Week One

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Week One

Where do we begin, well we could not leave for America until we had been to Lou's Do. Louise is our daughter in law and she was 40 years old on Christmas day 2002 (now the whole world knows Lou, sorry it just slipped out) The party had been arranged for Sunday 29th December so as not to clash with Christmas celebrations, it was held at The Barton Grange Hotel and attended by 200 guests, family and friends. We decided we needed a day to recover and pack so departure date of our Great Texas Adventure was set for New Years Eve day. We were up bright and early to make our 10 30am flight, we took Linda's car to Manchester Airport and left it in the long stay car park making sure we noted the plot number (memories of a previous trip when we could not find the car) We made our way to the American Airlines check in desk and thankfully checked in our heavy suitcases right through to Houston. Congratulations to AA, plenty of leg room pleasant 7 hour flight to Chicago where we changed for an internal flight to Houston. Two hours later we arrived at Bush International Airport Houston cleared emigration and headed off down to the arrival hall. We nearly missed her, our lovely red head was sitting down by the side of the concourse, at the last moment I spotted her, she was going to let us walk past and then sneak up behind us. (well that is what she told us ?) New Year 2003 GMT came in as we drove from the Airport to Donna's apartment I gave Linda her New Years Kiss, got to do it again in Texas Time, God she is a lucky woman. We spent a pleasant evening catching up on each others gossip (no not about you lot, that came later) seems like an age since we last met at the Oxford Meet last year.

New Years Day 2003

Rise and shine at 06 30 on a New Years Day, good choice of digs, breakfast on the table, eggs over easy, spicy sausage and lashings of toast and jam (Mrs Field's homemade plum, but more of Mrs Fields later) all washed down with coffee strong and black, did I mention these were good digs with maid service ? :-)

The girls decided it was time for some retail shopping therapy so it was off to the Galleria to assauge their thirst for shopping, it did'nt work we seemed to spend most days doing some retail therapy. Then it was on to do some serious drooling over the houses in River Oaks, this is an even posher end of Houston then where we are residing, wow some of these places have their own police force, pretty good as well, they kept moving us on. While we are at it take a look at our place "Donna's Digs." Ours is the shack (sorry Bungalow) in the middle of the picture with the yellow summer house, which also doubled as our bedroom. Note the barbeque in the foreground, this is where we cooked all our meals, pleased it did not rain.

Of course it was New Years Day so we we had to eat Black Eyed Pea's, cabbage and fried chicken for luck to last us the whole year through. By the way only kidding about Donna's Shack, she lives in a nice area, a very nice area, in fact it's a very very nice area, well thats what the woman who sat by us on the airplane on the way home from Nawlins said. Whoops Nawlins comes later, we have not done San Antonio yet. What better way to round off the day than watch Houston's answer to Nigella bake Bannana bread for our forthcoming journey into the unknown, well it was unknown to us but fortunately Donna knew the way to San Jose, I mean San Antonio, did I say Jose where the hell did that come from ? Senior moment ? Oh we had plenty of those too.

Next day Jan 2nd up bright and early and off to meet Donna's Mum, wonderful Lady who does not know the meaning of the o*d word (you know the one we don't mention) After breakfast in The 59 Diner (thanks Donna's Mum) we set off for San Antonio at about 10 30. Not too much to say about the journey, if you have ever driven from Houston to San Antonio you will know what I mean, although I have to say we had a wonderful driver :-)

We are booked into the Crockett Hotel which much to my surprise overlooks The Alamo, for some reason I always imagined The Alamo was out in the country and here it is in the middle of the city. After checking in it was off for some more retail therapy at The Riverside Mall. If you ever go to The Riverside Mall don't ever follow an old dumb and dusty cowboy dressed like John Wayne and walking as though his boots are two sizes too small, it's a trap he leads you to his western wear shop and extracts travellers cheques from you. I am looking for a pair of cowboy boots, but would you buy a pair from a man who can hardly walk in his ?

Donna and Linda on Riverside Walk San Antonio, and here Linda models a Davy Crockett hat.

After Riverside walk we visit The Alamo, it is not as big as I had imagined but you cannot help being caught up in the history of it and after our tour I resolved to purchase a book to give me some background on the story of how those brave men withstood the might of Santa Anna's army. Out numbered by twenty to one and held up for 13 fateful days in March 1836. We all wanted to learn the identity of the man who did not step over the line drawn in the sand by Colonel William Travis, but instead fled over the wall into infamy, we asked around the attendants in The Alamo but non seemed to know. In the end the book I bought about The Alamo "A Time to Love... A time to die" by George A McAlister revealed his identity as one Louis Moses Rose, a frenchman who had fought for Napolean and survived the retreat from Russia. I was really surprised to find how many different nationalities fought and died at The Alamo to forge The Republic of Texas.

The Alamo, recognise the tourists ^ ^ yes it's our Donna and Linda, in the top right of the picture you can just see The Crockett Hotel sign where we were staying. We returned to The Crockett to a nice surprise the one and only J.D Cooper native of Texas rang to arrange a meal with ourselves on the following Saturday, we were hoping Arch might be able to make it but family affairs ment it was not to be, maybe next time Arch.

In the evening we had been invited to dinner by Roger, a friend of Donna's who resides in San Antonio, we met in Tomatillo's Mexican Restaurant, hot spicy food was the order of the day. After a most enjoyable meal Roger suggested we had our dessert and coffee in The Candle Light Bar and what a good suggestion it was too, they had desserts you would die for. (Thankyou Roger for a perfect evening, good food, good company and good conversation.)

Friday 3rd Jan

We had arranged to meet Dink (Charlie) at a restaurant called Chilis near The San Marcos shopping mall, funny how all these meets seem to be near to shopping malls :-) Charlie was waiting for us in the restaurant, he recognises us at once, I wonder how :-) Donna orders a stunning starter for us all, it is a giant onion deep fried in batter called Awesome Blossom, Awesome is the correct description for it, it is made from a whole giant onion (about 6 to 8 inch across) this is splayed out like the petals of a chrysamthym and then coated in batter and deep fried, it is truly awesome. We spent a pleasant hour chatting with Charlie and gossiping about you lot :-) before we said our goodbyes, another one for the IMS chart.

A Texas Rose between two thorns. Donna,Roger and Linda Guess who has been shopping ?

The Cow Parade was visiting San Antonio whilst we were there, I haste to add this is a lot of statues of cute little American Cows that visits cities throughout the United States :-) these cows are eventually auctioned and the money is given to charity.

Saturday Jan 4th

Met Roger again for breakfast at Mi'Tiella a typical mexican restaurant, after breakfast we had some more retail shopping therapy. Then Donna, Linda and I set off for Leon Springs to meet J.D Cooper in a roadside Barbeque house called Rudy's, sure enough there is JD to greet us and show us the ropes in Rudy's. He ordered enough food to feed a small army, there was Barbequed Turkey, beef and ribs along with sweet corn, barbeque beans and a yard and a half of bread, this was all washed down with a delicious drink called Big Red. (We took what was left away in a doggy bag for a midnight feast in our room later that night) For anyone who has not met JD I have to tell you he is a larger then life Texan who can spin wonderful tales and has a marvelous turn of phrase. After we had finished our meal in Rudy's JD invited us to partake in a tailboard dessert. This consisted of letting the tail door of his trusty truck down to make a seat whence he served up ice cold Promised Land chocolate milk, it was delicious. JD had kindly brought presents for Linda and I, a magazine for Linda and a King Ranch limited edition baseball cap for me. Although I had to admit I had never heard of the King Ranch I promised JD I would do some research on it. Was I surprised when I did, this Ranch is the size of a small country 825,000 acres covering 1300 square miles of south Texas between Corpus Christie and Brownsville, have a look at their website http://www.king-ranch.com/index_ie.htm

Time for us to part company came all too soon, JD had business to do and we had to make our way back to the Crockett Hotel in San Antonio, Adios Amigo.

Linda in Rudy's Linda,Donna, JD and trusty truck Big Al and JD with Promised Land

Sunday 5th Jan

Up early checked out of The Crockett Hotel and set off to drive back to Houston, we decided to pull off the interstate and call in a little town called Luling for some breakfast. Now Luling seems to have plenty of cattle and plenty of oil (loads of nodding Neddys) but no cafes open so it's back on the interstate and into the first truckstop we can find. It is here that I get my first taste of grits, I eat it all but to tell the truth as a dish it is nothing to write home about. We arrive back in Houston around lunch time and start planning a trip to New Orleans or Nawlins as Donna assures us it is pronounced. We reserve a room at The Holiday Inn on Royal and book the flights with South Western (all on the internet of course)


	Texas Adventure \| home Contact Me \| Prologue to Visit \| Week One \| New Orleans \| The Races \| Last week Week One Where do we begin, well we could not leave for America until we had been to Lou's Do. Louise is our daughter in law and she was 40 years old on Christmas day 2002 (now the whole world knows Lou, sorry it just slipped out) The party had been arranged for Sunday 29th December so as not to clash with Christmas celebrations, it was held at The Barton Grange Hotel and attended by 200 guests, family and friends. We decided we needed a day to recover and pack so departure date of our Great Texas Adventure was set for New Years Eve day. We were up bright and early to make our 10 30am flight, we took Linda's car to Manchester Airport and left it in the long stay car park making sure we noted the plot number (memories of a previous trip when we could not find the car) We made our way to the American Airlines check in desk and thankfully checked in our heavy suitcases right through to Houston. Congratulations to AA, plenty of leg room pleasant 7 hour flight to Chicago where we changed for an internal flight to Houston. Two hours later we arrived at Bush International Airport Houston cleared emigration and headed off down to the arrival hall. We nearly missed her, our lovely red head was sitting down by the side of the concourse, at the last moment I spotted her, she was going to let us walk past and then sneak up behind us. (well that is what she told us ?) New Year 2003 GMT came in as we drove from the Airport to Donna's apartment I gave Linda her New Years Kiss, got to do it again in Texas Time, God she is a lucky woman. We spent a pleasant evening catching up on each others gossip (no not about you lot, that came later) seems like an age since we last met at the Oxford Meet last year. New Years Day 2003 Rise and shine at 06 30 on a New Years Day, good choice of digs, breakfast on the table, eggs over easy, spicy sausage and lashings of toast and jam (Mrs Field's homemade plum, but more of Mrs Fields later) all washed down with coffee strong and black, did I mention these were good digs with maid service ? :-) The girls decided it was time for some retail shopping therapy so it was off to the Galleria to assauge their thirst for shopping, it did'nt work we seemed to spend most days doing some retail therapy. Then it was on to do some serious drooling over the houses in River Oaks, this is an even posher end of Houston then where we are residing, wow some of these places have their own police force, pretty good as well, they kept moving us on. While we are at it take a look at our place "Donna's Digs." Ours is the shack (sorry Bungalow) in the middle of the picture with the yellow summer house, which also doubled as our bedroom. Note the barbeque in the foreground, this is where we cooked all our meals, pleased it did not rain. Of course it was New Years Day so we we had to eat Black Eyed Pea's, cabbage and fried chicken for luck to last us the whole year through. By the way only kidding about Donna's Shack, she lives in a nice area, a very nice area, in fact it's a very very nice area, well thats what the woman who sat by us on the airplane on the way home from Nawlins said. Whoops Nawlins comes later, we have not done San Antonio yet. What better way to round off the day than watch Houston's answer to Nigella bake Bannana bread for our forthcoming journey into the unknown, well it was unknown to us but fortunately Donna knew the way to San Jose, I mean San Antonio, did I say Jose where the hell did that come from ? Senior moment ? Oh we had plenty of those too. Next day Jan 2nd up bright and early and off to meet Donna's Mum, wonderful Lady who does not know the meaning of the o*d word (you know the one we don't mention) After breakfast in The 59 Diner (thanks Donna's Mum) we set off for San Antonio at about 10 30. Not too much to say about the journey, if you have ever driven from Houston to San Antonio you will know what I mean, although I have to say we had a wonderful driver :-) We are booked into the Crockett Hotel which much to my surprise overlooks The Alamo, for some reason I always imagined The Alamo was out in the country and here it is in the middle of the city. After checking in it was off for some more retail therapy at The Riverside Mall. If you ever go to The Riverside Mall don't ever follow an old dumb and dusty cowboy dressed like John Wayne and walking as though his boots are two sizes too small, it's a trap he leads you to his western wear shop and extracts travellers cheques from you. I am looking for a pair of cowboy boots, but would you buy a pair from a man who can hardly walk in his ? Donna and Linda on Riverside Walk San Antonio, and here Linda models a Davy Crockett hat. After Riverside walk we visit The Alamo, it is not as big as I had imagined but you cannot help being caught up in the history of it and after our tour I resolved to purchase a book to give me some background on the story of how those brave men withstood the might of Santa Anna's army. Out numbered by twenty to one and held up for 13 fateful days in March 1836. We all wanted to learn the identity of the man who did not step over the line drawn in the sand by Colonel William Travis, but instead fled over the wall into infamy, we asked around the attendants in The Alamo but non seemed to know. In the end the book I bought about The Alamo "A Time to Love... A time to die" by George A McAlister revealed his identity as one Louis Moses Rose, a frenchman who had fought for Napolean and survived the retreat from Russia. I was really surprised to find how many different nationalities fought and died at The Alamo to forge The Republic of Texas. The Alamo, recognise the tourists ^ ^ yes it's our Donna and Linda, in the top right of the picture you can just see The Crockett Hotel sign where we were staying. We returned to The Crockett to a nice surprise the one and only J.D Cooper native of Texas rang to arrange a meal with ourselves on the following Saturday, we were hoping Arch might be able to make it but family affairs ment it was not to be, maybe next time Arch. In the evening we had been invited to dinner by Roger, a friend of Donna's who resides in San Antonio, we met in Tomatillo's Mexican Restaurant, hot spicy food was the order of the day. After a most enjoyable meal Roger suggested we had our dessert and coffee in The Candle Light Bar and what a good suggestion it was too, they had desserts you would die for. (Thankyou Roger for a perfect evening, good food, good company and good conversation.) Friday 3rd Jan We had arranged to meet Dink (Charlie) at a restaurant called Chilis near The San Marcos shopping mall, funny how all these meets seem to be near to shopping malls :-) Charlie was waiting for us in the restaurant, he recognises us at once, I wonder how :-) Donna orders a stunning starter for us all, it is a giant onion deep fried in batter called Awesome Blossom, Awesome is the correct description for it, it is made from a whole giant onion (about 6 to 8 inch across) this is splayed out like the petals of a chrysamthym and then coated in batter and deep fried, it is truly awesome. We spent a pleasant hour chatting with Charlie and gossiping about you lot :-) before we said our goodbyes, another one for the IMS chart. A Texas Rose between two thorns. Donna,Roger and Linda Guess who has been shopping ? The Cow Parade was visiting San Antonio whilst we were there, I haste to add this is a lot of statues of cute little American Cows that visits cities throughout the United States :-) these cows are eventually auctioned and the money is given to charity. Saturday Jan 4th Met Roger again for breakfast at Mi'Tiella a typical mexican restaurant, after breakfast we had some more retail shopping therapy. Then Donna, Linda and I set off for Leon Springs to meet J.D Cooper in a roadside Barbeque house called Rudy's, sure enough there is JD to greet us and show us the ropes in Rudy's. He ordered enough food to feed a small army, there was Barbequed Turkey, beef and ribs along with sweet corn, barbeque beans and a yard and a half of bread, this was all washed down with a delicious drink called Big Red. (We took what was left away in a doggy bag for a midnight feast in our room later that night) For anyone who has not met JD I have to tell you he is a larger then life Texan who can spin wonderful tales and has a marvelous turn of phrase. After we had finished our meal in Rudy's JD invited us to partake in a tailboard dessert. This consisted of letting the tail door of his trusty truck down to make a seat whence he served up ice cold Promised Land chocolate milk, it was delicious. JD had kindly brought presents for Linda and I, a magazine for Linda and a King Ranch limited edition baseball cap for me. Although I had to admit I had never heard of the King Ranch I promised JD I would do some research on it. Was I surprised when I did, this Ranch is the size of a small country 825,000 acres covering 1300 square miles of south Texas between Corpus Christie and Brownsville, have a look at their website http://www.king-ranch.com/index_ie.htm Time for us to part company came all too soon, JD had business to do and we had to make our way back to the Crockett Hotel in San Antonio, Adios Amigo. Linda in Rudy's Linda,Donna, JD and trusty truck Big Al and JD with Promised Land Sunday 5th Jan Up early checked out of The Crockett Hotel and set off to drive back to Houston, we decided to pull off the interstate and call in a little town called Luling for some breakfast. Now Luling seems to have plenty of cattle and plenty of oil (loads of nodding Neddys) but no cafes open so it's back on the interstate and into the first truckstop we can find. It is here that I get my first taste of grits, I eat it all but to tell the truth as a dish it is nothing to write home about. We arrive back in Houston around lunch time and start planning a trip to New Orleans or Nawlins as Donna assures us it is pronounced. We reserve a room at The Holiday Inn on Royal and book the flights with South Western (all on the internet of course)