So my trip to San Antonio was so spectacular and I’m already planning a trip back in January for my wifey Aubree’s birthday which is actually our anniversary. :) Some highlights: (note: all of these were taken on my phone, a proper film post is coming this weekend)
- Drinking delicious beer. I drastically cut back on drinking beer a while ago and switched to wine but this trip I was basically in beer-drinking country so I did as the Texans did and enjoyed a beer sampler at the Flying Saucer. This place is so cool I wish Sacramento had one. You join their club and basically try to taste all 200 beers on tap to earn your saucer with your name on the wall! How cool!? I already did the math, it would take me 3 months to complete going every day and tasting their max amount per visit…I might have to add it to the bucket list.
- Eating tons of delicious food! You wouldn’t believe it but San Antonio has some GREAT vegan/vegetarian restaurants and this trip completely changed my opinion about vegan tamales. I didn’t think they could be done until a trip to the Vegeria. I loved that they took mexican classics like enchiladas or tamales (and pozole) and made them vegan friendly. I love vegan food even though I still eat meat so I was in food heaven.
- Texas-shaped EVERYTHING and Stars EVERYWHERE. Seriously Texas has some serious state pride and I never realized it until I saw a TEXAS SHAPED CHIP. Yeah, you saw that right. Texas chips. Texas edition Bud Light. I even saw a Texas shaped flower planter box. SERIOUSLY? And stars… everywhere you see stars, you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a star on something… manhole covers…gates…trailer hitches…fences…wall decorations…garden decorations… you name it. I’ve decided I’m gonna start making California shaped shit. Pancakes. Cookies. You name it.
- And while we’re talking about food…can I just give a minute to say how amazing the food was everywhere and Shane, Aubrees husband…omg his BBQ ribs were seriously the most delectable things I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. They literally fell off the bone. MMM. Shane was even so nice as to make me my own special salsa without onions since they make me sick. What a sweet husband-in-law. :)
- The River Walk. I’m not even sure there are words or pictures to capture how romantic that river walk is at night. Its just the loveliest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Saturday night wife took me out on the town and we brought some tall cans because on the river level its actually legal to have open containers. Score. We walked and talked and I sight saw and it was just so beautiful, I was in awe.
- Seeing the Alamo!! To round off our night out we walked over to the Alamo so I could see it all lit up at night and it was charming, and then a couple days later we made a proper trip (which is going to get its own post with the pix I took on film)
- Bringing a little bit of California to Texas! One night for dinner to return the wonderful hospitality that Shane & Aubree had showed me I decided I’d make my moms delicious chicken mole for them! It was my first time making it without direct supervision so I was nervous but it turned out super yummy. It helped that I called my mom about a million times that day. :)
- Spending time with Lily. When Aubree had Maddon they were still living here in Sacramento and we got pretty close, he used to call me “Auntie bowwie” so when they moved and Aubree was still preggo with Lily I never got to get close like I did with Maddon so I was super excited to get to know Lily monster. The thing about her is she can be so bratty but her sweet moments pretty much erase your memory of anything bad, its hard to stay mad at this little beauty. I’m so glad we got to have a tea party & watch dora & I even read her some stories, those are moments I’m gonna cherish forever.
- Partaking in the very special cupcake tradition. Pretty much anytime Aubree, her mom, & sissy go out for a meal together they always make sure to get a cupcake or a few and split them. I’m not sure I’ve ever had so many cupcakes in one week but they were all delicious!
- The best highlight of the trip though was getting to spend quality time with Aubree & all of her family. They are just the most wonderful people and welcomed me in immediately as one of their own, I love them and her parents remind me of my parents in a lot of ways. I loved every minute of quality time I had with her family and being with my best friend again. Its friends like her that are life long, we hadn’t seen eachother in a year but we just picked right back up where we left off as if not a day had passed. I can’t wait to go back in January.
Well that pretty much sums up my trip, at least the rough outline of it because it felt like we packed so much fun into just a few days. I’m already looking forward to returning soon and can’t wait to buy my tickets! A HUGE thank you to Aubree & Shane for hosting me and showing me such a wonderful time. And another huge thank you to Aubree’s family for making me feel part of theirs. <3
Stay tuned this weekend for some more Texas posts including the Alamo!!