returning anyone to the ground. We weren’t really willing to jump the gun and start walking the stairs the 700 feet down, so we found a few chairs and wasted time on our iPhones. And very slowly but surely, the one working elevator returned everyone from the deck down from the sky. We’re thinking the Tower of the Americas is a bit past its prime, and would recommend other San Antonio visitors save their cash for the other fun things there are to do around the city!
The Tower of the Americas in Hemisfair Park.
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! Nope, just Buddy!
The view of the Alamodome from the tower.
View of downtown San Antonio from the tower.
View of the neighborhoods South of downtown, including the apartment where we are staying.
The main cave entrance - in the beautiful hill country surrounding San Antonio.
We met up with our friends Dan and Bethany who live in Iowa, but also happened to be vacationing here in San Antonio this week. Here is Dan heading into the cave, with their son Christian in tow.
Justin, psyched to be in a cave.
This was one of the most impressive cave tours I've ever been on. The formations were incredible!
The main descent into the deepest portion of the cave system. As it is Spring Break here in Texas, there were lots of people.
One thing that really leads to all these cave formations is the amount of dripping water. There was an abundance of pools and constant drips coming from the ceiling. The water was especially chilly when it would catch you right on the back of your neck!
Even Buddy got in on the Spelunking action!
We were all very impressed with Natural Bridge Caverns and the Discovery Tour and would highly recommend it if you are in the San Antonio area!
I don’t know if we’ve encountered a food stuff yet that has been bigger than Buddy.
Or bigger than Travis and Emily’s heads for that matter! We all cut a wedge from this 3 lb delicious sugar monster, and still brought home a pound of it. We also each had a different breakfast taco (to try to combat all those carbs and sugar with a bit of protein!) and they were excellent as well.
The temperature and humidity here have dipped a bit and it is much more comfortable walking around all of a sudden. Seeing as how we weren’t instantly turned into sweat bombs, we were able to enjoy the walk today over to El Mercado, a Mexican market just west of downtown. There were stalls upon stalls of Mexican crafts, t-shirts, souvenirs, and cowboy and sombreros in every color and size you can imagine. We even found one that was just right for Buddy!
There were also a number of a food carts and stalls, and decided to take in an early lunch in order to sample the homemade and authentic food. We tried a Beef Fajita, which was wrapped in an absolutely divine homemade tortilla, and a Pork Gordita, which had a very flavorful pork filling and a delightfully soft and chewy, lightly fried gordita shell. We asked for each to have “everything” which meant fresh lettuce, tomatoes, grated cheese, and a smear of fresh guacamole. Delicious.
We also thoroughly enjoyed a cup of roasted corn, with the addition of butter, salt, and parmesan cheese. All the wonderful tastes of the best corn on the cob, but the convenience of being able to eat it with a spoon. No picture though – envision corn kernels in a styrofoam cup. We enjoyed walking through Market Square, and then headed down to further explore the RiverWalk. The weather was just perfect to spend a few hours walking and exploring more of the area.
I have celebrated this happy birthday day by mainly giving lovely gifts to my taste buds and tummy.
Started our morning with breakfast at Stanley's on Jackson Square - Eggs Benedict with fried oysters. Beyond delicious - best birthday breakfast ever!
We then walked over to Cafe Du Monde and grabbed a table. The beignets and cafe au lait deserve all the hype, though we would recommend not sitting near the outer edges on a windy day!
Despite our best efforts, we definitely ended up wearing a good amount of powdered sugar!
For lunch we split some fantastic jambalaya and a roast beef po'boy at Johnny's. Well worth waiting in the line that stretched out the door!
And to go with the sandwich, a bag of Zapp's Voodoo chips. Very addicting, with a bit more zing than a typical BBQ flavor.
But also getting in plenty of walking, and even swimming in the hotel’s rooftop pool!
The view from the hotel's roof.
All is calm and quiet early on a Sunday morning!
Jackson Park
The only way it could be better if all our friends and family could have been here to share the day with us! This traveling has really been very fun, but I am certainly missing everyone too!
We drove into New Orleans today to spend the weekend exploring and experiencing a city known for its vibrancy and resilience.
The drive from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans is a bit striking, in that so much of it takes place on bridges! We now know that Mississippi does a very poor job of bridge building, while Louisiana has a knack for getting theirs nice and smooth.
We headed down toward our hotel, and on a Saturday afternoon, walking (or carriage) is definitely the preferred method for getting around the French Quarter.
As with many of the hotels we’ve been staying at while traveling, we used Priceline.com to get a great deal, and be a bit adventurous, not always knowing what we’re going to get. But the location of the Omni Royal in the French Quarter is just about as perfect as if we had picked it out ourselves. We dropped our bags in our great little room and immediately went out to explore.
I am not really sure what I expected, but I guess I never realized that the French Quarter is so extensive, and that the trademark architecture is so prevalent. With so many historic districts in cities, only a few blocks have the telltale stamp of a certain style or such, but not here.
Blocks upon blocks upon blocks in this area have the ornate iron work, balconies, and signature colors that New Orleans and the French Quarter specifically are known for. Quite striking, really.
We took in some of the chaos, noise, and uniqueness that is Bourbon Street, and didn’t want to leave Buddy out of the excitement!
And had a fantastic dinner of sharing an original Muffaletta sandwich from Central Grocery on Decatur. They definitely have this sandwich down pat. The olive mix spread was the perfect balance of salty, vinegary and sweet, and blended so well with the salamis and cheese and sesame-topped bread. So glad we stopped and picked one up, as they are closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Might not have been what other diners experienced at the multitude of seriously high end restaurants in the Quarter, such as what the kitchen staff were meeting outside about at NOLA, but for us, quintessentially a New Orleans’ meal all the same! We’re looking forward to spending the day out and about tomorrow, starting with a much anticipated stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets!
Today we spent the day docked in St. Thomas. We took an open-air bus up to Coral World, and did a “Sea Trek” tour, wearing pressurized air helmets underwater. Very fun!
There were Green Iguanas everywhere! Unfortunately, Justin could not convince one of them to give Buddy a ride!
