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We're chronicling our travels around the states on this blog. Check it out, if you're bored and sitting on an apple box (you can also check it out from home or the office).

Filtering by Author: Whitney Lea

That's all from Texas!

May 21, 2014Whitney Lea

CLICK on the image to enlarge it via Flickr!!! — **CLICK** on the image to enlarge it via Flickr!!!

That's all the news we thought was fit to draw from El Paso. We tried to make this first edition as all encompassing as possible, but these following images couldn't be adequately captured using pencil alone:

Also, a quick look into our fantastic accommodations while we were in the area:

categories Diary
tags New Mexico, Texas, El Paso, Santa Teresa, Kostya, Princess, Wedding, Newspaper, Art

The Heart of Texas

May 15, 2014Whitney Lea

Since leaving Disney world there have been a few places and moments that have reminded us of a real world version of the Disney experience. San Antonio was one of them.

Can you believe we didn't have a single margarita while we were there?

In one of the first drafts of the road trip plan I had scheduled to stay there for half a day. At some point I decided to change that plan. It may have had to do with one of my best friends, Nathalie, endorsing the beauties of San Antonio and its Riverwalk.

Nat clued us in to the fact that we would be visiting during Fiesta, a multi-week festival that everyone in San Antonio gets really excited about. The idea that locals get excited by a festival that brings in tourists was a little unbelievable to me but I didn't dwell on it too long.

I did a little research on our drive there and it turned out that the night of our arrival would coincide with the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. According to residents this parade is the largest night parade and the third largest parade in the USA (after the Rose Bowl and Macy's Thanksgiving). So needless to say, I was a bit excited.

Since San Antonio was only an hour or so away from Austin, we elected to take the most backroads route there to do a little exploring and see some interesting terrain. (Little did we know that we would see more cacti and dusty plains than we could handle in the coming days.) We had hoped to do an art session on the way but had to put it on the back burner as the explorations pushed our arrival time later and later. We stopped in Lockhart, "the barbecue capitol of Texas" and ate some barbecue that was good... Better than most of the brisket I've had in my life, but not as great as La Barbecue in Austin.

The vegetable options were corn, potatoes, and cabbage bathed in a variety of dairy products and condiments

I will also use the Supergeil scale because it makes Sam smile.

Then Sam got out of the car several times to take some pictures as we drove down tiny roads deep in the heart of Texas.

When we finally got to San Antonio we settled into our room at an airbnb. Our host, George, seemed to know everything there was to know about the city and after a lengthy and very informative chat we came up with a rough itinerary for our visit. I am not kidding when I tell you that George could come up with a tourist plan that would require two weeks. Although I was vaguely familiar with San Antonio's beloved Riverwalk, George explained it further for Sam and I. The Riverwalk is a series of walkways lining the San Antonio river one story below street level, though it is open air. (This isn't the ninja turtles!) It stretches for miles and the city is expanding it all the time.

George's enthusiasm for the parade was nonexistent, but he clearly understood why so many people would want to go and he gave us a ride into the historic district while it was still light.

George had mentioned a food truck court in waking distance from San Antonio's River Walk and we decided to eat there rather than the mostly tourist oriented places in that area.

The moment we finished we started to follow the trajectory of every other pedestrian we saw and wound up right above the river walk. The San Antonio Spurs were playing in a playoff round against the Dallas Mavericks at the time and several buildings in San Antonio had banners cheering them on, including the Hilton.

I feel sorry for the guy from Dallas on a business trip here

We later learned that this hotel, the Hilton Palacio del Rio (wiki), was a milestone in modular architecture, which meant every room was constructed and furnished eight miles away and then trucked to the site and locked into place, almost like Legos. The bathrooms even had toilet paper in them before they were placed in the building.

Back to the real mission: get a good spot for parade watching. The streets were packed with locals full of hometown pride and everyone seemed very excited about this tradition. We finally found a place where Sam could get a good perspective above the crowd without blocking people and we settled in for the Fiesta Flambeau Parade.

After that we decided to stroll the river walk back to George's place. It took about an hour but we had a chance to really experience it. There were shops, restaurants, hotels, art installations, and gardens, making for an experience that was a cross between the Highline in New York and a boat-based ride at Disney World. Tourists love it (I saw a woman spend $372 on a huge bag of chinzy souvenirs for people back home when I was picking up postcards), but unlike most of the touristy things I've been familiar with in places that I have lived — ahem, Times Square — the locals actually seem to appreciate it and feel proud of it too. I couldn't blame them, it was really well done.

The other side of the Hilton Palacio del Rio during the parade and the dangerous underbelly lurking below

The next morning we thought it would be a great idea to check out the Guenther House because George had dubbed their breakfast "heavenly". It was good food, but the 99 minute wait was unexpected and not a great use of our time. We did manage to pick up a small cake that we enjoyed over two evenings in Marfa, so there's that I guess. Oh, and we compiled the Best/Worst List (see sidebar) and posted it too. We'll call the stop at Guenther House mildly productive.

After that we realized we wouldn't have time to visit the Alamo or do a river tour before meeting Nathalie's little brother, who is a San Antonio resident and also named Sam. Instead we headed over to the Blue Star Art Complex and discovered much of it was closed on Sundays. Luckily the Blue Star Brewing was not and we enjoyed a flight of all of their beers. I drank the majority because we knew Sam Herbig would need to drive.

Other Sam introduced us to Rudy's barbecue and then we went to play giant jenga, cornhole, and hang out at a bar to let the heat of the day get over with as it was in the mid-90s in late April.

While talking to Sam we got to hear his thoughts on living there and he confirmed that San Antonians have a lot of hometown pride, are enthusiastic, family-oriented, and overall very polite. He also pointed out there are 300+ pool days a year. We were glad to see how happy he was there.

Here is the picture of the two Sam's so you can see how easily distinguishable they are aside from their names:

We hightailed it back downtown so we could catch a boat tour of the Riverwalk. As expected, it was a very Disney-like experience. The boat tour we took was shared by a group of more than 30 college girls who were in San Antonio for some dance competition, the boat captain was a very sweet (and patient) lady also named Sam, and the boat stalled out. We did not have to hear "It's a Small World" on repeat throughout though. It was actually a pretty fun time and a cute little tour.

Smiling on the new boat with fully operational motor

The last stop we knew we needed to make was to The Alamo, a site that was the bloody inspiration for Texan freedom. Davy Crockett (of coonskin cap and wild frontier fame) fought and died there along with many others. Here are some pictures of that, too.

The next morning we said goodbye to George and he gave us some helpful tips about Marfa and it's surrounding attractions, which we put to good use when we got there.

And there you have it: our 36 hours in San Antonio. Festive. Picturesque. Enthusiastic.

Up next, let's go get dusty in Marfa.

Random Facts and Statistics from San Antonio:

We had our first tequila shot of the trip here (with plenty more to come in the following week), a gift from Texas Sam.

According to a teenager at the parade, Sam looks like "that guy from Dexter". Compliment? Suuure, why not.

We saw so many Texas flags driving around here that we decided to do a count on our way to Marfa. That statistic to come next post!

categories Exploring
tags Texas, San Antonio, Parade, Riverwalk, Friends

Roadtrip Jetlag

May 06, 2014Whitney Lea

Beware. This is going to be a very long post. I missed you guys and I haven't written in so long!

We love New Orleans and couldn't wait to spend a few days there. And when we arrived we did what everyone goes to NOLA to do: hibernate.

It's funny. New Orleans is known as a party city - and while that's certainly the case, and we don't shy away from a good party - by the time we arrived we were exhausted.

Originally we thought we might try to take a beginner's scuba course at Ginnie Springs and then camp there on the Saturday before Easter, but we soon realized a lot of the eastern portion of the gulf coast was experiencing flooding and had to come up with a revised plan. We had decided that we would rather wake up in New Orleans on Easter morning than somewhere in the Florida panhandle or in Alabama or Mississippi so we drove the 9 hours and then flopped onto a king sized bed at a Days Hotel near the Louis Armstrong airport. The sleep was very deep.

We woke up seemingly energized on Easter morning, I threw on a flowery dress and my sun hat in lieu of an Easter bonnet, Sam donned a shirt with a collar that matched his shorts after I asked nicely and we headed to Marigny to check into the Lion's Inn. Little did I know that it was there that we would spend the bulk of our time.

One of these buildings is the Lion's Inn (and I think it's on the right)

We dropped off our stuff, parked the car, and ate an awesome breakfast at New Orleans Cake Cafe up the block. We split poached eggs, boudin, and grits, as well as the red velvet cupcake they let us add to the meal for a buck. Feeling full we thought we were all charged up for an Easter Sunday full of parades and exploring.

We did manage to catch a parade before the exhaustion set in, the Chris Owens Easter parade. There were a number of floats, antique cars, and lots of people throwing beads, stuffed animals, Easter eggs filled with candy, hell - anything really. I caught two brand new shower loofahs. No joke.

We found a spot with shade and good photo ops and started chatting up the family next to us when suddenly we heard someone yell Sam's name from across the street. It was a high school friend of his from long island, Nick, and his wife, Rina, and their 10 month old daughter, Ava.

We run into Nick more than anyone we know so initially I was mostly shocked to see that Nick was a father because I had no idea. You see the last time I ran into him it was in Coney Island nearly two years ago and it was just him and Rina. And then my brain realized that not only had we run into them, but we ran into him at a parade in New Orleans! How crazy is that? They had moved down recently and seemed to be really happy. They had decided to swing by the parade while they were out for groceries and we both picked the same block to watch. It was nice to see them and meet their daughter.

After that we had a cocktail on the balcony of Muriel's, where we had our fancy honeymoon dinner over a year and a half ago.

And then it was time for a swim at the pool at the Lion's Inn. The water was pretty cold, but the air temperature was in the 80s so we enjoyed ourselves and then took what we thought would be a short and reenergizing nap. When we got up we went to try Dat Dog, a New Orleans establishment that has grown in number of locations as well as people heart's.

Here's where the exhaustion I initially mentioned kicked in. The nap we took hadn't served to wake us up. It gave us a taste of simmering we sorely lacked. It felt like the jet lag you get from a transatlantic flight. We were sitting on the corner of Frenchman and Chartres streets. We could hear the great live music that Frenchman street promises. We could see people getting their nights started. We had already taken a nap. And yet, we were so tired we headed back to our room after we ate, to get a fix (of sleep, that is).

The next morning we had plans to go to the Audubon Park Zoo with our friend Lisa and he boyfriend Craig, but before we could do that we went to see Lisa's dad, an ophthalmologist, about a little problem I'd been having with my contacts ever since we hit the road. He fixed me right up, but time is part of the fixing, so for the time being I've been using just one contact lens or wearing my dorky glasses. I sure was grateful he could take care of me though!

The zoo was great. Craig does security there so our visit was full of insider stories and anecdotes about the animals and we got a taste of many of their personalities from the stories he told.

We got some awesome food at Juan's Flying Burrito, another NOLA favorite, and soon thereafter Lisa had to head out to Monroe, Mississippi to do her final week on a movie she was working on.

Half moon, half bounty hunter, half people

After we parted ways, Sam and I decided we felt very inspired by the sun bears we had seen sprawled out sleeping in the sun in their cozy pens at the zoo. It was decided that we should try to reenact their relaxation back at the Lion's Inn, only to wake up and decide we would feel perfectly happy just sleeping more. We did a blog post and then crashed again. I'm sure the sun bears would have been very proud.

Every now and then on the road we get a taste of the responsibilities we have that we couldn't manage to leave behind. Health issues were one. So was this computer issue that came up in Austin. Washing clothes. Long-term budgeting. It brings you back to realty in a way that doesn't happen as often as when you're just on a short vacation. Usually that realty happens when you get back home.

The Realty vs. Vacation concept started swirling in my mind after the eye issue while at the same time I gave a lot of thought about the fact that we spent so much time resting in New Orleans. The activities we wound up doing on our first two days there weren't unlike having a weekend at home. We went to the parade and napped. We went to the zoo and napped. Then we went to bed after the nap!

I saw us sleeping our time away and wanted to rally on our last day. I wanted it to be full of the things that I love about New Orleans. Food. Music. Art. Exploring. And we made that happen. And we still found time for our newest favorite activity -- you guessed it! Napping.

We ate breakfast at Cafe du Monde and it was lovely though I swear they shrank their beignets! Then we walked around and discovered Dutch Alley artists complex that featured local art, including some printmaking work that left me feeling really inspired. A sleepy haze started to set in, but I knew I had to push through it.

After a lot of dazed wandering we decided it was time to get Po'Boys and managed to sneak in the door before Domilise's (tripadvisor!) closed at 3. By 4, we were munching on snowballs from Hansen's Sno-bliz.

As a near expert in the art of the Mittagsschlaf, I can tell you naps are much better with a full belly and knowing that something has actually been accomplished that day. We had covered a lot of the eating/exploring by 5 and knew that the Rebirth Brass Band set at the Maple Leaf wouldn't start til 11, so we did the only sensible thing that a full and weary traveler could do: we napped.

Good food is a great wake to jolt me back to full consciousness, so let's fast forward to dinner. I was a super picky eater for most if my life and after I met Sam I branched out a lot. I try not to say no to a bite of anything offered my way at this point and thusly get very excited about new and tasty food. New Orleans is like the Holy Land for me. The budget was getting tight but we were dying to try the food at Jaques-Imo's because Lisa told us it was fantastic. We put out names down, nursed a beer at their bar for an hour (if you read the statistics post you know this wasn't our longest wait if the trip, though it's still the most worthwhile) and were treated to one of the most excellent meals we will have on this trip.

We had to split one entree because of our budget and ordered the quail because we had never eaten quail before, so why not! We knew it came with a salad and sides so we would have enough food that we wouldn't go hungry. Instead we were given the biggest lagniappe (New Orleans speak for "the hook-up") we could have imagined. We each got a tasty little salad, each topped with a fried oyster - that we enjoyed a lot more than the raw one in Key West - along with an awesome piece of cornbread. When the entrée came out we each had a plate with a quail on it. I was terrified that there had been a misunderstanding and the waiter thought we had ordered two, but after the first bite I didn't care. Sam and I were eating and grinning like idiots and I was more awake than I had been in days. It was so good we decided that if we were only charged for one entrée we would go for dessert. The check came out and wouldn't you know! We asked about dessert but everything aside from Bread pudding was sold out. Worry not! Our luck hadn't run out! The waitress said that only "ugly pieces" of bread pudding were left and she gave it to us for free despite our protests in an attempt to be noble. It was the tastiest bread pudding I have ever had, free or otherwise. Needless to say, we were so glad we spent our money there and felt really special and full by the end.

We rolled - almost literally - over to the Maple Leaf and got to listen to the first set and a half of the Rebirth Brass Band, though we retreated to the back of the bar by the third song so we could actually hear (surprisingly, this popular music venue has pretty rough acoustics) and had a nice time listening to them jam. We drove back to the Lion's Inn one last time before heading out to Austin.

Random Statistics:
Number of crimes we have been moments away from witnessing: 2 that we know of! Remember Charleston? That was one. The second was a young man who shot up a truck at a gas station along with several other gun-related activities. We let a cop pass us at a light in New Orleans and then we drove by as the truck owner pointed the cop in the direction of the perp. The truck had at least 5 bullet holes though the man and his young son were OK. As we took a ramp to enter a highway a few blocks later, we saw a cop draw his gun and a figure down a street we were overlooking duck behind his car. We're pretty sure he was the guy. We never witnessed a gun crime in New York so it's remarkable to be close to two in a matter of weeks.

Best meal we had: definitely Jaques-Imo's

Coolest animal at the zoo: the elephant took a small tree apart while we watched her, so she wins for the action-packed experience. The sun bears win for most inspiring.

Biggest jerks at the zoo: big white pelicans that definitely enjoyed pushing sunbathing turtles off of logs.

Number of naps we took: 3 plus going to bed early 2 nights in a row. What is happening to me? I used to be a night owl!

Best bathroom decorations: Audubon Zoo's animal tiles