Willkommen und Tanzen

Everybody knows that Texas is rich in Hispanic heritage. But what's not as well known is that German immigrants made up the "largest ethnic group ... derived directly from Europe," according to the ever-helpful Handbook of Texas.

We got to experience some of the heritage pride that this group shares recently. Anhalt Hall, operated by the Germania Farmer Verein (Verein means club or association auf Deutsch), hosts a special festival every May. And one of our paddling friends had been trying to get us to go for a few years now, so we finally gave in. (After all, it was this same friend who turned us on to Alex Meixner and Wurstfest, both of which we totally enjoyed a couple of years ago.)

We found that the Anhalt Maifest wasn't much like the wilder and considerably bigger Wurstfest, but it was still enjoyable.

The hall itself is the handsome metal-clad building you see above, near the site of the original Anhalt settlement which dated from 1859 (you can read about it here). Both the historical marker onsite and the Handbook of Texas translate Anhalt as "stopping place," probably on the road between New Braunfels and San Antonio, although my German dictionary, rather confusingly, lists one definition as either "stop" or "continue". But as Texas German does some weird things with its transplanted dialect, it doesn't surprise me that no one's really sure what it means!

However, one thing it means for sure nowadays is dancing, and there was a lot of it on offer during the festival...

As you can see, it's a large, welcoming space with plenty of room for dancers of all ability levels. Henry and I even did a couple of spins around the floor to the catchy tunes provided by the Red Ravens. We do understand that it usually gets more crowded at night, when the country-western band takes over. But since our dancing isn't skillful enough to be able to maneuver safely in big crowds, I'm glad we left early!

I was charmed by a couple of the old signs in evidence, presumably retained for their entertainment value...

I'm not sure what "uncommonly" dancing would be, and I doubt young folks would know what is meant by "pedal pushers." But all the dancing we saw was quite proper, and there weren't too many young folks there anyway!

Auf Wiedersehn!

A miscellaneous catch-up

I know I've been remiss about blogging lately, but I really haven't been doing much blog-worthy. However, as often happens when you think nothing is happening, something actually is, at least enough to provide a few interesting tidbits.

For one thing, we've been seeing the results of a nice, moist winter. Some flowering plants that I woefully neglect have been showing me why I should spend more time watering them. Like the day-lily above, and my white althea bush, which I think is putting out more blooms than ever...

Then, on a pleasant walk with my granddaughter and her mom last month, we saw these gorgeous huisache blossoms near the river...

During the kids' visit we also enjoyed some man-made scenery. Our local Witte Museum has recently opened wonderfully remodeled and expanded spaces, including this impressive video over the main entrance...

It reminded me of some of the ceiling decor in Boston's Museum of Science. Our museum isn't as big or imposing, but it's pretty nice. I'll get around to showing you some of its other new attractions soon.

Finally, our town did have its annual Fiesta recently, but we stuck to our tradition of not really participating in the party. However, many of our neighbors near and far do a bang-up job of decorating for the event. On a walk into the Monte Vista neighborhood last month, I was especially taken by this simple but effective scheme: just tie colorful ribbon on to the railings and let the wind do the rest...

Going back over the photos for the last two months has reminded me of some blog-worthy excursions after all. So I'll be having some more interesting stories to tell soon.

Wordless Wednesday: a bright new caution

Wordless Wednesday: R.I.P., Grampa's phone

Great weather excursion

A while ago I mentioned a plan for giving my daily walks a little variety by going downtown to walk along the river, and I haven't done that as often as I would like.

But I couldn't resist taking advantage of this wonderful urban space this week, when our weather has been outstanding—we haven't started sweltering yet, if you can believe it!

I've actually taken walks in places other than my neighborhood twice this week. Tuesday I took a turn on some of the fine trails in nearby Brackenridge Park.

The best thing about this particular outing was the closeup look it afforded me of these lovely medallions. They decorate the bridge where Mulberry crosses a drainage feature parallel to the infant San Antonio River. I'd seen them when driving across the bridge, but that type of movement doesn't let you really appreciate how neat they are.

Here a some companions for the cute toad above on the right...

After watching the video about how they were made on this site, I have an even greater appreciation for them. Plus, I see that I need to go back and get pictures of some of the panels that I missed.

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Now on to the more famous section of our local river, downtown.

the Augusta Street bridge

I got to see some new stuff here, too, or at least stuff that I don't remember from earlier walks. This faux-driftwood chair is in between the Augusta and Convent bridges...

...and nearby is an interesting tile piece that I don't remember seeing before...

is it a cave?

But, speaking of tile, even things that you've seen before are worth snapping. Would you believe that the colorful mosaic up on street level here on the left is decorating a humble parking garage?

Other familiar photogenic views include a trio of restaurants fare I've sampled on various occasions. I think the only one I've blogged about is the Gwendolyn, a delightful little restaurant upstream of the more crowded and famous places.

I lunched at Ácenar several years ago with a group of conventioning librarian colleagues, and at Casa Rio long ago, possibly on a pre-marriage visit to San Antonio (lovely, colorful umbrellas, and history, notwithstanding, we're not big fans).

Restaurant Gwendolyn

Ácenar tables awaiting lunch diners

Casa Rio

There are just so many pretty sights and lovely touches along this wonderful linear—or, to be more accurate, serpentine—park, on river and street levels...

One of my favorites is what's left of the Texas Theatre. It's too bad this is all, but it makes such a quirky decorative touch to an otherwise bland building...

If you want to see more of and read more about my various river excursions over the years, here are a couple of good ones: scenic walk from the bus stop to the Convention Center for LoneStarCon3, and a wonderful luncheon cruise, with great food and great views.

I have to keep reminding myself that not everyone is lucky enough to have such a great place to walk so easily accessible, and I need to take advantage of it more often!

Wordless Wednesday: Buggy Boot Hil

Along the San Diego coast

rocks and sea, Point Loma-style

To finish out reporting on my coast-to-coast trip, I'll treat you to some breathtaking views of the California coastline. (It was too cold when I was in Maine to get pix of that coast!)

My trip to northern California (was it really four years ago?!) afforded many wonderful coastal views, but the southern part of the coast, while missing the redwoods, is terribly scenic as well.

looking down at the beach near Torrey Pines

Our first taste was at Cabrillo National Monument on the Point Loma headland (read more about this fabulous use of your tax dollars here and here).

Here is a look down into one of the little seaside canyons that are etched into the coastline here...

... a pulled-back view of the Monument's amazing tidepools...

...then, pulling back even further, this panorama of the tidepools area from the highway higher up the cliffs...(notice people continuing to enjoy the pools)...

Our other major coastal outing took us north of the city, to Torrey Pines (we visited this marvelously scenic stretch of coast during our previous visit to San Diego; you can see some ocean views from that trip here, and some close-ups of the Torrey Pines rock formations here).

This time we hoped to catch some hang gliders off the spectacular Torrey Pines cliffs, and we did see one brave soul (in the red box)...

But it must not have been ideal weather, since the other guys at the gliderport were just practicing runs along the grass.

The views were still wonderful, though, and we very much enjoyed this little side trip.

There was even some cool history to be learned, as you can see on this historical marker at the gliderport. I wonder if the sails on those early gliders were as colorful as they are today?

Traffic was a little heavy heading back to the city, but rather than let that spoil our day, we took advantage and made some fabulously scenic stops along the way in La Jolla.

The most impressive was this beach full of seals. It would have been worth stopping for anyway, as it was super-scenic, but the wildlife made it that much more interesting...

Since this must be a favorite seal-nursery beach, the city has installed some infrastructure that make watching the seals, and seeing the scenery, easy for humans and safe for the seals. These signs mark the section of beach that's off limits for the former, but far from being a disadvantage, this limitation made for even better views.

There was a wide semi-circular walkway that I neglected to take a picture of. You could walk all around it and see plenty of seal activity off one side, and some great coast rock formations off the other. Its elevation made this sight-seeing more enjoyable than it would have been from beach level.

We were at this scenic beach at just about a perfect time of day. The light right after we stopped was low and scrumptious, and then, there was a wonderful Pacific sunset...

A perfect way for me to end this series of posts about my far-flung adventures.