Another Day Trip In San Antonio - The Riverwalk and La Villita

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During our stay in San Antonio the weather was typical.  High 90Fs or 30Cs.  It was muggy and humid the whole trip, but that is to be expected for this part of the country.  Our Airbnb had great central air conditional although a new style of thermostat we have seen more frequently.  

I'm sure most of you have been to San Antonio before.  It's a city rich in history, a very large lower middle class economically, and mostly hispanic.  San Antonians are proud of their city and everybody knows how to get just about anywhere you want to go.  The city has expanded quite a bit over the last few decades.  It has five military bases. I may have mentioned that, and that affects salaries as many military retire early and still have another 20 years of work life left taking many of the higher salary jobs.  

It's history dates back thousands of years and Native American tribes such as the Coahuiltecan, Tonkawa, Comanche and Apache inhabited the area.   The Spaniards built a series of five missions in the area and several are state monuments today and include the famous Alamo.  We have been to the Alamo a few times, mostly when we lived there and had visitors.  It's an interesting place with a lot of controversial history.  About that time, Mexicans began moving north as well.  

Because of the heat, we held off doing too much afternoon activity and decided to lie low at home.  On the Sunday of our visit, we decided to head downtown.  Again, being well located, we were about 15 minutes by car, and we could have actually walked.  Being a Sunday, parking was easy.  Tourists are a huge draw in SAT and parking lots abound and so do the prices.   On Sunday, however, street parking is free after 6 p.m.  We parked next to the bus station and off we went.  

Jefferson United Methodist Church 

Methodist Youth Building, my photo versus a professional photographers.

Our first interesting encounter was the Methodist Youth Building around the corner from the church.  The highlight is the tallest stained-glass window in the shape of a cross in the U.S.  It was donated by the Porter Loring family, a San Antonio tradition in the funeral home business. It was pieced together and installed in 1950.  It is 51 feet tall and made of 4700 pieces of stained-glass from Belgium, England, and France.  

By the mid 1960s, the downtown area was run down, full of bars, a drug haven and prostitution.  The 1968 World Hemisphere came to town and gave the city a complete facelift.  It was the city's 250th anniverary and a reason to celebrate.   The fair lasted for six months and included cultural and technological events.   The Riverwalk was developed and became a national attraction.

We enjoyed our stroll along the river.  Quite a bit to see if you enjoy people watching.  The restaurants have pretty reasonable prices and we had a chance to see what people were ordering.  Tex Mex was the most popular and everything smothered in cheese.  The weather was perfect for sitting there and enjoying a glass of wine.

The boat rides are very popular just as they are in Monterrey.  Tickets are a bit expensive but several boats passed us and they were full.   

• Adults: Approximately $14.50
• Children (ages 1-5): Approximately $8.50
• Local Residents of Bexar County: Around $12.50
• Seniors (65 & older): About $11.50

We made our way down to La Villita where in the 1800s squatters built their homes.  The Presidio military base was nearby and provided protection against indian attacks.  Some had small plots of farm land as well.   

During the Texas war of independence, La Villita became the site of revolutionary activity.  Rumor has it that this is the site where Santa Ana's brother-in-law surrendered to Texas forces.  In 1835 after a five day siege, the war had ended and Texas gained its independence.

The buildings you see are actually from the 1800s.  This house in particular, is now a wine shop that offers Mexican wines.  The owners are from Saltillo and have a wine tasting room.  She gave us a tour of the house including what was the kitchen and bedroom.  When she realized we weren't buying anything she politely ushered us out the back door.  

As time passed, people began to settle La Villita again and Mexicans, Germans, and Americans dominated the site and Irish, English and slaves lived nearby.  By the 1870s, La Villita was a thriving part of San Antonio.  Small businesses and shops opened providing stone masons, shoemakers, cabinetmakers and all the skills required for building a city that was growing fast.

As time went on and the city expanded, La Villita fell out of favor.   Here is a picture from the 1970s along with a comment from one of the architects who was responsible for the restoration of the area:

"When I first saw it, it was like 1926, and it was just the worst slum you ever saw. You wouldn't believe there'd be a slum in the middle of town like that--there were 26 families living in there and they had as many wrecked cars as you ever saw in your life, just piles of them." 

"When I first saw it, it was like 1926, and it was just the worst slum you ever saw. You wouldn't believe there'd be a slum in the middle of town like that--there were 26 families living in there and they had as many wrecked cars as you ever saw in your life, just piles of them"

As we walked back to the car the sun was setting and it was time to call it quits for the day.  It was a fun and we both reminisced over the years we lived and have visited San Antonio.  I'm sure we'll go back next year sometime.  

A Place I Always Wanted To Visit - The McNay

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Starting off, I have noticed a magnified amount of views on the blog.  I've it's in the thousands now and it is not normal.  If you have noticed anything different, please let me know.  Also I am using a new grammar checker and the font may be changing off and on.  

Another one of our visits was lunch with our long-lost friends Terry and Lupe.  We worked together at Datapoint/Intelogic Trace for many years.  Lupe was a facilities manager and Terry worked in the Planning department.  At times, we had our ins and outs with work-related matters but always managed to maintain our friendship.  

After work, I would go to aerobics class and then slip next door for happy hour.  Yes, a bit of an incongruency, but it always seemed to do the trick for stress relief.  As I mentioned in the last post, it was very stressful towards the end.  We would meet at a place called Scandals.  It didn't matter what level you were, from director down to warehouseman, we would all go there and have a blast.  Sometimes, it was too much of a blast.  Disagreements and agreements were settled and made there.  Good laughs and good times.

Nowadays, all four of us are retired.  We talked about where we ended up and what we are doing now.  The girls live out on Canyon Lake.  Their lives took a turn for the better after the company closed.  Many didn't have it so well.  One very close friend of our group, Becky, is now in a nursing home and suffers from early-onset dementia.  We wanted to go see her, but Terry attempted to have a phone conversation not too long ago, and it didn't go well.  But, here we are, and we were happy to have shared a wonderful lunch.  It is a Brazilian espada restaurant.  Excellent service and they keep bringing the swords with different cuts of meats and sausages along with a top drawer salad bar.  Prices are also according to the service and the menu 😅

That was a full day and we went back home to do what I do best.  A one-hour nap.  We had Roku service on the boob box.  I never figured it out and we watched mostly news from every other city except San Antonio.  I could never find it.  We're not cable guys and use YouTube for everything including live news and shows. 

I was so naive when I first moved there.  I had spent previous years in California just working and going to "discos" in L.A. at the time.  When I moved to San Antonio, my first apartment was four blocks from this artistic wonder and I never gave it a glance, although I had heard about it.  Finally, we made it a point to visit, and I'm glad we did.

 

The house above has been maintained in its original design with little to no changes.  A new wing was added in 2008.  The gardens are spectacular with sculptures throughout.

I'm glad the guard was reading a book rather than using a cell phone but I couldn't get the big lug to budge.   

The next day we headed off for the McNay Museum.  The building itself is worth the visit.  The museum was founded by Marion Koogler.  She was an art teacher and painter.  Her parents died early on, leaving her a fortune from oil investments.  She traveled and married a rich person.   In the 1920s, she had the mansion above built.  As a widow later in life, she fulfilled her dream of creating a space for the arts in San Antonio.  She passed away in the 50s after having suffered pneumonia.

The museum is highly rated for a modern art museum but doesn't compete with the likes of the Louvre.  There are works by Picasso, O'Keefe, Gauguin, and a rare Van Gogh. 

Van Gogh, Women Crossing A Field

Christ in Exstacy by El Greco 16th Century

Aristide Maillol The Nymph 1911

(I would never do it, bu it did cross my mind,head and arms)

Guess who?

There is also some great local sculpture on display.  

Too much to post but it is well worth the trip.  For us it was half a day and if they didn't charge we would have divided it into two days.  I like to read and research what I am seeing and get some background on the artist or the art.

Today's news is about huachicol.  If you don't know what it is, it is wreaking havoc in the world of Mexican corruption.  Huachicol had its start back in the fifties with the adulteration of alcohol.  Buying, adding ingredients and reselling.  

Millions and millions of liters.

Modern day huachicol started in 2019 with the oil industry.  The president denied it was happening, but we were in Lagos de Moreno when all the gasoline stations shut down.  A duct used for transporting gasoline was tapped and created an explosion that killed 137 people.  After the duct had been illegally tapped and a tanker filled, the locals went running with buckets, jugs, even 1 liter bottles to collect as much gasoline as they could.  It ended in tragedy.

For the last seven years, to avoid fiscal responsibility, tankers fill up at PEMEX refineries and travel to international waters before returning.  It appears as if they are coming from another country.  The paperwork is falsified and the contents of the tanker labeled as residuals or additives.  The tax is much lower and the fuel makes it back to a Mexican port where it is then sold.  

It has been in the news now for years, denied although proven by good investigative reporting.  Top marine officials have been paid 1.7 million pesos per tanker that they allow into a port to unload.  When the first pictures of a tanker unloading onto a line of oil tankers appeared, the official answer was that the photographs were faked.  

This week, the story has officially broken and two nephews of a retired admiral have been detained.  A whistleblower has been killed by someone, another one committed suicide the day before yesterday.  The dominos are falling, but it is still a coverup.  PEMEX is so deep in debt at this point (110 billion U.S.) that this will only break the back with government funding and investors.  How many people are involved?  This goes all the way up the ladder and may include the last president who denied its goings-on.  

Visiting Friends And The Past In San Antonio

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The next day after arriving to San Antonio, we didn't waste any time.  Up early and out the door we had a couple of errands to run.  We're kind of picky with certain things and, at the same time, real troupers.  Our Airbnb was the best, actually, one of our top three so far.  However, the new thing is Keurig and pods.  We're not podsters.  I always carry a couple of packets of our favorite instant coffee for emergencies.  That worked for the first two cups, but it's never the answer.  We needed to do some basic grocery shopping, so off we went to HEB.  This time we found the mega of mega HEB supermarkets.  It even has a women's designer shop inside.

We picked up some coffee, filters and then headed to a thrift store we can always count on.  We found a very nice coffee maker for $2.50, clean and heated up right away.  We took it back home and gave it a couple of vinegar rinses and cleaned the inside well.  Worked great.  We didn't find any cocktail glasses or wine glasses at the Airbnb.  They had some modern stuff but not good for a vodka on the rocks.  We found two etched crystal glasses for $2.00.  

This my friends is classic Texas Tex-Mex and it was just as delicious as it looks!

Being in Texas and San Antonio you can't do anything first thing in the day without some delicious TexMex.  

We were located in a very "posh neighborhood" called Alamo Heights.  What made it so expensive and posh?  As San Antonio grew, the city surrounded Alamo Heights and Olmos Park.  Alamo Heights is a municipality in the near downtown area of San Antonio.  With no room for expansion, it became the place to be with strict zoning and what is now the best public high school in the state.  An interesting place where homes first appeared after WWII.  Originally small two-bedroom cracker boxes, they are now the place to own and live.  Another interesting point is there are no sidewalks.  When the war ended and housing projects started, they decided that the car and the streets were the thing of the future.  I always say, "Who would walk in Alamo Heights anyway?"  It's nice, but it's not the all to end all.

Many moons ago, when Juan studied in San Antonio for a couple of years (he also worked at the international student office and a television station), he would go on a Friday with his coworkers to Chris Madrids.  This restaurant has been around for decades and was started y Chris himself.  He passed way and his family has continued.  The place has been updated and remodeled over the years but it still looks the same.  I had never been there and after 35 years Juan said that we should check it out.

For me, everything in the U.S. is expensive except for green beans in a can.  However, it was really great food!  The macho cheeseburger, enough for two, was excellent.  Who needs fast food chains.  

I belong to a Facebook group from my job in San Antonio.  I've mentioned before that Datapoint was the first to create a desktop computer.  The founders, along with other tech specialists, created a museum to highlight technology and that includes Datapoint.  Founded by Dave Monroe, a Datapointer who created the first videoconferencing technology, the museum has become a place for STEM students from around the state.  I wanted to show Juan my first desktop.  It is a 2200 terminal with cassette backup technology.  So popular, although uncommon, you might see a purchase order for 100,000 of these units.   At its peak, 10,000 employees globally, but then greedy and faked sales ramped up manufacturing to the point that the equipment from the fake sales was shipped to imaginary companies (warehouses), hotel rooms, etc. and the end came.  

Bankrupt, Datapoint was split into two companies, manufacturing and service.  I had already left seeing the writing on the walls.  An investor, Asher Edleman, who is a 40% owner of the Louvre Museum, bought everything in a fire sale and it was all gone.  Very good memories.  I like to say that I grew up there.  

Boeing also participates in the museum which houses flight simulators.  You can fly a range of Boeing equipment as well as some fighter jets.  San Antonio has five military bases, so it is very geared towards the military and national defense.  It is very common to see B52s from Randolf Airforce Base out on flight exercises.  

Interesting to see that the interns follow skills we were teaching as part of 21st Century skill training used in all walks of life that include tech skills, the 4 C's, problem-solving, and social and emotional learning (SEL).

 

One of the couples we wanted to visit were James and Terri.  We house sat for them for several years in San Miguel de Allende.  They are great people and fun to be around.  They were in San Antonio visiting their son and his family.  Adam is a chief in the Air Force and recently transferred to SAT.  They have lived in several European countries as well.  They had just arrived the week before and were getting settled in their new home.  James and Terri sold their place in SMA three years ago and moved to Conway, AR.  We got together for a fun and entertaining evening at their Airbnb about 5 minutes from ours. 

One of the many highlights of our visit that night was seeing our housesit kid Mompita.  She is an incredible little being and she went crazy the minute we walked in.  I couldn't leave her alone.

Still much more to come, but a small commentary.

The state of Sinaloa and especially the city of Culiacan has been under siege by rival cartels now for over a year.  As of June 2025, Culiacan has the perception of insecurity.  90% of the population say they feel insecure.  The violence has led to over 1500 "known" murders.  We'll never know how many innocent or criminal victims are buried somewhere and will never be found.  

Thousands have disappeared and of millions of pesos have been lost and businesses have closed.  Yesterday there was a shootout between rivals in front of a kindergarten, leaving the children and parents terrified.  The victim was left hanging in a doorway for all to see. Most schools are open, but students are not attending.  

This morning, we saw the news about the kindergarten shootout and the government comment was that they continue to send in reinforcements, tanks, patrol vehicles, troops and more equipment, such as bullet-proof vests.  I got to thinking about this, and I looked up the government price for a bullet-proof vest purchased in bulk pricing.  The cost is $1325 US.  Imagine the cost associated with fighting the cartels?  Had we continued the fight against them that President Calderon started near the end of his term, we may have had much better control.  

I'm not an interventionist, but there comes a time when you say to yourself, we can't do it alone.  It's time to call in reinforcements.  The level of corruption has skyrocketed.  "Abrazos no Balazos" has been a complete failure and actually trickled down into society.  To the point that, well, read this account that now is very common.

Im creating this warning post for those trying to cross at brownsville texas into mexico. At los tomates bridge.

We spent 2 hours trying to cross the border, only to have to turn back around. Every. Single. Worker there is corrupt, attempted to get over 500 in bribes, and was sending pictures of us up ahead if we were to go thriugh to let their cop buddies know we are a target.

Couple things i learned if you are going to get targeted.

1. They made copies of our fmm, and gave us the copies.. all the mexican nationals had originals.

2. Same went for the tip, which the customs officer made copies and asked us to put 300 american discreetly into our passport and give it to him to allow our 3/4 truck and camper across saying it was too heavy.. even though we saw 5 3/4 tons and a one ton cross with no problems.

3. They will find any excuse to try to squeeze you. And will try to do it by hiding behind curtains or in cotners or outside on a bench.

We will be crossing at another port of entry later on, farther away under a different visa, thanks to help from a broker and a friend.

It amazed me the level and scope of corruption at the crossing... just the sheer number of people involved in it.

We've Been On The Move

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It's been a long time since I last blogged.  I talked about paying for airline seats.  We did take the trip to San Miguel de Allende (Queretaro).  Last post I left off where we refused to purchase seats on the plane.  The trip went well, we visited friends, did some minor things to the house and pretty much loafed around.  Hiking isn't on the agenda much anymore.  Juan has issues with his knees, feet and legs, 50 plus years of dancing.

The heat has been really something.  We should have just stayed put in SMA as it was cool and still is.  I'm sure we'll be going back soon and hoping to go to some towns nearby.  

Last week we flew to San Antonio.  I wish we could afford to fly to all our favorite places all the time but air tickets aren't as inexpensive as they used to be.  The same routine pretty much.  We had reserved the parking at the airport, an Airbnb in San Antonio and a rental car which turned out to be very inexpensive.  We both had concerns about immigration with some of the new checks in place.  I went to the immigration office at the Monterrey airport for my exit stamp in Terminal A and there were no questions.  She stamped my passport and off I went to the ticket counter where Juan was filling out his form for immigration in the U.S.   Again, we hadn't purchased seats and the ticket agent sat us together.

Arriving to San Antonio, we entered immigration and he went one way and I went the other.  In less than two minutes we were out the door.  We headed to the Dollar rental car counter and were hoping to get a better price than what I had booked.  I made an error on the first reservation and didn't realize it until two days before our departure.  It turns out the rental counter where I had booked was 10 miles off the airport property and was a small electric car.  What!  I changed the reservation and the price was outrageous but there was no other choice.  9 p.m. at the Dollar ticket counter and the place was empty.  

The customer service person immediately said as he looked up the reservation, "I can do you much better".  I don't know what he did, it may have been my good looks, but he came back with seven day reservation, mid-sized car, full coverage, for a total of $121.00.  After we left with the car I thought, well, we'll see when we get the final charges and sure enough, that's what it was. 

Knowing San Antonio pretty well, we arrived to the Airbnb (after immigration, car rental and driving to the apartment) exactly one hour after the plane had landed.  That is a record.

We picked a very good location.  Museums, restaurants, and visits with friends all within 15 minute drives.  I think I did pretty well with this one.  Yep, a little on the expensive side but considering it was my birthday, well deserved.

I'll continue this trip soon if you're interested.