Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Spring festivals
April is party month, especially in this part of the world.
Some of our merry-making took place in the context of an official fiesta event, but we also made our own party, too.
First, the official partying.
Readers might remember my visit to St. Mary's Oyster Bake with the kids last year. We had fun then in spite of the less-than-hospitable weather. This year, we didn't have weather to deal with, and enjoyed even more eating, drinking, and other activities.
Like watching the colorful parade above on the left, and taking in the various amusing sights (some of which I have for you here) that accompany partying people with access to fermented beverages.
As last year, for reasons unfathomable to this blogger, the eponymous oysters are a main attraction for the younger generation. Here are Hal, Carey, and their friends from Austin who joined us for their first Oyster Bake. Again, partaking of those oyster shots. They were frequent patrons of the booth you see in rear of the photo.
But eating and drinking (and slurping) isn't all the party's about. Music is the big attraction for 
most folks, but Hal had his eyes on the carnival this year, determined to lose whatever oyster shots he'd consumed. At least, that's what I thought would happen. But he must not have inherited his mother's stomach, and came through not one, but two, organ-scrambling rides intact.
He and Carey both rode this contraption, while their more level-headed companions watched (and tried to take pictures, which wasn't too easy given the bright sunlight glaring the camera's display window):
...before, firmly belted in and sans floppy shoes...
...and during (please excuse poorly framed shot and lack of zeroing in on their car)...
Now, for our own festival, which took place the following weekend, while many of our friends and neighbors were still in official fiesta mode.
Hosting in-laws visiting from the frozen north (well, maybe not exactly, but from almost that far up there!) we spent a varied and very satisfying Saturday in the charming hill country town of Fredericksburg.
Known as an eating, drinking, and shopping destination, we did plenty of the first two activities, but chose to substitute museum-ing for the latter. (To read about our visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War, check out this post on my London blog. I put it there because the museum, while on a smaller scale, compares favorably in quality with London's best.)
We started with a yummy lunch at a local brew pub, then hit the museum.
Tearing ourselves away from there was hard, since it was such an interesting place, but we had a special reservation awaiting us that we couldn't miss.
Hal and Carey have invested in a membership at Becker Vineyards, one of the best of a bevy of hill country wineries that are transforming the look and the commerce of this part of the state. One of the perks of their membership is an annual VIP wine tasting—how lucky we are to be related to these generous wine connoisseurs!
Our enthusiastic young hostess plied us with 8 or 9 of Becker's best and answered all of our curious questions about the wine-making business. What an interesting endeavor it is!
Unfortunately, in spite of the warm cheery feeling from all that wine, we had to part company with the Austin-ites and their visitors after the winery tour.
But it was great fun to spend such an interesting day with them. And we didn't come home empty-handed.
In fact, our souvenir bottle of Becker Pinot Grigio, and our souvenir glasses, will be put to good use as we have a friend over for dinner tonight. And we'll offer up a toast to our festival-going companions.
Some of our merry-making took place in the context of an official fiesta event, but we also made our own party, too.First, the official partying.
Readers might remember my visit to St. Mary's Oyster Bake with the kids last year. We had fun then in spite of the less-than-hospitable weather. This year, we didn't have weather to deal with, and enjoyed even more eating, drinking, and other activities.
Like watching the colorful parade above on the left, and taking in the various amusing sights (some of which I have for you here) that accompany partying people with access to fermented beverages.
As last year, for reasons unfathomable to this blogger, the eponymous oysters are a main attraction for the younger generation. Here are Hal, Carey, and their friends from Austin who joined us for their first Oyster Bake. Again, partaking of those oyster shots. They were frequent patrons of the booth you see in rear of the photo.
But eating and drinking (and slurping) isn't all the party's about. Music is the big attraction for 
most folks, but Hal had his eyes on the carnival this year, determined to lose whatever oyster shots he'd consumed. At least, that's what I thought would happen. But he must not have inherited his mother's stomach, and came through not one, but two, organ-scrambling rides intact.He and Carey both rode this contraption, while their more level-headed companions watched (and tried to take pictures, which wasn't too easy given the bright sunlight glaring the camera's display window):
...before, firmly belted in and sans floppy shoes...
...and during (please excuse poorly framed shot and lack of zeroing in on their car)...
Hal's appetite (so to speak) for this outrageousness wasn't satisfied, though, and he opted to try (by himself, this time) this amazing piece of engineering. It actually spun the riders around on every possible axis of movement. Fortunately, this was enough him and we were able to head back to the oyster shot booth.
Now, for our own festival, which took place the following weekend, while many of our friends and neighbors were still in official fiesta mode.
Hosting in-laws visiting from the frozen north (well, maybe not exactly, but from almost that far up there!) we spent a varied and very satisfying Saturday in the charming hill country town of Fredericksburg.
Known as an eating, drinking, and shopping destination, we did plenty of the first two activities, but chose to substitute museum-ing for the latter. (To read about our visit to the National Museum of the Pacific War, check out this post on my London blog. I put it there because the museum, while on a smaller scale, compares favorably in quality with London's best.)
We started with a yummy lunch at a local brew pub, then hit the museum.
Tearing ourselves away from there was hard, since it was such an interesting place, but we had a special reservation awaiting us that we couldn't miss.Hal and Carey have invested in a membership at Becker Vineyards, one of the best of a bevy of hill country wineries that are transforming the look and the commerce of this part of the state. One of the perks of their membership is an annual VIP wine tasting—how lucky we are to be related to these generous wine connoisseurs!
Our enthusiastic young hostess plied us with 8 or 9 of Becker's best and answered all of our curious questions about the wine-making business. What an interesting endeavor it is!Unfortunately, in spite of the warm cheery feeling from all that wine, we had to part company with the Austin-ites and their visitors after the winery tour.
But it was great fun to spend such an interesting day with them. And we didn't come home empty-handed.
In fact, our souvenir bottle of Becker Pinot Grigio, and our souvenir glasses, will be put to good use as we have a friend over for dinner tonight. And we'll offer up a toast to our festival-going companions.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Simple joys of city life
An announcement Henry happened to see while at lunch last Friday gave us an opportunity to sample urban living at its best.
It was touting a photography exhibit in a small gallery in a nearby up-and-coming little arts district. They were offering free food, so why not take it in?!
Actually, it turned out to be part of a monthly arts ramble that we'd vaguely heard about but which hadn't really registered on our [admittedly not very sophisticated] social radar. Second Friday (as opposed to its much better known First Friday cousin, which happens at the Blue Star complex, the same area where we caught the bus to the Spurs game a couple of weeks ago) takes place in Tobin Hill, not 5 minutes from our house.
It's an interesting neighborhood that has some great architectural jewels and a nice combo-urban-small-town vibe. Most of the big houses you see by following the link above are at the other end of the area from the tiny galleries we visited, but there are some buildings that can catch your eye even here, like this commercial establishment:
Henry thinks it used to house an Aladdin Cleaners, which might account for the fanciful architecture. His knowledge of the neighborhood comes from the fact that his mother grew up right down the street from most of the galleries we sampled, just a block away from this eye-catcher:
So we had family history to ponder along with the contemporary art.
Not to mention spring landscape highlights like this cactus looking about to burst...
...and interesting home improvement touches, like the fencing here, made from two sheets of chicken wire and a bunch of rocks... Clever, no?
Even if there weren't free food, we might have to make this a regular outing!
It was touting a photography exhibit in a small gallery in a nearby up-and-coming little arts district. They were offering free food, so why not take it in?!Actually, it turned out to be part of a monthly arts ramble that we'd vaguely heard about but which hadn't really registered on our [admittedly not very sophisticated] social radar. Second Friday (as opposed to its much better known First Friday cousin, which happens at the Blue Star complex, the same area where we caught the bus to the Spurs game a couple of weeks ago) takes place in Tobin Hill, not 5 minutes from our house.
It's an interesting neighborhood that has some great architectural jewels and a nice combo-urban-small-town vibe. Most of the big houses you see by following the link above are at the other end of the area from the tiny galleries we visited, but there are some buildings that can catch your eye even here, like this commercial establishment:
Henry thinks it used to house an Aladdin Cleaners, which might account for the fanciful architecture. His knowledge of the neighborhood comes from the fact that his mother grew up right down the street from most of the galleries we sampled, just a block away from this eye-catcher:
So we had family history to ponder along with the contemporary art.Not to mention spring landscape highlights like this cactus looking about to burst...
...and interesting home improvement touches, like the fencing here, made from two sheets of chicken wire and a bunch of rocks... Clever, no?
Even if there weren't free food, we might have to make this a regular outing!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Extra! Local family ends Spurs losing streak!
...at least, that's what we like to think.
Another great birthday present from our exceptional children was Spurs tickets for the whole crew. What a great idea!
We picked, somewhat in advance, an April 3 noon game with Phoenix, not realizing at the time that coming into that game, our boys would have lost 6 in a row—their longest losing streak since before the Tim Duncan era.
So there was extra pressure upon us, as fans, not to let this string continue. As you might be able to tell, from the scoreboard shot above—which was taken at halftime, amazingly—we were able to turn it around in style.
On the left you can see the great view we had from our much-too-expensive seats. A great vantage point!
These wonderful children have come up with some spectacular birthday presents lately. From my Lord of the Rings feast, to their hugely vital role in Henry's surprise party, they really have set a high standard. But this year's might be hard to beat.
In order to make the afternoon even more special and exciting, we decided to have brunch at the Blue Star brew pub, one of the kids' favorite local eateries. On an earlier visit, we learned that they offer a free bus ride to Spurs games if you take in a meal there first. And they serve brunch on Sundays!
Perfect! No parking hassles, delicious beverages to consume on the way there (and on the way back! you just put in your order and have your mimosa waiting for you after the game)—what else do you need for a great celebration?!
Here are the kids ordering their to-go brews...
notice the brewing equipment in the back of the shot...only pub-brewed libations will do for my beer-snob kiddos
...and here we are on the bus, ready to head for the arena and make sure our boys pull out of their uncharacteristic end-of-season tailspin:
The whole affair was so successful, both from the standpoint of fun had and game won, we might just have to make this an annual event. We're definitely sold on the bus-to-the-game idea, birthday or not.
view from the Blue Star parking lot of Pioneer Flour's iconic tower
Although, from the birthday present standpoint, we're not sure how this could be topped.
Another great birthday present from our exceptional children was Spurs tickets for the whole crew. What a great idea!
We picked, somewhat in advance, an April 3 noon game with Phoenix, not realizing at the time that coming into that game, our boys would have lost 6 in a row—their longest losing streak since before the Tim Duncan era.So there was extra pressure upon us, as fans, not to let this string continue. As you might be able to tell, from the scoreboard shot above—which was taken at halftime, amazingly—we were able to turn it around in style.
On the left you can see the great view we had from our much-too-expensive seats. A great vantage point!
These wonderful children have come up with some spectacular birthday presents lately. From my Lord of the Rings feast, to their hugely vital role in Henry's surprise party, they really have set a high standard. But this year's might be hard to beat.
In order to make the afternoon even more special and exciting, we decided to have brunch at the Blue Star brew pub, one of the kids' favorite local eateries. On an earlier visit, we learned that they offer a free bus ride to Spurs games if you take in a meal there first. And they serve brunch on Sundays!
Perfect! No parking hassles, delicious beverages to consume on the way there (and on the way back! you just put in your order and have your mimosa waiting for you after the game)—what else do you need for a great celebration?!
Here are the kids ordering their to-go brews...
notice the brewing equipment in the back of the shot...only pub-brewed libations will do for my beer-snob kiddos...and here we are on the bus, ready to head for the arena and make sure our boys pull out of their uncharacteristic end-of-season tailspin:
The whole affair was so successful, both from the standpoint of fun had and game won, we might just have to make this an annual event. We're definitely sold on the bus-to-the-game idea, birthday or not.
view from the Blue Star parking lot of Pioneer Flour's iconic towerAlthough, from the birthday present standpoint, we're not sure how this could be topped.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
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