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.
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.
Enjoying some live music before eating at The Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, just southwest of Austin.
Buddy, getting a nice smokey smell from the pit at The Salt Lick.
Walking around downtown Austin.
Texas State Capitol Building in Austin.
Escaping the heat and crowds by exploring the interior of the Capitol.
Thoroughly enjoyed this Arnold Palmer cupcake from delish. I definitely plan to experiment combining a lemon cupcake with a sweet tea buttercream frosting!
Lanai in Austin. The beautiful rooftop venue where we attended a TopCoder networking mixer for SXSW.
Apparently it is easier just to make your own mobile venue than trying to find a place to play during SXSW!
Justin and Buddy at County Line BBQ along San Antonio’s RiverWalk. Their smoked sausage is phenomenal, and I loved the brisket while Justin was partial to their ribs.
And as we were walking back, for the first time in my life, I got pooped on by a bird. Justin and I agreed it was the bird world’s retribution for when Justin (unexpectedly) grabbed that pigeon the other day. I REALLY need to start carrying Purell in my pocket!
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!
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!
Today was a day in the car as we traveled from Atlanta down to Daytona Beach. Not a lot to report – lunch at Chik-Fil-A and most of the day spent listening to Pandora. We stopped in Atlanta and I picked up a Clear USB card for my laptops, so we now have fast 4G internet in cities like Atlanta and here in Daytona Beach. Sadly it doesn’t work great in the backwoods of Florida, but then I fall back onto either my T-Mobile USB 4G card or the mobile 3G hotspot on my Sprint iPhone. I’m rarely out of touch with the internets.
Julie, braving the elements on the beach.
Buddy got a chance to sit out on our 1 foot balcony before dinner, but sadly it’s now raining pretty hard. Didn’t stop us from venturing out to the beach, if only for a few minutes.
Buddy, high up
Since we had a slow day, I’ll share some of the photos from my phone we took yesterday at the Atlanta aquarium. Please to enjoy.
Julie, petting a shark
There were quite a few fish in this tank
Julie, getting touchy-feely with a sea anemone
This sea otter had a bucket that it loved
These things can live to be 100 years old and have a claw-to-claw width of 12 feet!
This tank was the best - they had 4 whale sharks
My day was made when we saw a life size Lady Rainicorn
