Remember the Alamo...Bowl

This week I road-tripped it to San Antonio. I know the I-10 route well but this time I was headed to the Alamo City for fun with my family in tow. Or rather, I was in tow. I somehow got out of driving the three hour trip and instead sat in the backseat of a car remarkably similar to mine.

There are definite bonuses to being a backseat passenger and sharing the road with friends.

For example, impromptu dancing and singing often erupts.

And World Geography knowledge can be tested with the Houston Chronicle's 50 Question Geography Quiz. (No, I've never heard of Nollywood and do not know what US city is "too busy to hate." Anyone?)

Stopping at Buc-ee's is also a different experience as the normal quick in-and-out trip turns into a twenty minute shopping tour complete with a plan to divide and conquer Icees and Beaver Nuggets before reuniting at the car.


In truth, no Beaver Nuggets were bought or consumed, but they are quite a hit with the regulars.
See the link above for more details.

Upon arriving in San Antonio, we check into our hotel located within walking distance of the River Walk - one of my favorite places in Texas at Christmas time.

We stop at the first Mexican restaurant we find, The Original Mexican Restaurant. It was a cold night and as this restaurant did not provide ponchos for the patio (like another restaurant further down), we opted to eat inside.

More bonuses for traveling with family: live Mariachi serenades.

(The song was called Mariscos, which means seafood in Spanish...can't imagine singing such a pretty song about fish. Maybe someone can enlighten me?)

And someone with whom to try on the traditional Mexican garb.

Sharing a hotel room with new family members provided a special treat as I was awoke in the middle of the night to the shouts of a sleep-talking male.

In the morning, we headed straight to the Alamo. As a former Texas history teacher, I was excited to impart my knowledge to my newly transplanted brother-in-law. Like how Bonham Street (a street we had to cross as we walked from our hotel) was named after James Butler Bonham one of the couriers during the 13 day siege at the Alamo. And how the numbers next to the state flags displayed in the Alamo represented the number of men who died from that state in the battle. (The most famous death being that of Davy Crockett from Tennessee who was quoted as saying, "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.") I'm not sure my brother-in-law appreciated all the wealth of information I was dumping on him (as you might not),

but as a born and bred Texan - I just couldn't help myself. I was even more excited when I found the DVD version of the movie Gone to Texas in the Alamo gift shop. This is a highly factual depiction of the life of Sam Houston and other crucial events of the Texas Revolution. As a teacher, I had shown my students many clips from this movie. It also helps to explain why Sam Houston did not come to the aid of the Alamo. (He was busy forming a government and training an army that would later defeat the Mexican troops at the Battle of San Jacinto.)

After our Alamo tour and informational video, we headed to the River Walk for our boat cruise. On our ride we were reminded that San Antonio is named after St. Anthony - patron saint of lost things. Perhaps, if my brother had been Catholic, he would have been able to recover the cell phone that slipped out of his pocket and landed in the river four years earlier when he sat down to lunch. As of yet, no such luck.

From the river, you can also spot a glimpse of the San Fernando Cathedral from which the Mexican dictator Santa Anna had flown the red flag of no quarter (no surrender) during the Alamo siege.

As a side note, Santa Anna is often credited for introducing chicle, the base of chewing gum, to America.

Eventually, we made it to the event for which we had come to town - the Alamo Bowl. My parents started the tradition three years earlier when they had hoped their alma mater would be playing - they didn't, but that didn't stop my parents from buying tickets. They had so much fun they decided to keep coming back. This was my second year to join them.

Seeing as I had no ties to either school, I was a little unsure of who to cheer for. Texas or Oregon?

While I was pretty sure Oregon would win (and they did), I was happy to see Mack Brown's last stand...at the Alamo. The Longhorn band even spelled out his name at halftime.

As we journeyed home the next day, I was aware that while traveling with family has its rewards, there's still some give and take. Like how many pitstops are allowed on the drive home. As the oldest and most experienced traveler in my car, you'd think I'd know better. Fortunately for me, I'm a member of a compassionate family who in the end finally showed mercy and let me make an extra stop. All in all, I'll take the give and take any day.

Waco Weekend

Before my sister and her husband made the decision to move to Waco this fall, most of my interactions with the town had been driving around Baylor campus and down Valley Mills Rd. While Baylor has a nice campus right next to the Brazos River, the city that I saw left something to be desired. When my sister announced this would be her new home, I was determined to venture off my well-beaten but ugly paths and find some of the more beautiful attractions Waco has to offer.  This weekend I got to revisit some of those places.

One place I did not revisit was Health Camp. This is a local burger and shake restaurant that began in 1948 to serve military personnel at the local air force base.

It's located in Waco's traffic roundabout. (Why they build roundabouts in America, I have no idea. I do not like them.) Employee's even wear shirts that say, "I survived the circle." You can order inside or at the little walk-up window outside. I had recommended the local joint to my sister and she tried it when she moved into town. She wasn't so impressed and prefers the burgers at George's. I, on the other hand, had thoroughly enjoyed my chocolate, peanut butter, banana shake.

I was scheduled for a hearing in Waco on Monday and decided to drive up Saturday afternoon to spend a little more time with my sister. We had discussed renting a canoe at Outdoor Waco located downtown and just across the road from the Brazos, but with the threat of rain and waning sunlight we opted for a quick trip to Lake Waco instead.

Lake Waco is man-made lake created by a dam on the Bosque River. Bosque means "forest" in Spanish. (FYI: There's only one natural lake in Texas - Caddo Lake near the Texas/Louisiana border.) When we pulled up to the lake we saw a fisherman with his catch of the day displayed proudly on the bed of his 1980s Chevy truck. The fish were lined up in order of size from smallest to biggest . He caught 1 catfish and about 7 buffalo fish. The biggest weighing 30-35 lbs.

We didn't bring a fishing pole, but with two geologists in tow we soon began looking for brachiopods and gastropods. I just thought they were called shells and bivalves.

When all the specimens were identified, we skipped rocks. Chloe was a natural, but I required a few lessons from Tanner. Apparently, skipping rocks has more to do with rotation and form then pure arm strength. Not that our form looks all that graceful.

After dinner, we got in the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins. Chloe and Tanner had picked out three the night before at an over-priced, charity pumpkin patch. Supposedly, there was one large pumpkin selling for $100.

Photo taken by Tanner

While I stuck to the traditional form, Chloe decided to get a little creative. Instead of the intended mustache she got something more akin to a cleft palate. Tanner went an alien route.

On Sunday afternoon we headed to Cameron Park. This is by far my favorite part of the town as it has several hiking and biking trails, look-outs, and even a zoo. Our first stop was Proctor Springs.

At the springs, a geology lesson was given as to how and why the water trickles down through the rocks. Regrettably, my non-geologist mind has since forgotten the lesson. All of my Texas geology knowledge comes from four years of teaching Texas History. This spring, and others like it in central Texas, were created by the Balonces Fault which serves as a border between the hill country and coastal plains.

The fault can more easily be seen at Lover's Leap. The banks of the Bosque River differ in elevation before joining the Brazos River just a few hundred feet downstream. (See also photo above.)

In addition to geological sites, I saw a lot of this throughout the weekend...

...newlyweds.

Monday, before I had to take off for my hearing, we went to see the Baylor bears. No, they are not stuffed like I had originally thought. They are actually living black bears housed on campus at the Bill and Eva Williams Bear Habitat just down the street from the Baylor bookstore. Bears became the official Baylor mascot in 1914 after competitive alternatives like bookworm were voted down. The first live mascot came to campus in 1917. In 1974, it was decided that all bears would be given the name "Judge" followed by a surname.

Meet today's live mascots, sisters named Judge Joy Reynolds ("Joy") and Judge Sue Sloan ("Lady").


I'm not sure which is which.

This one was pacing in circles the whole time we were there which made me sad.

The bears are one year apart. The oldest will be thirteen in January. They will live the rest of their lives at Baylor, which will be a longer life than a wild bear ranging between 22 and 25 years as opposed to 18 to 20. Fortunately, the practice of feeding Dr. Pepper (a Wacoan creation) to the bears ceased in the 1990s.

One place we didn't make it to this weekend was the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Baylor Museum of Art. The museum is closed on Mondays. But that's no problem, because I'll be back in Waco next Tuesday for more wac-o fun with my sis. And oh, maybe a little work as well.