Craziest little trip to San Antonio

FRIDAY


8:00 breakfast in Waco @ Katie's house

12 noon arrive in San Antonio

mission- find black shoes for wedding in storage unit

    discovered my summer clothes :)
    laundry at mom's house

2:00 meeting with my financial advisor- Brock

5:00 get ready for wedding

5:45 drive to Emily's house

6:20 Emily & I drive to Castroville- Hofmann Ranch

7:30 Josh & Laurie's Wedding

12:30 sleep

SATURDAY

7:00 wide awake.

8:00 breakfast with Maribeth at Las Palapas

9:30 oil change

10:00- visit with Fatman Belton

10:30 Farmer's Market with Mom & Julie, ran into D & Jim Schattel

12:00 Zoo with mom, meet Boo- new Asian elephant

1:30 nap :)

4:00 meet up with Nicole @ the rim

5:00 Oak Hills Church- Rich Stearns, World Vision US President, speaks

6:15 meet Rich and get his autograph!

6:25 refuel my car

6:45 bbq dinner at Josh & Lauries

7:45 drive back to Dallas

San Antonio Trip

Going home can be just so wonderful. 

Working here in Dallas and working every Sunday in May & June is totally not any fun but I am trying to make the most of it. So having 3 days off and no plans here  in Dallas I took advantage of my time and took a trip home. Plus I knew that I did not want to be traveling on I-35 over Memorial Day weekend. While home I saw a few friends and mostly just relaxed and enjoyed San Antonio! Having done quite a bit of traveling I have come to realize that San Antonio is pretty amazing. While in New Orleans in February I just loved it for all the culture and that is what Houston and Dallas lack. But San Antonio has it!!

So while home for only 2 nights I made the most of my time. First things first- laundry at home!! I felt like I was in college again and raided mom's kitchen :)

Thursday I went to the Japanese Tea Gardens and Brackenridge Park. Taking my camera and not using the automatic mode all wknd was a bit of a challenge at times  but I learned a lot!  Thursday night I went to see my second family- the Beltons!! And hung out with my main man Ottis & James :) GTs!

Friday I made my way downtown to meet with an old friend my our SACC swimming days- Melissa! We met up at El Mercado and had lunch at Goodbytes Cafe (run by Goodwill). Then Melissa had to go back to work :( but I wandered the streets of downtown and made my way to San Fernando Cathedral-- beautiful! For dinner that evening I went with my family to Alamo Cafe- one of my favorite places in San Antonio!!!!

Saturday my mom and I traveled to Fredericksburg just for the butterfly house at Wildseed Farms and it did not disappoint!!! I love butterflies and taking pictures and it was wonderful!!!! The field of flowers were in a transition but it was nice just to be there! After hours at Wildseed Farms we drove back to SA for lunch at Cosi. Then I made the 4 hour drive back to Dallas-- very limited traffic the whole way!!!! And made it back before dark and went on a long walk/jog with another traveler- Jill at Katy Trail. 

Japanese Tea Gardens

Brackenridge Park

El Mercado 

Santa Rosa Children's Hospital and the park

Mi Tierra's Bakery & Cafe

inside Mi Tierra's 

El Mercado

San Fernando Cathedral

Lunch with Melissa @ Goodbytes

Alamo Cafe with my family

Wildseed Farms

Butterfly House

Downtown Dallas

Water Gardens in Fort Worth

The Fort Worth Water Gardens, built in 1974, is located on the south end of downtown Fort Worth between Houston and Commerce Streets next to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The 4.3 acre  Water Gardens were designed by noted New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee and was dedicated to the City of Fort Worth by the Amon G. Carter Foundation.

The urban park is frequently billed as a "cooling oasis in the concrete jungle" of downtown. Its focal points are three pools of water and a terraced knoll, which helps to shield the park from adjacent Interstate 30. The quiet meditation pool is encircled with trees and features a flat, still plane of water that cascades almost 90 degrees down to a sunken walkway. The aerating pool features multiple spray fountains. The main attraction of the Water Gardens is the active pool which has water cascading 38 feet down terraces and steps into a small pool at the bottom. It also has over 500 species of plants and trees throughout the park.

The active pool was originally built for people to be able to walk down the terraced steps and experience the water tumbling around them. It was temporarily closed to the public after four people died there on June 16, 2004. Three children and one adult drowned after one of the children fell in the pool. It is mistakenly believed that the child jumped in to swim. The other three jumped in trying to save the child. The water was unusually deep due to a recirculating pump malfunction and heavy rains. The park was reopened in March 4, 2007 after being made safer by reducing the depth of the main pool from 9 ft to 2 ft.

Having a BLAST in Houston :)

Well I certainly did not waste any time getting around and seeing tons here in Houston. I only wish Julie was with me so our amazing fun times together could continue.


Saturday--
Houston Zoo
Hermann Park
Fine Arts Museum
Butterfly Exhibit at Museum of Natural Science

Downtown Aquarium

HERMANN PARK

FINE ARTS MUSEUM OF HOUSTON

Pablo Picasso

SCULPTURE GARDEN

BUTTERFLY EXHIBIT @ MUSEUM
OF NATURAL SCIENCE

iguana! watch out he bites!!

DOWNTOWN AQUARIUM

starfish

White Tigers @ the Aquarium

Sea Turtle

DOWNTOWN HOUSTON

Minute Maid Park

Sunday--
Johnson Space Center- NASA
Museum of Natural Science
Hermann Park

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER- NASA

rocket!

historic mission control

HOUSTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL SCIENCE

t-rex

gems & crystals

impala

Plus after my weekend jam packed with fun I made it back to my hotel with time to watch the New Orleans Saints win the Superbowl!