Texas Thanksgiving Day 4

Nov 24, 2010 Wednesday

Good bye to texas university So long to the orange and the white
Good luck to dear old Texas Aggies
They are the boys who show the real old fight
"the eyes of Texas are upon you"
That is the song they sing so well
So good bye to texas university
We're gonna beat you all to…
Chigaroogarem , Chigaroogarem
Rough, Tough, Real stuff, Texas A&M
                                     Aggie Fight Song




Courtney had to work today, but David had the day off.  We ate breakfast at home and then drove to Love Field to return our rental car.  We no longer needed it as we would be riding with David and Courtney.  After that we had some errands to run.  Last minute shopping for Turkey Day.  We went to a great seafood market close to their house.  We live closer to the ocean but we don't have a market like that close to us.

For lunch we went to Texadelphia.  A nice sandwich shop in Texas and Oklahoma.

http://www.texadelphia.com/

After lunch a few more stops and then waited for Courtney to get home.

For dinner we went to The Porch.

http://www.theporchrestaurant.com/

We started with the Chopped Brisket Sliders. We ordered Ribs, Stodg burger, chicken cobb and steak sandwich with Parm O'rings and Mac and cheese.  It was good to sit and talk as we enjoyed the food and the atmoshere.  The only problem is that we ate too much and now tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Oh well.

Texas Thanksgiving Day 3

Nov 23, 2010 Tuesday

'Cause God blessed Texas with His own hand

Brought down angels from the promised land
Gave 'em a place where they could dance
If you wanna see heaven brother here's your chance
I've been sent to spread the message
God blessed Texas
                           Little Texas




We woke up and I checked on our workers.  Some got the office early, one guy was on the phone alot.  We looked at our breakfast options and chose 1886 Cafe and Bakery at 6th Street and Brazos in the Driskill Hotel.  I order Breakfast Tacos and Bridget ordered the Almond French Toast.  It was really good and they gave me a cup of coffee for the road.

http://www.1886cafeandbakery.com/

We went back to the hotel and checked out.  Thanks David.

On the way out of town we drove by UT and looked at some of the campus.  On Thanksgiving is the big game Gig em Aggies.  Then we got on the road and headed to Dallas. 

We stopped in Waco and drove around the campus of Baylor University.  Brian graduated from Baylor.  It is a very pretty campus with lots of brick buildings.  I use to live in Gatesville, Texas about 40 miles west of Waco.  We use to go to Waco to shop for school clothes.  We got back on the road and headed toward West, Texas.  Courtney had told us about a grreat little place there so we were stopping for lunch.

Czech Stop.

http://www.czechstop.net/home.php

We bought some Kolaches for lunch and then some for Courtney and David.  Check out the menu page for the variety of Kolaches.  They were excellent.  Also hit the Sonic next door for DCL.

Back on the road we headed to Dallas.  Last time we were in Dallas we got so turned around looking for a place to eat after the plane ride that we were really lost.  This time I mapped it out better and used the maps on the iphone.  We arrived at the house late afternoon.

We met David and his dog, Bruiser there.  Courtney arrived just as we were finishing a little walk.  It was good to see both of them.

For dinner Courtney and David took us to a TexMex restaurant.

 http://www.mattitos.com/

The food was excellent.  We all were full and we went home and crashed.

Texas Thanksgiving Part Deux

November 22, 2010

The eyes of Texas are upon you
All the live long day
The eyes of Texas are upon you
And you cannot get away
Do not think you can escape them
From night till early in the morn
The eyes of Texas are upon you
Till Gabriel blows his horn


We woke up a little late.  I had picked out a place for breakfast and had asked the concierge if we could walk.  He said not really so we took the car.  The parking lot was on the backside so we drove around for a little while before we found it.

We had breakfast at The Guenther House.  The house was built in 1859 by Carl Hilmar Guenther, the founder of Pioneer Flour Mills.

  http://www.guentherhouse.com/

We had the Guenther's Platter.  The food was really good and then we walked around the store and bought some souvenirs.

We went back to the Omni and checked out.  On the way to Austin we stopped and did some shopping at the outlet malls.  Didn't really buy anything, but Bridget got a great deat on some jewelry.

The hill country of Texas was really pretty.  Sonic on the way again, DCL.  We got to Austin and found our hotel. 

Part of the building was the hotel and the other part was offices.  I liked watching the people work, well some were working.

We walked down to the capitol and looked around and also checked out restaurants for dinner.  There sure were a lot of Confererate statues there.  We also walked down to 6th Street but it was too early.

We picked out Perry's Steakhouse and Grille.
http://www.perryssteakhouse.com/

We shared a Tomato and Mozzaella Salad.  I had the Cowboy Ribeye and Bridget had the Symphony Kabob, with filet mignon, lobster and shrimp.  Dinner was excellent and we were very happy with our choice.  After dinner we walked down to 6th Street again.  Some bands were playing but we were full and tired.  We walked around for awhile the went back to the hotel.

Texas Thanksgiving Part 1

Nov 21, 2010

Deep in the Heart of Texas
The stars at night, are big and bright,
deep in the heart of Texas,
The prairie sky is wide and high,
deep in the heart of Texas.
The sage in bloom is like perfume,
deep in the heart of Texas,
Reminds me of, the one I love,
deep in the heart of Texas.


We were invited to Courtney and David's home in Dallas for Thanksgiving.  We flew out on Nov 21, 2010 but we wanted to see some of Texas as C and D had to work.  I lived in Texas as a 3rd grader while we waited to join my dad in Spain.  Gatesville, Texas.  Certain thing are really strong in my memory.  Porter Wagonner TV show, thistles, horned frogs, the city square and football.

We flew to San Antonio, Texas.  We arrived at the airport and got our rental car.  David has connections with Omni and booked a room for us.  We were hungry after the plane ride and were looking for some place to eat.  Why is it there are no restaurants by the airport?  We finally found a Sonic.  There are not many Sonic's in California.  Recently 2 have opened in San Diego County but not really close to where we live.

We ordered some food and diet cherry limeades.  Heaven.  We then headed to the hotel right on the River Walk.  Omni La Mansion del Rio.

It was a great hotel.  We walked all along the River Walk paying close attention to the restaurants for dinner.  We also walked over to the Alamo.
http://www.thealamo.org/

I had been there before but Bridget had only been through the panhandle of Texas on the way to see relatives in Oklahoma.  It's funny, in Keith Richard's book, Life, there is a picture of the Rolling Stones in front of the Alamo.

We decided to have dinner at Rita's on the River.

It was really good Mexican food with a great view and good music by a family of musicians. 

They had all the lights up for Christmas at the River Walk but were not turning them on until later in the week.  We were leaving San Antonio for Austin tomorrow.

We went back to the hotel tired and stuffed.