It's been a while since my wife, Angel, and I had some time all to ourselves. In fact, the last time, we took any kind of vacation was for our wedding anniversary in March 2002, so we were a little overdue. One of our friends from church who runs a daycare graciously kept our boys for the weekend, so they got a little vacation, too!
No, we didn't win an all-expense paid trip to a Borg cube! This was the intriguing atmosphere of the Hotel Valencia in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Each floor looked like this. (See above pictures)
Actually, it was very cold on each floor, kind of like I would imagine a Borg cube would be, but something tells me the Borg wouldn't be playing instrumental jazz on every floor.
Either that or we escaped assimilation and didn't know it...? Hmmmmm!
Well, at least it wasn't tinted green everywhere (would've looked hideous if it did - see picture above)...
This is actually what the outside of the hotel looked like, in the midst of downtown San Antonio.
It was a very sunny weekend with a great deal of humidity and heat but we managed just fine.
Angel and I mainly wanted to get some rest and relaxation on this trip to San Antonio. So we didn't do the tourist thing. No visits to The Alamo or Fiesta, Texas or Sea World.
We did, however, visit a restaurant we'd enjoyed in March `02 -- Bambino Huey's. We had previously enjoyed the food, service, live traditional Italian music (with guitar and mandolin), gourmet coffee and the restaurant's signature dessert (the "Bambino Huey," available in vanilla and chocolate flavors).
We did receive very good service and the live Italian music...
...we enjoyed our salads (note new beard)...
...the food was pretty good and we were looking forward to the desserts...
...but they weren't quite as good as we remembered. Our waiter was very accomodating and brought us fresh, hot (chocolate) "Hueys" (since the first ones were lukewarm -- and this dessert is best when hot!) -- and we enjoyed those better...but we were left with the impression that either our expectations were too high or the quality had dipped just a bit. Nevertheless, we left full and fairly satisfied with the experience. So, if you visit Bambino Huey's in San Antonio and want a `Huey, ask for it hot!
We had a luxurious stay in the hotel. We were surprised at all the features offered just through the television set (still-in-theater movies, not-yet-released-to-DVD movies, video games, high-speed internet, select music and video channels, select television show episodes and of course, free cable channels)! We were economical, however, and stuck to the free channels -- those kinds of charges add up quickly! Besides, like I said, we came there mainly to relax, not to become assimilated by the hotel t.v. (maybe it was a Borg cube after all!)
On Sunday, we had a safe trip back to Austin, stopping off for a little detour to our old stomping grounds in San Marcos, Texas [I attended Texas State University at San Marcos, the college formerly known as "Southwest Texas State University (SWT)" from `93 to `95] along the way. Angel and I made it home before the rain from Tropical Storm "Grace" moved inland and a cold front triggered a lot of rain on Central and South Texas. We picked up our kiddos and are now enjoying the Labor Day holiday.
I hope y'all are, too!
Best Wishes,
Allen
