San Antonio, Texas: Part 2

When this plate of waffle was set down before me, all I could think was, "Don't Mess With Texas." This was one of my favourite meals on our trip-- mostly because of the aesthetics. How can you not love a Texas shaped waffle!?

Alamo memorial erected on the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Alamo. 

Our hotel was directly kitty corner to the Alamo, but we waited until Tom arrived before we hit any of the historical sightseeing stops. Tom is a notoriously bad shopper, so we got all of our shopping out of the way before he got there. The Alamo is not particular large, and is located in downtown San Antonio. Fun fact: Alamo is the Spanish word for "cottonwood."

The Alamo.

A brief history of the Alamo goes like this:

The Alamo, constructed in 1724, was originally named Mission San Antonio de Valero. It served as a missionary for nearly 70 years before it was converted into a military station. The Spanish, Rebel and Mexican military occupied the Alamo until the Texas Revolution.

In  December 1835 a group of Texians and Tejanos forced Mexican troops out of the city and occupied the Alamo. On February 23, 1836, the Mexican army retaliated and a 13 day siege began.  The Texian commander of the Alamo sent couriers to neighbouring communities asking for help to stave off the Mexicans, but few came to their aid. The Mexican soldiers attacked on March 6. After an epic day-long battle, nearly all the Texians (numbers conflict between 180-250) were killed. Although 400-600 Mexican soldiers were killed, they ultimately emerged victorious. The only remaining survivors were a few wives and children of men from the Alamo.

Shrine on the grounds of the Alamo.

Cactus within the Alamo grounds.

Us at the Alamo.

Following our tour through the Alamo, we took a 30 minute boat tour on the river through the downtown. The tour guide told us about various buildings and architecture in the city. Afterwards, we made our way back to the Riverwalk for an authentic Mexican meal. Enchiladas, nachos and tacos were enjoyed by all.

Tom enjoys an Alamo Golden Ale with lunch.

After lunch we headed towards the Market Square. Along the way we stopped to view the San Fernando Cathedral. The cathedral was founded in 1731 and features detailed carved sandstone and stained glass windows.

San Fernando Cathedral.

In the Market Square, we watched Mexican dancers swirling their dresses to lively music, and wandered through the stalls of tacky tourist souvenirs. One of my favorite photos of the trip is featured below-- a wall of colourful miniature guitars.

Guitars in the Market Square.

There was also a wall of luchidore (wrestlers) masks. We didn't make any purchases, but browsed through the rows of shops for a few minutes.

Luchidore masks.

To close out our trip, we visited the 750 foot tall Tower of the Americas in the heart of San Antonio. We road the ever-so-slow elevator the lounge where we ate dessert and drank cocktails. We had a beautiful view of the city lights from our vantage point, and although we don't know why, we even saw some fireworks being set off.

Tower of Americas.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in San Antonio. The locals were friendly, the weather was amazing, and it was a much needed change from routine. If you're looking for a new city to visit-- keep it in mind!

Thanks to Ashley and Steve for sharing their pictures. They are interspersed with my own!

San Antonio, Texas: Part I

It has been over two years since I've travelled anywhere with my friends, so this weekend Ashley, Steve and I headed to San Antonio, Texas for a weekend of shopping, sightseeing and warm weather.

Over the last few days, dozens of people have asked me why we chose to go to Texas. Ashley and I have already been to San Francisco and New York, and our only criteria was a new city to explore, with the promise of sun. Phoenix or LA would have raised fewer questions, but San Antonio hit the mark rather nicely.

San Antonio is a beautiful city. It has dozens of historic buildings, a unique blend of Texan (and Mexican influenced) culture, a variety of cuisine, and a well maintained river walk that runs in a loop through the downtown. On our first day in San Antonio, we explored the Rivercenter Mall, and wandered down the Riverwalk.

Outdoor stage on the Riverwalk.

The photo above is of an outdoor stage along the Riverwalk. We heard that one of the scenes in Sandra Bullock's "Miss Congeniality" movie was filmed in this very location. Near the outdoor theater we explored the Villita, an artisan village just off the Riverwalk. There we looked at ceramics, stained glass, paintings and a variety of other artwork.

In the afternoon and evening we had our pick of dozens of restaurants, pubs and taverns along the river. Cheerful umbrellas and tables lined the riverbank, along with an assortment of river fowl such as ducks and pigeons. We had margaritas on the river where a ballsy duck pecked me in the foot while begging food from the patrons at the table next to us.

Flowers in bloom in January!

I don't think the weather could have been better. It was an average of 25 degrees, balmy and humid each day during our trip. Flowers were blooming all along the riverside.

On our second day in the city, we rented a car and drove to San Marcos to do some serious outlet shopping. Since we hadn't made a reservation, the rental place had two options-- a Dodge Caravan or a Mustang. We enthusiastically selected the Mustang, but eventually relented and took the Caravan. The van had a built in GPS system, while we would have had to rely on map navigation in the Mustang. Steve took to driving the Caravan like a Mustang though...

Ashley and Steve in front of the Caravan.

Ashley has a successful shopping adventure, while Steve and I bought a few piddly items. Consolation items, really.

Ashley to the rescue at the outlet mall.

From the mall we headed to the Natural Bridge Caverns-- an underground system of limestone caves. The entrance to the caves is at the mouth of a sinkhole where only a narrow natural bridge remains.

Natural bridge.

The cave is 21 degrees year round, but with almost 100% humidity. For about an hour, we tromped through the cave while the guide told us about the various limestone formations, and pointed out the most impressive stalagtite and stalagmites. This is the third cave I have been in with Ashley and Steve. The first was in Australia, but I have few memories from the cave, and therefore figure it must not have been very impressive. The second time was when we went on a full-on spelunking trip into the Rats Nest Caves in Alberta-- those were good times. The limestone formations in this set of caverns was much more impressive than either of the previous caves. It was definitely an interesting side trip.

Limestone formations.

Black beetle.

When we exited the cave, I spotted this beetle hanging out on the sidewalk. Ashley immediately got down to business and started poking it. With her finger. Personally, I think she was pretty brave (brave is code for CRAZY)-- check on the mandibles on this guy!

On our way back to the Caravan, we took full advantage of the cheesy dinosaur photo op to take a series of ridiculous pictures. I'll post them at a later time when I have procured them from Steve's camera... For now, I've only got the one below.

Ashley, Steve and I at the Natural Bridge Caverns.

To round off the day we hit a Target Superstore before heading back into the city to meet up with Tom, who was flying in from Houston where he had completed a course for work during the week.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Historical San Antonio!

My New True Love (Sorry, Tom!)

A few months ago, I discovered my new true love....

ZUCCHINI FRIES!

My God, why did no one ever tell me about these before? What a fantastic way of incorporating vegetables into a meal! You have a crispy and flavourful coating on tasty vegetable. They come together to produce pure deliciousness.

I found this recipe while perusing Pinterest (I died a little inside admitting that), and decided to give it a try. They've now become a regular in our weekday meal rotation.

Ingredients.

Baked Zucchini Fries

Serves 6

Ingredients
3 medium zucchini,  sliced into skinny sticks 
2 large eggs, beaten 
3 heaping Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used panko) 
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese 
1/4 tsp. garlic powder 
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat egg with a fork until frothy. In another bowl, place flour, and in a third bowl, place your bread crumbs. Toss the breadcrumbs with garlic powder and Parmesan cheese, and set aside.

Dip the zucchini sticks into the flour, then egg, and then into the bread crumb mixture. Make sure all sides get coated well. Place the sticks on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 425° for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy. Serve warm with Ranch dressing, marinara sauce, or just as is.

Enjoy!

Sliced zucchini.

Panko breadcrumbs, parmesan, garlic salt and paprika.

Whisked egg, flour and breacrumb mix.

Floured zucchini dipped in egg.

Unbaked zucchini fries.

Finished product-- delicious!

Between prep time and baking, it'll probably take you about 30 minutes to make these. I flip the zucchini pieces halfway through the baking time so both sides turn golden delicious.

Give them a try! You won't regret it.

2013: 358 Days to Go

Seven days into the New Year. One week down, 51 more to go.

 

Still sick. In fact, I've now been sick for three weeks straight. Ten days with cold number one, twelve days with cold number two. It's finally starting to clear up, and all I can say is-- at least it wasn't the flu.

I've never been a big fan of New Year Resolutions, but I do like to look forward and think about what I'll be doing for the year.

Here are some things I'm looking forward to in 2013.

1) My second half marathon-- and maybe even my third! I'm planning on improving my 2012 time of 2:13 to 2:06 or faster.

Photo Credit

2) Chinese brush painting. I recently saw a commercial for the Chinese Cultural Center that advertised brush painting classes. HOW COOL IS THAT!?

Photo Credit

3) Amanda + Steve + Ashley in San Antonio, Texas. Are they ready for us?

4) A wedding. I'm so happy for these two!

  

 Photography by Heath O'Fee.

5) More hiking. Where will it be this year? North Cascades? Olympic National Park? Or maybe even Yosemite?

Cables ascending Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Photo Credit.

 

6) BOSTON. For a much needed visit with a long time friend. Hopefully she'll give us a personal tour of Harvard campus!

7) More travel. Tom and I haven't figured out when or where. But we've thrown around locations such as Italy, Germany or Greece.

8) Maybe... A house? 

There's plenty to look forward to in 2013. I anticipate being very, very busy.