Monday, April 28, 2008

Fiesta's Battle Of Flowers Parade

The Battle of Flowers Parade is the oldest event of Fiesta. We took the Park and Ride down town at 10:30AM . We secured some of the last remaining reserved seats (3rd row) then proceeded to Old Market Square to get some lunch. The Market was alive with music (five bands stands) and lots of good food and drink. We still had two hours before the parade got to this part of town so Carol shopped and Clay listened to music and participated in some interesting people watching.
This video will give you a 2 minute view of the 3 hour Parade. Click it on and enjoy.

2008 King William Parade and Fair

King William is one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Antonio and is located just south of downtown. Like a lot of inner city sections it is in a state of recovery. It has some beautiful homes, then some not so. They have their own Fiesta Fair and Parade that is parody of the "more elegant" parades that make up Fiesta. Like all Fiesta events there is plenty of food, drink, music, and good family fun. For you who need the bigger print, just click anywhere on the collage.


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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

2008 Fiesta River Parade

Fiesta is here !
For you away people that is 10 days of fun, intense partying, entertainment, standing or sitting at parades, tasting foods from several cultures, all the margaritas and beer you can drink. One of our favorite events is the night time River Parade. We reserve riverside seating at a good restaurant and enjoy the festivities along with 200,000 other folks. Click on the start button below and you too can share some of the highlights of this year's River Parade. Viva Fiesta!!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Fun Times with Fabulous Friends

This year Texas is enjoying a wonderful spring - sunny skies, cool breezes and even lower humidity. This week we were invited to spend some time with great friends near Houston where we took advantage of the great weather to see some nearby sites. We hadn't been to Galveston for over 10 years, so we were surprised to see how much it had changed. Our first trip to Moody Gardens, we were impressed with the wonderful collection of marine life in the Aquarium section and found many things to photograph and admire. It was fun to see how flamingos use their unusual beaks to filter feed.

There are several things to see at MG, but we opted for the Aquarium and the limited exhibit about the Titanic which were both great choices. BTW, Tuesdays are Senior days at MG and you can enter the regular exhibits for $5 each. After a walk along the Strand shopping area we enjoyed a great meal dockside near the Elissa.
We thought we had seen most of the Texas history spots, but the San Jacinto Battleground was new to us. This was the place where Texas completed its quest for independence by surprising Santa Ana in a trap. Today you can ride the elevator up 570 feet above the battleground to view the reflecting pool, Battleship Texas moored to the west in Buffalo Bayou, and the battlefield area below. Clear skies gave us a great view in all directions. You can't escape the changes that have occurred in the landscape as this historic site lies among the oil industry spread out in all directions.
Thanks to great friends, PJ and Harry, we enjoyed a wonderful view of southeast Texas made even better by their wonderful hospitality.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Irene's Story Told in Stitches



Clay's aunt, Irene Minor, kept the squares of this quilt from before her marriage until just a few years before her death when she had it put together as a "tied" quilt in the late 1990's. Each of the squares bears the name of a family member or friend who embroidered her signature and pieced the frame around the center piece with chosen fabric. Just seeing the names of Nellie, Myrna, Irene, and Florence is a reminder of a gentler time and how these women we love and remember shared their lives as well as their stitches.

I would like to collect some stories about the ladies I don't know much about. If you recognize a name, won't you post a brief comment sharing something you know or love about the life of that person? We all would be better for remembering what they left for us from the way they lived their lives.

If you know the name of this block pattern or the making of this quilt please post a comment.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

At Last, Japanese Tea Garden Open Again


The famous cement work entry to the gardens proclaims this beautiful place as "The Chinese Tea Garden", the remnant of a sad time in United States history. Click on the post title above to link to a detailed description of the story behind the beautiful landscape shown in the following video. There are many stories here - the few remaining Rodriguez cement sculptures, the kiln of the former cement works, the small houses where a Mexican market once sold crafts, the Japanese families who lived here and tended the gardens and the beauty evolved from the gardeners and other craftsmen who turned an empty quarry into such a beautiful place. When you visit, bring your camera. This place will make you a master photographer. There is plenty of free parking, free admission - and look for the signs that give information about supporting the project with your donations.



Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Rock Chalk Flag Flies Proud in Texas











Our KU flag has had a banner year starting with football and on through basketball season. With the Final Four in San Antonio again March Madness was even more fun. We love to follow the college hoops season - both men and women. The Alamo City has hosted several NCAA events that we have enjoyed since living here and the Big Dance is the most recent.
Friday we went to the Alamodome to watch the 4 teams practice. We arrived to see UCLA and then North Carolina before the Jayhawks took the floor. It was fun to see NC's Love shoot his trademark long distance shots across the floor.In the picture(left) you can see the ball after it drops through the basket to the floor. He had lobbed it from the far baseline corner.
Monday downtown was rockin' wi
th blue shirts - mostly Jayhawkers. We heard the river pep rally sitting on a bridge through several stoplights before we secured a parking spot nearby.The weather was typical for San Antonio this time of year - perfect! - and along the river all were enjoying the wait for the big game. Several venues around town were set up for fans to enjoy. We spent the time at the Band Stage at the entrance to Hemisfair Park. Although there were vendors hawking all kinds of yummy things we ate an early supper at a nearby Mexican restaurant before listening to the entertainment. We didn't find any tickets for sale - prices were so high. The best seat for us was back home in our jammies. A tight game was made even more fun by sharing the excitement with our daughter on the phone during halftime.











Wednesday, April 2, 2008

A Day Trip in the Spring


The day started off muggy, cloudy and gloomy although the TV weather forecast showed clear skies very near to the west of us. No fun sitting around here in the humidity so we opted for a drive in the Hill Country. Highway 281 took us north and then 290 west toward Fredericksburg brought us to our first destination Wildseed Farms. We had seen their fall and winter states, but wondered what spring was like there. We found fields of red poppies, tour buses and a Mexican ceramic lizard for our cactus garden.

A resident tabby cat couldn't be bothered with us when we checked out. After a nice lunch in Fredericksburg, we journeyed back and stopped at LBJ national park for a tour of the ranch. Ladybird's spot in the family cemetery was marked with wildflowers in a pot. No stone yet. Behind the ranch house several of LBJ's cars are on display including the blue amphibian he used to startle guests on drives into the Pedernales.
On the tour we discovered that from 290 just east of the ranch you can take a scenic route 1 into Fredericksburg along the river. Check that out next time you head that way - much nicer that all the new commercial construction, but you may miss the wineries.