Unhip in San Antonio

San Antonio Riverwalk 

H minus 100

Weekend getaway to San Antonio, TX. 

Why San Antonio? Well, ostensibly we wanted to see the Spurs play in their home court. We bought tickets to a preseason game, Spurs vs the Sacramento Kings. It was a heck of a game! The Kings scored the first basket, then the Spurs took the lead and kept widening it and widening it. At the end of the first quarter, they were a point shy of a 3x lead! 

I said "ostensibly". We love to use basketball as an excuse for travel. We enjoy the games, but it also gives us an insight into a city's culture. The basketball fan culture in San Antonio is different from Denver which is different from LA when we took off to see a Clippers game. In San Antonio it felt more like a state fair kind of crowd. People were hanging out in the "Fan Zones", the food, bar, and merch sections of the stadium. People were friendly and almost everyone had a story about a relative living in Colorado. 

Then Saturday we explored the San Antonio Botanical Garden. They are having an exhibit called Jardin de Las Catrinas, a celebration of the influence of Mexican culture. A LOT of people there, but the gardens are large enough it did not feel too crowded. It was interesting to hear languages from all over the world and to hear Spanish accents from Spain, Central and South America as well as Norteño and Tejano. 

From there to the Japanese Tea Garden, as only San Antonio would have done it, carved out of an old limestone quarry with limestone steps, trails, and bridges, free to enter and crowded. A very well used public space. 

By this point in the day my hip was starting to bother not only me, but Pam and William too. They've started convincing me that I need to select the November 24 surgery date instead of holding out for January. Dunno (contraction of "I don't know"). I really honestly don't know. It's obnoxious enough. But: 

1. I don't want to get in the way of the holidays.
2. I really, REALLY don't want to get in the way of celebrating Pam's 65th. 
3. I don't want to give in. 

Then on to dinner at a trendy bougie Mexican Fusion restaurant in the Pearl neighborhood. The restaurant was named Mezquite. I really recommend it if you like what they call "elevated" cuisine. It's not comfort food, and while the flavors were good if subtle, they are a bit challenging. The scratch-made tortillas were wonderful! 

We followed that with a dusk riverboat tour of the Riverwalk area. 

Sunday we had breakfast at La Panaderia, a local institution. There was a car show down the block and we went and looked at the silly expensive Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, and Porsches, and the even sillier people willing to spend money on them. 

Then a visit to the Alamo and lesson on Texas history. Followed by a visit to El Centro market square, and then fly home. 

Oddly my hip is less challenging on the return flight than it was on the flight to San Antonio. More legroom, gentler walking before the flight maybe? Not sure why. Overall the hip was more painful Saturday than Sunday. It has picked up a new habit. When I stand up from sitting, it catches and gives a very sharp pain before I can let it hang down straight. Then it takes 3 or 4 steps before it is willing to support weight.