San Antonio & Austin -- Twenty-Ten

Over Norah's birthday weekend, we took a trip to San Antonio where Nana was staying in town. She had a meeting on Tuesday, but had a great idea to come early, then we could come up and do some tourist-y type things together. As long as everyone was fed on time (ah-hem, Adam, ah-hem) it was a really, really great weekend.

On Saturday (1.30.10) we took an elevator up to the Tower of the America's.
It was much like the Space Needle in Seattle, just not as tall.

The kids loved the fountains and pools around the Tower.

In the early evening, we stopped by the River Walk and had drinks at The Contessa hotel. The hotel's patio is right in front of Marriage Island. A very (very!) small island that sees many small wedding services and such. While we were sipping our cocktails, we witnessed a military couple get engaged and another couple get married, Texas-style with wrangler jeans and cowboy hats & boots.

For Lunch, we went to the Pearl Brewery Area -- a yuppy-ish area with organic food stores, small deli's and an Aveda School. :) The lunch we had there was incredible! We ate at Texas Food to Table Cafe -- again... so good!!

This is in front of Pearl Stable, an old roundhouse that was actually originally a stable -- not a railway roundhouse. Nana got us inside for a quick look, and the man working gave us quite a history lesson of the building. It is now refurbished inside and used for events, such as weddings...

and luckily enough, there was a mobile cupcake van in the neighborhood!
We had yummy cupcakes to celebrate a very sweet little girl's birthday!

On Sunday (1.31.10), after at stop at Salt Lick BBQ (OH, yeah... it was good!) we went to Austin and the Capitol building.. I have really enjoyed learning about Texas history and its patriots. Things that most of my friends here have learned their entire lives, I am learning about and seeing for the first-ish time. Of course, I remember the Alamo (nice, huh?) but most everything else were just names thrown around that have never sunk in, til now.

inside the rotunda of the Capitol

ok, there's a story behind this one, too... I asked Nana to take a picture of us, not knowing her fear of heights actually orginated in the Capitol building in Colorado. This is where her 3rd grade class went and at some point she was left at the top of the building and she had to climb down the stair case that had no railings. (did I tell the story right, Suz?) Anyway, here I was asking Nana to stand over the railing and not only look over, but focus long enough to take a couple of pictures of us! Well... needless to say, Nana earned her martini that night!

on our way to the visitors center - I just thought this one was sweet...

and one last look at the Capitol --
even in the gray and taupe colors of winter, the building is so amazing.

The mini-vacation was so great...
another memory to store away and take out later to reminisce and enjoy.