Texas people

[gest2b]

Hey, has anyone ever stayed at the St. Anthony in San Antonio? If so, is it recommended?

Sparrow, you may need to check the place out for me next time your over there.

[Jacksparrow81]

I have been by it. Real nice but real expensive. it will definitly cost ya an arm and a leg. if this who i think it is, yeh its a great honeymoon location for the early August months. just make sure you book real early. I had 1st experience of sleeping in a car last August in San Antonio because everything in the city was book and i mean everything. another real nice Hotel to check out that has good value for the quality and best bang for your buck and their real nice with a great view is the hotel right by the riverwalk that is connected to the mall. im about 90% positive that it is a courtyard mariott, but im not totally sure. i might be hitting up San-O this weekend so ill get more info.

[Sly Fox]

I've not stayed in the St. Anthony. But I did go there for a convention and it seemed pretty nice.

There are a number of nice hotels down in Alamo Plaza. I've stayed at the Emily Morgan and a few others. You'll enjoy soaking up the atmosphere downtown. And its just a coupel of blocks off the Riverwalk.

The hotel(s) that Jack was referring to are the Marriott Rivercenter and Marriott Riverwalk. They are across the street from each other. I prefer the newer Mariott Rivercenter.

You can walk from any of these downtown hotels to the Riverwalk where you can eat at any number of great restaurants. Since you are in Texas, I suggest Countyline Barbecue and any number of TexMex spots including Casa Rio.

My favorite restaurant is over in El Mercado district about a mile or so west of the Riverwalk. Its called 'La Margarita' and is a sister restaurant to 'Mi Tierra'. La Margarita is fajita heaven while Mi Tierra is a 24-hour echilada and Mexican breakfast hot spot. Park at the mercade and then get validated for two hours with your bill. At La margaraita we always order "La Parrillada". Its a huge grilled platter with chicken & beef fajitas, beef sausage, beef rib, quesa flameado (my personal fave) y mucho mas. My mouth is watering just typing this. Another great spot is Tomatillas over on Broadway just NE of downtown.

I usually like to eat at some of the greasy sthingy taquerias down on the southside near the military bases as well. Enchiladas like you've never tasted.

And for something a little different, they still have an original Texas Pig Stand over on Broadway close to I-37 & I-35 intersection on northside of downtown. Terrific burgers, onion rings and the like served in a still-standing '50s diner. On Fridays & Saturdays people bring classic modified hot rods. My son loves that place.

Bottom line, SA is one of my favorite cities for eating in the US (right there next to KC).

[PAmedic]

ok, I've behaved for the WHOLE day.

I do have a few questions of my own:

1. where do you tie up the horses?

2. is there a rack for the 10 gallon hats?

3. do you have to "put up" your shotgun or can you take it to your table with you?

thank you for your time

[Sly Fox]

1. Where does Tony Soprano park his Caddy?

2. You can hang your Stetsons just about anywhere you like down here.

3. Down here, honest citizens can legally bear arms. In Philly, its just the criminals.

[PAmedic]

1. wherever he wants

2. what are Stetsons- some kinda spurs?

3. hmm, good point- can't argue w/ that one

[El Scorcho]

PAmedic said:

2. what are Stetsons- some kinda spurs?

Uh oh. Maybe you should um, not visit Texas. I hope you're joking.

[SCAR]

PA,

Stetson is a cologne....Ok its a school in Florida....As far as bearing arms in Philly, it is a birth right ;D And Tony Soprano is in Jersey Sly....You guys should go to Hotwire.com and do a search. You won't know exactly what hotel you will be in until you commit but if you know the area you want you will be fine. They only take quality hotels. I have stayed in 3 or 4 star hotels in downtown Philly for less than 50 bucks a night using Hotwire. The Windham Franklin (Bush stayed there during the convention) where our girls team stayed last year in the NCAA's is a very nice hotel. On Hotwire it is a 3 star out of 5 stars. I use Hotwire all the time and I have never been disappointed.

[Sly Fox]

Philly is hundreds of miles closer to Tony than most people in Texas are to a hitching post. Everybody knows Jersey is much more interesting than Philly.

As for Hotwire, the recent site upgrades have all been terrific. We didn't need another priceline.com and they finally realized it. I'm also a fan and semi-regular poster on Trip Advisor.

[JackSparrow81]

Ive been living in texas for a year now and dont know what a Stetson is. I would have said a school in Daytona, FL. I dunno i guess Victoria is above the rest of texas when it comes to tecnology

[jacksparrow]

Guest-jacksparrow81 said:

Ive been living in texas for a year now and dont know what a Stetson is. I would have said a school in Daytona, FL. I dunno i guess Victoria is above the rest of texas when it comes to tecnology and modernism

[SCAR]

Wow Sparrow,

I am surprised you live in TX and don't know that. It is a hat. I know they probably don't call them that in regular conversation but you may get your "Texas player's card revoked if you aren't careful

[Jacksparrow81]

haha thanks for the clearup, im glad i didnt admit to anyone here that i didnt know what it was. Opposed to contrary belief, some of yall would be suprised that some parts of Texas are not just all a bunch of cowboys, indians, and horses. I would compare a couple of places in Texas alot alike to Pittsburgh and places in Virginia based on my experiences up there during the past two weeks.

[JackSparrow81]

Texas women though are better. Just go to the Houston airport. i almost broke my neck.

[Formerplayer]

I can second that Jack, the women in TX(Houston) are beautiful.

[PAmedic]

can you take your horse on the plane?

Nah, probably too big to fit thru the carry-on luggage measuring area.

[Sly Fox]

I wound up marrying a Houstonian and staying here for good. Enough said.

[cheer95]

I hated the time I had in Texas and as the song goes "All my ex's live in Texas...". However, my daughter goes to Houston 4 times a year and has been able to see more fun than I did. We are planning a family trip down there in a few years so my other kids see where their sister goes. What should we see down there? San Antonio?

[Sly Fox]

Houston is actually a pretty fun city. I'm sure your daughter can tell you all about Kemah, Moody Gardens and of course, the Galleria.

As for tourist destinations in Texas, San Antonio definitely heads the list. Its a very cool city to spend some time in. The Alamo, the Riverwalk, the best TexMex anywhere, Seaworld, Fiesta Texas, amazing golf resorts ... the list could go on & on. I'm sure Katie Feenstra is soaking it all up right now. Personally, I love floating down the Comal River just north of town in New Braunfels on hot summer days. The spring-fed river is a constant 68 degrees which essentially works as an air conditioner a syou float down the lazy river past America's best waterpark, Schlitterbahn.

You can combine it with Austin and the Texas Hill Country for a very enjoyable vacation. Or you can head down to the Gulf Coast to Corpus Christi where the fishing is outstanding (as is the Texas State Aquarium and USS Lexington).

[SCAR]

Sly,

my college girlfriend lived in New Braunfels. I didn't get to visit but she seemed to really like it. San Antonio is a city that my wife and I plan on visiting soon. Every Houstonian talks about H-Town like it is Paris or something. I have been to Dallas/Forth Worth and I liked it there. Been to Waco but don't remember much about it.

[JackSparrow81]

good ole houstonians. hahaha. crazy, but yeh San Antonio is awsome, the tubing thing in new braunfels or Round rock is strongly recommeded like sly fox said. Schlitterbon is arguable the best waterpark. its good but not as good as wet n wild or typhoon lagoon in orlando. definitly the river walk and everything else that he said. the Alamo was about as disapointing as us losing to VMI this year. It still worth seeing but dont get your hopes up. Houston is houston. just plan on walking ontop of people when you get there. i havnt been to galveston but i heard its a great to vacation as well. Just dont go in the water. Its nasty. Corpus is incredible especially if you like fishing like sly said. i am actually heading down there this weekend for one last hurrah before i go back to the paradise state and "leave dallas in the dust". the water is not that great either, but better and cleaner than galveston. the nice water is down near south padre and brownsville. Probably the best place to visit is ole Victoria. youll just feel overwhelmed with so many things to do.

[JackSparrow81]

oh yeh almost forgot if your in corpus it is also stronlg y recommned that you eat at Landry's. I think they got one up there in H-town as well sly?

[PAmedic]

can't debate how good your water park is SLY, but in the summer we like to swim in the potholes up here on PA route 611 (SCAR you remember that road- Broad St in the city, 611 in the burbs)

It aint much but we're proud proud proud of it.

that and fire hydrant showers

[SCAR]

Now I certainly remember playing in the fire Hydrant water. What a Philly thing to do. New York too. Do they still do that? Wild stuff. Everyone knows about Texas and Philly stuff. I have lived in Virginia for 15 years (19 if you count school) and I don't know of any Virginianisms. Besides the fact that Northern VA is so different than the rest of the state.

[Sly Fox]

Schlitterbahn is rated the #1 waterpark in America every year by AAA, the Travel Channel and a bunch of other rankings. They actually have opened a couple of other Schlitterbahns in South Padre & Galveston. But the original in New Braunfels remains unquestionably the best.

Landry's is a Houston-based chain that operates the Kemah Boardwalk and the Downtown Aquarium in Houston. They also own the Joe's Crab Shack, Rainforest Cafe, Cadillac Bar, Babin's and about 15 other rstaurant chains. The Rainforest Cafe on the Galveston Seawall has an exploding volcano (very Vegas-esque) and ride.

[JackSparrow81]

after this weekend, i strongly recommend anyone that visits to San Antonio to take the quick hours drive to Corpus. Trust me it will be worth it.

[Sly Fox]

I spent six and a half years living in Corpus Christi. Its the nicest place you can live in the nation for practically no money at all. The cost of living there is ridiculously inexpensive.

If you go to Corpus, you have to go aboard the USS Lexington. The Gray Ghost was a legendary WWII aircraft carrier in the victory over the Japanese. Next door is the Texas State Aquarium (which is a lot like most of the other big aquariums that have sprubg up across the country).

But I can't wait to check out Nolan Ryan's new ballpark on the bayfront. Whataburger Field is supposed to be an amazing experience.

Most of my recent trips to Corpus have centered around fishing & beach time at Port Aransas. Just typing this has me fired up about making a trip down there in the next month or so.

[JackSparrow81]

Oh yeh, i thought last week was going to be the last corpus horah, but i am seriously debating rolling up in there next weekend again. It is real nice down there. No one told me about Port A. I just found out about it this weekend. I guess its Texas's best kept secret. I guess they use the ferry to throw off and divert the out of state kooks from ever finding out about it. If I ever decide to go to grad school or if there is a open job down there, im definitly moving to Corpus. I dunno where this new ball park is located on the bay or if its built yet. Where is the original whataburger located? Is Galveston as good as Corpus?

[JackSparrow81]

where do you fish in port A?

[Sly Fox]

Everybody in Texas knows about Port A. It used to be the spring break mecca of Texas similiar to Fort Lauderdale & Panama City in Florida. But it got out of control and the city chased off all the spring breakers.

You can get to Port A two ways ... either driving up from Padre island or by taking the ferry across the ship channel from the Aransas Pass causeway. Coming from Victoria, you would definitely take the ferry.

I used to fish all over the place down there depending on my mood. I would wade fish in Redfish Bay or along the causeway. I loved to fish the jetties (which extend about a mile out into the Gulf giving you the ability to haul in big fish without dropping big money). I occasionally would fish on the beach just to shake things up from time to time. And of course, at least once a year I'd go out deep sea fishing. One year, I hauled in a 6-foot-plus blacktip shark that I had filleted. I ate for three years off that one shark from my freezer. Shark steaks are perhaps my favorite seafood.

The new ballpark is just below the Harbor Bridge that you cross coming across the causeway from Portland heading into downtown CC. Its next to Pier One where they have that Christopher Columbus statue.

Click on the virtual tour link at the top of this page:
www.caller.com/ccct/hooks/#

The original Whataburger restaurant is located over in a rough neighborhood near the Crosstown Expressway. It was no longer open when I was living down there. Although I believe they had talked of reopening it. The Whataburger on Shoreline Boulevard is pretty nice right there by the L-Head.

Galveston is NOTHING like Corpus. Galveston is located on an island and it has a revitalized seawall that is improving thanks to Tillman Fertitta (the guy who owns all The Landry's restaurant chains). The Strand is pretty cool to visit. The cruise ships have helped pump some money into that area. There are some nice restaurants over on the island. I really like Marcos on the Seawll. Its has an outstanding Italian lunch buffet. And you need to at least drive by the Rainforest Cafe that is by the San Luis resort complex. It has a Vegas-style volcano and even a ride. The beaches in Galveston are pretty weak. But at least it is a beach and my kids love it.