I love how the seagulls can just hover right next to me, waiting for me to throw the next morsel. When that gull actually took the food right out of my hand, I laughed out loud with joy.

What a beautiful moment!

The seawall was built after the hurricane of 1900. That hurricane devastated the island and is still the deadliest natural disaster to strike the United States. Rather than leave the island uninhabited, they built the seawall and raised Galveston by as much as seventeen feet in some areas. The seawall has protected Galveston ever since.

Last year, when Hurricane Ike hit, the seawall held, but the winds and water snuck in through the bay on the other side of the island and drown the island with eight feet of water. Everywhere we visited, each shop, restaurant and museum had a mark on their wall where the water level was. They all had small photo albums that they pressed into my hands to show the damage. It was like they were proud of what Ike had done to them and they survived it all.

For more information:

• 1900 Galveston hurricane – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Hurricane Ike – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Hurricane Ike Slideshow: Galveston Bookshop

Here is a video of a hike to the South Rim of Emery Peak.

Where: Big Bend National Park in Texas Google Map

Just a quick couple of photos to show you the view of the ocean from the seawall in Glaveston, Texas. It always amazes me that I can step onto a plane in the winter and step off a plane in the summer. In my mind, the seasons have always been attached to the time of the year, but with the advent of air travel, we have the option of changing the season at will.

This year, however, the bridge is quiet and abandoned.

It’s too cold this year to support the bats, so I suspect they are vacationing a little longer in Mexico. We came to Austin for the SXSW Interactive Festival, so the bats were a secondary attraction.

The hotel swag, however, was quite enjoyable.

The toilet paper origami left a little to be desired.

The towel origami, however, was beautiful.

I don’t care for Sleep Number beds. They are beds that are filled with air depending on what firmness you want. It took a lot of tweaking to get my side of the bed to feel like a “normal” bed. I guess my sleep number is 45, but I didn’t enjoy finding that out. The Radisson brags about their Sleep Number beds, but I don’t find them pleasant or appealing. It’s more like sleeping on a camping mattress.

You can see all the photos for the Radisson Town Lake here:

• Radisson Town Lake Hotel Swag – a set on Flickr

On the whole, our stay at the Radisson has been enjoyable. They charge ten bucks a day per computer to be online in your hotel room, which I find appalling. I guess I’m used to cheaper hotels that try to attract me with free wireless. I like that I can just walk to the convention center from this hotel. I LOVE the view of the bridge, even though this year it’s bat-free. I even love the TGI Friday’s in the hotel lobby. Sometimes I’m so tired that I just need a quiet meal that is familiar. Someday, Internet connectivity will be free at all hotels just like water and televisions. Until then, it’s hit and miss.

• Austin, Texas – New York Times

Since Austin is so close to San Antonio, a visit to those two cities is a great trip. Here are all the entries in which we’ve talked about Austin, Texas:

• Starling Travel – Austin, Texas

You can see my links to San Antonio here:

• Starling Travel – San Antonio, Texas

I’m offering this DVD for $5 including shipping and handling in the continental U.S. If you live elsewhere contact me and we’ll figure out how much it will cost to ship to you.

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

Here is a glimpse of what the walk will be like:

Video Description:

I was lost and unprepared for the hot Texas weather, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the garden’s beauty. From the native Texas grassland areas to the indoor fern grottos, I filmed all that the San Antonio Botanical Garden had to offer.

Wander along the garden paths. Watch the birds fly past you and squawk at you from the trees. Smell the herbs and flowers in the garden for the blind. Breathe in the humid air in the fern grotto. Explore the historical homes of Texas’ past. Chase down the golf cart. Can you keep up?

If you are missing the beautiful greenery that Texas has to offer, you can enjoy it every day with this video.

Order Starling Fitness Walking Videos Here

With a setting that looks like a postcard, the Casa Rio sits on the Riverwalk attracting tourists with the scent of their food and their singing. I live in a town with excellent Mexican food, so I expected touristy faire at Casa Rio and to be honest, that’s what I got. The food was good, but nothing was even near the spiciness that I’m used to. I enjoyed the enchiladas and queso sauce on my chips, but nothing brought tears to my eyes.

What I enjoyed most was the singing.

We were surprised at the reasonable prices of the food, so we sprang the ten bucks for a song. We figured we would have paid twice what we were paying in any other touristy place, so we were happy to splurge. The group singing played typical songs that are requested all the time like La Bamba and Tijuana Taxi, but they did it in such a congenial manner that I had a blissful moment when they were playing. Friendly AND professional, all at once, I felt so grateful that I had paid for a song. It was worth it for that moment of Zen.

Where: Casa Rio
430 E Commerce St
San Antonio, TX
Google Map
Phone: (210) 225-6718
Fax: (210) 225-2216

Hours:

Sunday – Saturday
11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

In January

• Monday – Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
• Friday & Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
• Closed Sundays in January

While I looked at all the ribbons, flowers and megaphones, I became more and more confused. I asked one guy who worked at service desk what it was all about, but he was unable to explain it to me. I returned to the ribbons. A kindly woman said to me, “Ah, it’s Homecoming Time. They’ve got to get their mums ready.” I pounced on her like a housecat left alone too often. With some coaxing, Joan Anderson was willing to explain it all to me.

Texas sure does love their high school football. Using the artificial mums, ribbons and other decorations, you can create a Homecoming Mum. They are for girls and they wear them to the Homecoming game. It’s not for the dance, just the game (you get real flowers for the dance). This is only for football. Basketball doesn’t get this kind of attention.

I don’t know if this is still the case, but Joan says that the boys’ mothers would make the mums so the boys could give them to the girls they like best. A girl could have many different mums from many boys. The girl with the most mums is the most popular.

“Look there. There’s one over here that has three mums on it. This girl would have to be very special, wouldn’t she?”

Part of me wants to get a whole pile of mums from every boy in town. I want to be the girl with the most mums. I want to be very special. This Texan practice feels very guttural to me. I can feel it in my bones and gut. We had nothing like this in Salt Lake City, Utah. Who knew I would find something so unique and foreign a mere 1800 miles away.

For more information:

• Homecoming – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: A brief mention of the practice is here.

• Michaels Arts and Crafts – Homecoming Mums

• How to Make Homecoming Mums This site also has a brief history about the tradition.

• How to Make Homecoming Mums Elaborate and detailed instructions on how to make them from scratch without the help of Michaels Arts and Crafts.

The bells seemed to tell me that we had to hurry and leave, but I hadn’t even gotten near the church when they rang. I wanted to capture all of it, but my traveling companions were hot and bored. They waited in the car while I hurriedly took photos. I just wanted to relax and listen to the bells.

Where: San Jose Mission
2202 Roosevelt Avenue San Antonio, Texas 78210 – Google Map

Phone: (210) 932-1001
Fax: (210) 534-1106