Overall, it was great to get away for a little bit of a Spring Break with Kelly to San Antonio (& Corpus Christi).  It was definitely a packed 3 full days but we saw a lot and enjoyed ourselves.

You can read all about what I thought of what we saw by clicking here to see all blog entries from the trip.  You can also click here to see my Flickr photo album of the trip.  (Believe it or not, I didn’t most near all of the pictures here on my blog so you need to check out the photo album to see them all.)

Up Next: I’ll be heading back to Texas in a couple of weeks for the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway.

We had gotten somewhat close to the tower while in San Antonio but hadn’t really gotten close enough for the full height of the structure to hit me.  When we drove up & got out of the car, I must say the thought of going up in the elevator (which you can see in the photo above) really starting sinking in.  I am NOT a heights person so it is definitely very freaky.  I wasn’t going to not go up there, obviously.  I just had no idea how I would be when we got to the top.

I must say the elevator ride up was not near as scary as I thought it would be.  Only 1 side of the elevator is glass and I made sure I was on the opposite side from that so I didn’t have to look out.  The elevator ride did take forever.  It was weird not knowing how much farther we had to go.  (Although, that may have been a blessing in disguise for me.)

We got to the top and got out on the restaurant level.  As I mentioned before, the restaurant rotates around so you get a view of the whole city.  It didn’t move around very fast at all.  The food was delicious.  Of course, it was expensive but we knew that ahead of time.  We all three got the chef’s special which was a crusted salmon that was stuffed with cream cheese & spinach and served over pasta with a little marinara sauce.  It was delicious and has had me wanting some more salmon.  For dessert, I tried their key lime pie.  Not to sound like a broken record but it was delicious as well.

After dinner, we decided we were brave enough to go up a level to the observation deck in the tower.  (The observation deck is open to everyone, not just restaurant goers.)  I didn’t get too close to the edge of the deck, especially when we were outside.  (There was a series of glass & bars that were obviously holding us in but my fear of heights kicked in and the wind whipping around just didn’t make me very comfortable being on the edge.)  It was pretty neat to look around see all of the sights of San Antonio from that height.  We were kind of kicking ourselves that we hadn’t come up there first or earlier in our trip because it was dark at this point and so some of the sights (i.e. The Alamo) were hard to pick out.

This was a very good ending to our San Antonio vacation.  It was great to see Wyndi again and to have a very nice dinner while in San Antonio.  I recommend at least visiting the observation deck at the Tower of the Americas if you are ever in San Antonio.  If I go up there, you can too.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

If I had to describe Sea World in one word, I would use the word A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  It was so neat to get to see the animals we did so up close and personal.

The main thing we did at Sea World was visit the dolphin, sea lion, and Shamu shows.

The dolphin show was a spectacle of acrobats, not only of humans but also the sea life.

The sea lion show involved a search for the “person” who has been stealing fish.

The Shamu show was entitled “Believe”.  It was a show of what the whales are capable of.

I thought this was neat and had to take a picture.  I know they have to keep several tanks full of water regardless of the drought but it was nice to see the park was doing its part to conserve water.

We even saw some non-sea life in the form of the Budweiser Clydesdales at Sea World.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

Because we were so far south and so close to the beach, we decided to drive the couple of hours it takes to get to Corpus Christi and see the beach on the Texas coast.  I’ve seen the coast in Gulf Shores, AL and in Puerto Rico.  Kelly has previously seen the coast in San Diego, CA and in Destin, FL.

The temperature was in the 80′s the afternoon we went there but the wind was blowing HARD.  (I’m pretty sure you can tell that in this photo of me standing in the Gulf of Mexico in Corpus Christi, TX.)

We got into town long enough to drive the coast for a bit, dip our feet in the oceans, (pose for photos), and then eat a WONDERFUL meal at Landry’s Seafood House on the pier.

The USS Lexington is permanently docked in the Corpus Christi Bay.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to tour it but I did get a couple of photos of it from across the bay.

If I’m ever down in this area again, I want to drive on to Padre Island.  The flat tire we had to deal with Friday & into Saturday set us back going to the zoo and then to Corpus Christi so we didn’t have enough time to tour the USS Lexington or drive further down the coast to Padre Island and Port Aransas (and, no, I did not mean to spell Arkansas).

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

Saturday morning, Kelly & I decided to go to the San Antonio Zoo.  (Every young couple with toddlers or babies in strollers decided to do the same thing.)

The San Antonio Zoo is said to be the 3rd largest zoo in the US.  In the 2 hours or so we were there, I would say we only saw about a third of it, if that.

Kelly & I are most familiar with the Tulsa Zoo having both been there multiple times over the course of our respective lifetimes.  We both found ourselves comparing the two zoos.  I personally noticed the lack of grass in San Antonio.  I think the space and the climate both had to do with this.  There are also seemed to be just 1 of some of the animals (i.e. zebra, giraffe) at San Antonio.

Overall, what we were able to see at the San Antonio zoo, was very neat.  I’d love to go back and spend the entire day exploring it all (because I think it would take all day to see it all).

If you all are ever in San Antonio, I’d recommend the zoo.  At $10 admission for adults, it is a very cost effective way to spend the day.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

After spending the day at/around the Alamo and dealing with the flat tire, we decided to go to one of the Spanish missions just south of our hotel a little ways.  The mission’s name was Mission San Jose.

I’ve always enjoyed history and being able to visit historical sites on vacations.  Luckily, Kelly & I are a lot alike in that area.  We were both pretty excited about getting to visit the Alamo and then also one or two of the missions in the San Antonio area.

Because of the tire issues, we only had about 30 minutes to spend here.  Unfortunately, that means we didn’t get to learn much about the mission itself.  It was more of a quick walk-through of the property.  If I’m ever back in San Antonio, I’d love to spend more time there.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

After we went to the Alamo, we walked around the area and ended up visiting both Ripley’s Believe it or Not and Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks.

At Louis Tussand’s, we got to meet a wide variety of people & characters.

After taking this photo of Kevin Costner, I e-mailed a woman at work on my phone telling her that I’d taken a picture of Kevin Costner for her and to send me an e-mail address at home that I could send it to that evening.  Since no one knew we were going to the wax museum, I guess everyone in the office was buzzing thinking I had actually seen Kevin Costner while in San Antonio.  I wish!

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

Before daybreak on March 6, 1836, the Alamo fell to the Mexican army leaving the only survivors to be 20 women & children and Colonel Travis’ male slave.  Among the defenders of the Alamo who died was Davy Crockett.  Yesterday was the 173rd anniversary of the siege of the Alamo.  At 6 am, Kelly & I went to the Dawn at the Alamo (a ceremony honoring the fallen on both sides in the Alamo conflict).

After the ceremony, we hung around the area to await the official opening of the Alamo’s interior to the public.  This gave both of us some time to take plenty of photographs of the exterior without the tourists milling around in all of the shots.

Click here to see my San Antonio photo album on Flickr.

Today was the first full day Kelly & I spent in San Antonio.  The plan (as of last night and even about 5:30 this morning) was to get up, be at the Alamo for the special Dawn at the Alamo event, go to the San Antonio Zoo, and enjoy the Riverwalk.  This plan went out the window at around 5:45 when we walked down to get in my car and saw that one of my tires was completely flat.  I don’t mean low.  I mean very very flat.  We decided to walk the 4 or 5 blocks to the Alamo and deal with the tire later.  About 2 this afternoon, Kelly & I went down to the car to change the tire.  It took us less than 45 minutes from start to finish (and we did it all by ourselves).  I must say that Kelly knew way more about changing a tire than I did but I definitely feel more confident in my ability to change a tire in the future if I need to.  There happens to be a Goodyear place less than a mile from our hotel.  We stopped by on our way to one of the missions.  They looked at the tire and said they couldn’t repair it.  They showed us the damage.  It was crazy looking and we have no idea how it happened.  I’m having to buy a new tire in the morning.  (It is the last Goodyear tire in my style/size available in the San Antonio area, by the way.)

I must say that this isn’t something I was wanting to deal with on this vacation.  So far, it hasn’t completely ruined anything though.  I’ll be sharing the highlights of day 1 in the upcoming days.  Stay tuned.

The best of the pictures I took today have been loaded on my Flickr.  Click here to see my San Antonio photo album so far.

Well, at the time WordPress is posting this entry, Kelly & I will be on our way to San Antonio for an extended weekend vacation.  We have a full schedule lined up for the weekend so I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to check in here, if at all.  I’ll definitely be twittering throughout the weekend, though, so check out my Twitter page to keep up.  I hope each of you have a great weekend!  I can’t wait to share the pictures I plan on taking and the stories of places we plan on visiting.