Day 24
After sightseeing in Austin, we arrived at our AirBNB in the early evening and got settled in.
Our AirBNB was very interesting. It was all corrugated metal on the outside and each bedroom had a bubble window. Here is the view from the outside.
The place was on the famous San Antonio Riverwalk between “The Pearl” to the north, and the shopping and restaurants to the south. Both locations were about a mile walk from our place. Here is the view of the Riverwalk from our balcony.
There was the small but loud bar down the street.
And just past the bar was the oldest VFW in Texas, that had very loud live music on the weekends. Needless to say, we had to use earplugs a few nights. But we also got to sit on our patio and listen to some pretty good music as well.
Day 25
This was our first full day of activities. We woke up to temperatures in the high 80’s and about 70% humidity. We didn’t realize what that felt like until we walked the approximate 1 mile south to the shops and restaurants. Holy cow. I looked and felt like I just got out of the shower. We stopped at Rita’s on the River for some lunch and margaritas. We ate inside in the air conditioning and were able to cool off a bit. The table side guacamole was outstanding and the margaritas were out of this world. It made me forget something.
Since we had cooled off, we walked around the shop area and watched a mother duck with her babies.
Because it was so darn hot and humid, we took a LYFT back to our place and relaxed. We had dinner at the Bombay Bicycle Club and called it a night.
Day 26
For breakfast, we went to The Pearl, which had a weekend farmer’s market.
I found the best booth ever!
And then we toured the famous Hotel Emma.
Then it was off to tour some local neighborhoods to see if San Antonio could also make the short list of places to live. Spoiler alert…………..it did not. The one neighborhood we liked was very expensive, and we just didn’t like any of the other areas.
Dinner was at Toro Kitchen and Bar. As we entered the front door, another couple we entered with showed us the hidden door to the downstairs speakeasy.
We were there for dinner, so we passed on the speakeasy. Unfortunately, this was a popular place that we did not know really required reservations. Since we didn’t have any, it looked like we were not going to be eating there. Even though no tables were available, there were three seats at the bar next to the live band. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers. And I had no problem hearing the band! The food was tapas style and both the food and drinks were first rate. This was a great end to a great day.
Day 27
Since the areas around San Antonio had struck out as potential living locations, we ventured further out to to the New Braunfels area, about 30 minutes north of San Antonio. Plus, this would allow us to visit Naegelin’s Bakery, the oldest bakery in Texas.
Our first stop was for lunch at Muck & Fuss. Now say that five times fast.
We initially stopped because of the name, but the food and craft beers kept us there. Here are the jalapeno hush puppies and beer.
After a satisfying meal, Cindy and Corrianne went to Naegelin’s Bakery while I went next door to this fine establishment.
I bought some spicy dills that unfortunately would roll out of big red and break the next day. So sad.
We toured several new housing developments and even thought the area was affordable and nice, it just didn’t do it for us. Fort Worth would be the only city to make our list.
On the way back to our place, we stopped at the Winery on the Gruene for some wine tasting. And in case you were wondering what the heck the Gruene is, it is a local river.
And even though the humidity would allow the local creatures to grow a lot, the lizard on the sign was fake.
Day 28
This was our last full day in San Antonio, and the weather was not cooperating. It started to rain early and it ended up raining a lot. Our first stop was The Whitte Museum. We figured since it was indoors, the weather would not matter.
As we left the museum, the rain picked up again. By the time we got back to our place, it was really coming down. Here is what it looked like looking out over our patio at the Riverwalk.
It ended up raining most of the night. Fortunately for us, the rain stopped early in the morning before we left for Arizona.
Days 29 and 30
We drove to Tucson and spent the night to break up the drive home. Nothing too exciting to report at this stop.
Day 31
This was our last day of the trip and the day we drove home. Once home, we only got to spend one night at home as the next day we were off to Camarillo for our friend’s daughter’s wedding. Since my goatee had gotten out of control, I shaved it off.
Cindy likes the shaved version much better. I’ll close this post with a picture of Cindy and I at the wedding.
We haven’t decided on our next trip, so the next post is pending! We will be going to the J. Lohr Winery in Paso Robles for wine tasting, possibly back to the Napa Valley (if not this year, next year for sure) and we are considering the Big Island in Hawaii. Prescott in December is also on the table. And if anyone has some ideas, let us know so we can consider it!