We finished up putting in the weed preventer cloth. Oliverio and three of his guys came over on Sunday morning to put in the decomposed granite that makes up most of the path. About 200 feet of 300 feet of path is complete. We are hoping to get the rest of it installed on Sunday, June 21.On Monday and Tuesday we bought and installed a variety of plants based on a plan a landscape architect (Steve) put together for us. We are sticking to Texas natives to reduce irrigation needs. We also put down more than 100 bags of mulch.
Needless to say it was five days of hot, hard work!
We left Wednesday morning, June 10, for San Antonio, Texas.
Our hotel, La Mansion (Omini), was on the Riverwalk. The room had a balcony overlooking the Riverwalk...on the first floor. Fortunately the hotel is on a quiet end of the Riverwalk, so noise was not an issue. We would have preferred a room that was higher up, but this one worked well. We kept it dark and cool...got some good sleep...better than at home. I guess that is one of the reasons for going on vacation.Wednesday evening we walked around. Had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk, Rita's. Mediocre food, good margaritas.
Thursday we walked around downtown San Antonio. Looked at a lot of touristy shops...did not buy anything. It was mostly junk. It was really hot and muggy. Not comfortable weather.In the late afternoon we went to the Watermark hotel spa across the canal from La Mansion. Lounged in the relaxation room reading and then had massages. Dinner was at Las Canarias, in the hotel. It came highly recommended and deservedly so. The spa and dinner were the highlight of the trip.
Friday, we went to Seaworld. The shows were good, the heat oppressive...over 100 degrees. Shamu remains my favorite. We did feed dolphins, which was fun.
Dinner was at Rosario's, a restaurant south of downtown. The food and service was great. We learned to stay away from the Mexican restaurants near the Riverwalk...this was worth the short trip.
The "trip" was a short taxi ride ($7 including tip). The driver suggested another place, Los Barrios, and was a bit disgruntled when I reiterated Rosario's. He made some kind of crack about you can't "lead horses to water" --- some kind of hint that we were not making a smart choice. So, how much was Los Barrios paying him to bring visitors? Also, a much further cab ride?? Geez.
Headed home Saturday. Toured a couple of the missions. Stopped in Austin to lunch with Justin and his roommate Donald. Got home in the evening.
