Thursday, November 3, Schertz & San Antonio TX. Another week, more great family, friends and hosts. Claire, Dave, & Regina earlier this week and now Chili and Peggy.
This morning, Chili and Peggy took me to the Mercado (Market) in San Antonio. Tuesday was Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead, and Mexican tradition is to build an altar with pictures of relatives who have passed surrounded by things they loved in life. Watch “Coco” for an entertaining and culturally accurate and informative animated treatment of Dia de Muertos.
The market was full of very colorful Mexican and South American products – clothes, bags, trinkets, Dia de Muertos skeletons, and more, and there was a second market across the street. A wide variety of food vendors, too, but Chili had another plan in store for lunch.
Chili and Peggy treated me to lunch at Mi Tierra which was also in the same plaza. Mi Tierra (From the Earth) is an excellent restaurant and bakery. Definitely touristy but, worth the trip just for the visuals. The bakery section was probably 20 ft wide with many choices of pastries and sweets.
We had a little bit of a wait, but it was worth it, that’s the meal was excellent and they were Mariachis strolling the room and playing and singing for anyone who would drop them a 20 and fortunately there were other patrons there who did.
We took Peggy back home and Chili took me to the Briscoe Museum of the old west. Along with paintings and sculptures in the Museum’s regular collection, there was an exhibition of photos: Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild. I’m sure Chili had seen the regular exhibits multiple times, so I was glad there was something new there for him to enjoy, too. Oh, did we enjoy! The photos and their accompanying stories were magnificent. The brown bear snagging a salmon is one of his iconic images, but there was so much more.
After the museum, we strolled the Riverwalk; just enough to get the feel for it. Since we were so close to the Alamo, even though I said I didn’t need to see it, Chili humored me and we walked through the mission and displays and took in the short movie. Even re-learned something that I knew but forgot: Santa Anna brought 6,000 men against 200 defenders.
On our way home we stopped for groceries and I stocked up for the 15 hr train ride to New Orleans on Friday morning. Chili made a delicious stir fry and we all turned in for tomorrow’s early start.
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