June 13, 2010

Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates

We spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas.
It was beautiful & green. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called The Gardenia Inn. The entire house was so charming. We loved our room. Here is the bathroom - we did not know how we felt about having just a bathtub, but it was actually pretty fun to do something different than hop into a plain old shower.The porch was easily accessible with this floor to ceiling length window, just slide the window up & step out...so neat! Way better than the obvious door.I want a house just like this one [if I can't just have this one]. It was perfect & had so much character.
The cute couple who owns the B & B were friendly & hospitable. They also made delicious breakfast.I already want to plan a trip back to this place. It won my .The Riverwalk was just a 15 minute walk away. What an inventive use of a river. The Riverwalk was enchanting & I could imagine myself walking along the canals of Venice. Seriously. The river was below the noisy hustle & bustle of the city streets. It is a world of its own.There were tons of these guys swimming around. She really wanted us to share our dinner.There were bridges & tunnels incorporated throughout the entire area for people to easily get to where they need to go. We took a boat tour of the river & learned some neat historic facts about the city. It also helped us to get our bearings, it was easy to get turned around in this place. As nice as it was to stroll around I only had one complaint...it was really humid (even the locals said it was unusually humid) & it made walking all over town pretty tough. It did not stop us though, there was just too much to see. When we decided to enter into reality again we went up the stairs, down the alley, across the street, & ran into this Historic War Memorial...The Alamo.
Fact: Did you know there is a city ordinance that limits how tall hotels or other buildings can be around the Alamo??? No building can be built tall enough to cast a shadow on a war memorial site.
On our way back home we stopped by The Japanese Tea Gardens. I know what you are thinking...the sign says Chinese. Interesting story...the gardens were designed by a Japanese immigrant in 1915. Then after WWII the city changed the name to The Chinese Sunken Garden. In 1983 they changed it back to its original name [they just haven't changed the sign].The tea gardens were built to disguise what otherwise would have been a useless space. In the 1800's limestone was discovered in the area.
This location was the limestone quarry that provided all of the limestone for the State Capital building in Austin.Instead of having a big empty hole, they created the sunken gardens. What an incredible idea - turn something old & used & turn it into something unique & beautiful.
We had a fabulous time & cannot wait to go back.
So why is life like a box of chocolates?!?
Cause "you never know what you're gonna get!"
We went to San Antonio, Texas this weekend & I felt like I was in:
1. Texas - rich with Southern hospitality
2. Venice - the city of love
3. Japan - full of history & culture
P.S. If you are ever in the San Antonio area go to the Tip Top Diner & get yourself some Banana Cream Pie...words cannot even describe.

2 comments:

Alexa Mae said...

it is so charming there! i love it. you look gorgeous girl!

Sharon Mae said...

OOOOO, my favorite kind of pie!! I know how much Brent and Kelly's family loved San Antonio and when they get up, I'll show them your great photos!