Hey, Everybody,
So, I said that we were headed off on yet another adventure last time we spoke. Specifically, we were driving down to San Antonio.
I also hinted that this was going to be one of our bumpier adventures. Oh, we had fun. It was a blast...
But...
Well, let’s just say there were few teeny, tiny little potholes along the road. How big were those itsy-bitsy, little potholes? you ask.
Ah, I answer. You ever see a picture of one of those mysterious sinkholes that suddenly appears in the ground and swallows up a car? Or a truck? Or a whole dang house?
Sort of like that.
But we kept a very good attitude about it.
About the photo: this is a selfie we took at the very end of our San Antonio trip. We were at the Pearl, which used to be a big brewery and is now a residence and retail district. There will be lots more about it to come.
Okay, what was taking us to San Antonio? A couple of things, actually. I’ll talk about the first reason now and the second reason next time.
Anyway, the first one, we just happen to like the city. It feels like a *city* to us. There is a distinct Downtown, and there are places where the architecture is recognizably pre-war. That means it is more like Eastern Cities -- Boston, say -- than is Austin, which feels to us like one vast urban sprawl, almost all of it built very recently. As in, maybe the day before yesterday. As in...yeah...no freaking kidding...it may have been finished the day before freaking yesterday. (Yikes!)
It is also more controlled, less chaotic...and there is a mixture of older and younger people. Oh, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of young people around San Anonio, and it gives the city a lovely energy. But it isn’t like Austin, where it seems like when Martha and I go into a cafe or restaurant, we elevate the average age by about a decade. All by ourselves. Which I wouldn’t mind, particularly, if the waitresses didn’t keep checking me for signs of drooling and/or senile dementia. I mean, really, I may be demented. But I’ve been that for years. Nothing to do with senility. Some would say it’s my way of life.
Anyway...we fell in love with San Antonio when our kids were living there. It was where they owned their first home...which, by the way, they rebuilt from what was basically a ruin in an area called “Southtown.” I was amazed by what they did with it. Quite proud.
We visited them a couple of times and when we decided that we’d move to Texas to be near them, I had a plan worked out. It was a humdinger of a plan. So humDINGER as to be positively bell-like. I mean, it would be the Quasimodo of brilliant ideas.
We’d move, I figured, near them. We’d buy a nice little condo in Southtown, someplace near the river, and probably not far from the Blue Star Arts Complex -- which used to be the Blue Star brewery, but which has been converted into, well, an arts space (https://bluestarartscomplex.com/). There’s some little shops and a performance space and some really cool restaurants ...of which my favorite is probably the Halcyon “Coffee+Bar+Lounge” (http://halcyoncoffeebar.com/location/san-antonio)
Then, I thought, once we’d moved, we’d establish a routine. Each morning, while Martha slept in, I would get up and take a jog down by the River (which has a really great path by it. More about “the River Walk” later). And/or, I’d take our little dog, Oreo, for a walk along the same path. Then, we’d meet Martha at the Halcyon for breakfast (they make a great egg sandwich) and coffee. Then we’d leisurely drift back to the condo and work until lunch...after which, depending on our mood, we might drift back to the Blue Star and have an ice cream at the South Alamode Panini & Gelato Co. (https://www.southalamodepaniniandgelato.com/), which is conveniently located right around the corner from the coffee shop.
As I say, a terrific plan. A fantastic plan. A work of genius. If I do say so myself. And I do. ‘Cause no one else would say anything that stupid. But, anyway...everything looked just ducky ...
Except...first, we found how much condos cost in San Antonio (it, too, is a booming city. Just saw an ad reading “1 bed, 1 bath, $300K”). Then, well, the jog looked awfully sweaty in summer. And my cardiologist would have drawn the line at egg sandwiches every morning. And, then, sigh, just before we left Albuquerque, Oreo, our sweet little Shih-Tzu, crossed the rainbow bridge. And then...and then....most of all...
...the kids got better jobs in Austin and off they went.
So much for the Great San Antonio Caper. But, I suppose, it was all for the best. The kids were happier in Austin. And we got way more house in Georgetown than we could have gotten Condo in San Antonio.
Still...maybe not all hope is lost. Maybe the grandkids will decide they want to go to college at UT at San Antonio. We’ll just have to get that condo and move down to be near ‘em. It’s only twenty so years in the future.
And, heck, by the time, I’ll be 85. And daily egg sandwiches will be back on the menu. I mean, I’ll be eighty-dang-freaking-five. By that time, I could be scarfing down nothing but deep-fried Twinkie cakes with Methamphetamine stuffing, and absolutely nobody will care...
Okay, I don’t really like Twinkies. But it would be nice to have the option.
More ...and more about San Antonio... to come.
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p.s. Just as an aside, should you be interested in moving to San Antonio, and need a condo, and have a spare $7 million to employ, here’s a place that might just be right up your alley.
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Copyright©2022 Michael Jay Tucker
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