Another fun visit to SASept 1 - 5, 2004 - San Antonio, TX |
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I escaped Vegas for five days and had a fantastic time visiting my great friends in San Antonio. I stayed with my best buds Connie and Byron Kelly, along with their son Aidan. It was good to see them without the interruption of Vegas as what happened during the Memorial Day weekend trip. Back then I only saw them briefly and it just wasn't an environment for hanging out. So this was definitely that time. Anyways, on to... Day 1 - WednesdayByron picked me up from the airport like a good host does....and I definitely appreciated it. The flights out there were mostly uneventful, it was just the layover at Dallas that sucked. I was dropped off somewhere in the A terminal and had to get to the C terminal. They're not next to each other by any stretch of the imagination. I hopped on the TrAAin, and no sooner had we left the station did the train jerk to a stop, and decided to be brokedown. I only had 40 minutes or so to get to the next gate, and so a few minutes later, the train got fixed and moved to the next stop, at which we had to get off the train. And along with quite a big crowd, we had to wait. And wait. Time ticked away, and I panicked, so I decided to embark on Walkathon 2004-Dallas. I broke landspeed records speedwalking through the airport, and even managed to wolf down a Quarter Pounder in record speed. I can actually say that it's the fastest I've EVER eaten a quarter pounder. Ever. I made it to my flight, but a few days later, I had some serious shin splints. So anyways, Byron picked me up and we made it back to the Casa Kelly. I caught up with Connie and Aidan, and had the opportunity to partake in a few heavenly Shiner Bocks. Why oh why is that beer not here in Vegas anymore? It rocks. Connie also made carne guisada, which is possibly my favorite Tex-Mex dish ever. Thanks Connie! Byron taught me how to play some No-Limit poker and we watched some TV and just chilled. Very nice.
Day 2 - ThursdayThe plan for this day, as Byron requires a plan of attack when doing things (just kidding, Byron), was for me and Connie to meet up with Byron for lunch as he had to go to work at the place I used to work at, AIA. So Connie and I had a leisurely morning and then drove down to the Lackland area to meet up with Byron, Robbie and one of Robbie's high school friends to eat at a great Mexican food place. We then went back to the Casa Kelly and did more relaxing until Byron came back. We had some dinner and then met up with Robbie at the movies to see Hero, which I definitely need to review. It was awesome. Mistress Moon kicks ass. Afterwards, Robbie, Byron and I practiced some more No Limit poker, in order to gear up for the tournament game scheduled for Saturday night.
Day 3 - FridayAs I write this, I realize this doesn't sound all that exciting, but for me, it was such a great vacation. I've already lived in San Antonio, so this was definitely not a tourist-type vacation, but much more a time to chill with friends. I excuse you if you want to stop reading now, as it really doesn't get much more exciting than this, except for the part about the hooker midgets. Anyways, on this day, Byron and I picked up Robbie and kept him hostage for most of the day. We grabbed some grub at Taco Cabana (Yum!) and then perused the aisles of Best Buy and Barnes and Noble. No, they're not any different than ones in Vegas, but it didn't matter. We then headed back to the house to get Connie, and then we headed to the Riverwalk, which I like to see when I'm down visiting. We had dinner at the Chaps restaurant in the Hyatt hotel (I had a fantastic ribeye steak - another yum!), and then wandered along the Riverwalk trying to find a nice place to hang out and kill time until the comedy show at the Rivercenter started. We found a table in an Irish pub, in which there's a guy who sings funny songs, Irish songs, Texas songs, and whatever at a piano. I proceeded to get quite buzzed there off of Newcastle beer, and eventually we had to get to the comedy show. I've never been to a show with actual comedians that bombed, but tonight was my night, as while our host and the final comedian were outstanding, the middle guy was just awful. I'm guessing he had a bad first performance, so he decided to drink, and discovered that didn't help things out either. It was painful to watch, and a relief when he decided to wrap up. Fortunately the last guy was really good. Also fortunate that I was quite trashed too, by this point. Yay!
Day 4 - SaturdayThis was quite a busy day. I woke up and wasn't hungover (Yay!), so it was a good day. Byron, Connie and I went to the Blanco Cafe in the heart of the city for a fantastic brunch. It's quite difficult to get to this place, but if you know how and where it is, this place is quite a find and has amazing Mexican food for a great price. Just don't try to walk in on a Sunday morning without waiting for an hour or so. So when we went, there was no wait, thankfully, as I was starving. After that filling meal, Robbie picked me up at the Casa Kelly and we headed off to Fiesta Texas to go ride the rides that this Six Flags has to offer. While not nearly as big as Magic Mountain, Fiesta Texas manages to have quite a great cross-section of rides to choose from and the ones that they have are outstanding. The Rattler and Superman are examples of amazing wooden and floorless coasters, respectively, that have no equal. The Rattler's integration into the quarry wall truly makes it a standout woodie, and Superman is truly one of the best floorless coasters anywhere. We went on the other rides of course, including one of my new favs, Poltergeist, and one of Robbie's most unfavorite (but not for long?), Scream (one of those tower rides where you got shot up the tower real real fast). Also went on that horrendous ride called Chaos, which is a wheel ride that spins and angles up and you're in a car that rotates head over heels. If you're not sick before that, you will be. Ugh. I managed to survive that, pick up a cool 'gotnophobia' T-shirt, and then we headed back to the Casa Kelly where I took a much needed nap to get rid of some nausea. Then that evening, after dinner, we had the poker tournament. The Thompsons came over, as did Robbie and Tami. Others who said they might show up didn't, but no matter, it was a good game. I managed to fight it out till 2nd place, at which it was a showdown between massive chip leader Scott and me. I need to work on my one-on-one poker skills, as I am sure I managed to waste opportunities to make a comeback, but I just don't know how to play at that stage of the game. It's just like playing 'War' at that point, because you have to go 'all in' and just hope that the flop, turn and river don't screw you over. Needless to say, I didn't come from behind, but I did score $15 for second place, earning me $5 from my $10 buy-in. Woo hoo! It was great to see the Thompsons again though, and Sunday is about to pop out her second child. It's supposed to be in a week or so, so lots of well wishes are being sent from me to her.
Day 5 - SundayThis was the last day of my visit and I had planned to start it off with some Dim Sum dining with Robbie and Tami. Unfortunately, I think the previous day's activities caught up to me as I was blowing chunks that night, and didn't feel all that swell Sunday morning. So I had to cancel and ended up just sleeping in and eventually rising from my slumber to watch the first two of the Planet of the Apes movies on the Sci-Fi channel. I had never seen them before and I have to admit I was getting sucked into them. They were far better than that Tim Burton thing from a few years back. Hokey, but still better. Not feeling like leaving the house, Byron and I got into some serious Rise of Nation gaming, which can be a time sucker to end all time suckers. And before I knew it, it was time to take me to the airport, and I said my goodbyes to the Kellys, and flew back here to Vegas. I just look forward to the next time now! |
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