Leaving the Southwest

Post date: Jan 4, 2015 12:00:55 AM

We're leaving Texas tomorrow, Sunday, heading South/East along the coast.  We've been in San Antonio for the past two weeks.  Celebrating Christmas & the New Year here was fun and of course another adventure.  The location of our Hotel is within walking distance of the Alamo, La Villita (the few remaining houses of the original village of San Antonio) a shopping Mall, the Majestic Theater (built in 1929) and of course the famous River Walk.  On Christmas Eve. we had a great dinner at a Brazilian-Texas steak house.  The waiters came around with different types of beef & lamb on skewers and sliced off a piece for you.  So tender, so good! On New Years Eve we went to the Majestic Theater & saw the Lion King.  It's been a long time since we've seen a production of the play.  Enjoyed it very much!

The weather was cold & wet this past week, but Monday was beautiful & clear, so we took a day trip to the gulf coast of Corpus Christi. The area along the bay was very pretty & well kept.  The Marina reminded us of San Diego. But the town has taken a hit with the slow economy and hasn't quite recovered.  Most of the stores & restaurants are closed/boarded. We spoke to a few locals,there is some building going on and they are hopeful the tourists will return.  It's obviously a "company" town.  The oil refineries start just as you enter the town & go for miles all the way out to the bay. 

The sun came out today, so we were able to take a beautiful barge-cruise along the river. After the cruise, we walked away from the town along the rest of the River which took us past the dam (that controls the constant 3-4 feet of water that runs through down town) to one of the oldest residential areas -the Historical King William District.  The majority of the homes were built in the 1800's by the German immigrants that settled here.  It's easy to spot their homes, because of the tin roofs!  Beautiful mansions as well as cottages. On our way back, we stopped for lunch at the oldest Tavern on the River the Esquire.  It was built at the end of Prohibition.  Dark wood paneling with original single hanging wire lighting and a 108 foot-long bar. Good food & drink.

Texas was never on one of my lists of "must visit", but we have enjoyed our stay here.  Texas drivers are courteous, the highways are well kept & clean.  However we don't like the fact that driver & passenger windows can be tinted to the point of being black - you can't see the driver!  Using cell phones while driving is not against the law. You don't have to drive more than 10 miles to find a church. RR crossings along the highways don't have gates that come down to stop you from trying to beat the train!  People are friendly and very proud of their State. The wine produced in the Hill Country is very good, according to my humbled California wine connoisseur.  So far we still prefer Santa Maria style Bar-B-Q

So long South West - Hello Louisiana!