Riverwalk San Antonio Texas May 2021

 You can't go to San Antonio without seeing the Riverwalk!

Alamo Related Toy Soldiers

 And, just for the heck of it, while I am still on an Alamo kick........  Here are a couple of photos of Alamo collectibles I like a lot.....

The top photo shows some roughly 1/32nd scale soldiers I have painted.  Most are made by the great toy soldier companies Conte, TSSD, and Expeditionary Forces.  The top shelf is mostly well known Alamo defenders.  The bottom shelf is made up of Santa Anna's Army, with a couple of defenders misplaced beside them.

The lower photo shows a couple of action figures I remember from my childhood.

The Little Legends/Legends of the West line was out in the late 70s and early 80s.  They were the same scale as Star Wars, so you could have Davy Crockett shooting down aliens at your creature cantina playset.

I loved these small figures when I was little and I remember my mom buying them for me at some of the stores in Owensboro.

On the right is a very traditional looking Davy Crockett.  On the left is Santa Anna figure who really doesn't look that much like the famous Alamo general.

 

Briscoe Western Art Museum San Antonio Texas May 2021

I tip my hat to Davy Crockett's Cabin located inside of the Menger Hotel in San Antonio for telling us about the wonderful Briscoe Western Art Museum.

Menger Hotel San Antonio Texas May 2021

 There are some hotels around that are straight up legendary.  The Menger is at the top of that list.  In the massive state of Texas, it might be the MOST legendary.  

On our recent trip to town, we were able to spend some quality time there over a few nights.

We had a very cozy room and we had several meals at the restaurant.

The Menger is famously haunted- though we did not experience anything ourselves on this visit.  I DID hear a weird voice there on a previous visit, and I did bring that up briefly in the video.

I am fascinated with this hotel for several reasons myself as it is built right beside the Alamo.  No doubt, men fell on this ground at that time.  Also, Teddy Roosevelt and Gutzon Borglum spent time here.  AND, its just a beautiful old hotel.

Davy Crockett's Cabin San Antonio Texas

Inside of the Menger hotel, there are several cute little shops.  We had enjoyed visiting the old toy soldier shop that used to be there selling King and Country Miniatures.

Well, that spot is now occupied by the GREAT Davy Crockett's Cabin!

Sure, they had some of the basics other stores had, like T-shirts.  BUT, they had some more interesting items too.  Like the shop here before it, they had some highly detailed and collectible toy soldiers.  For the kids, they had bags of plastic soldiers and other toys.

They had an impressive selection of books too.  AND, it was the only place in town where I found a Lego style Davy Crockett mini figure (the Legoland Discovery Center next door didn't even sell one of these!).

AND, the very friendly fellow who runs the place, Martin, is a great ambassador for the area!  We ended up talking to him for a long time, and he made several suggestions for our visit to the area! 

Again, this great shop is just a baseball's throw away from the Alamo AND it is inside of the historic Menger Hotel!

 

Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk May 2021

  On our first trip to San Antonio, we stayed at the very nice Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk.  We stopped by again and hung out our trip in May 2021.

Starbucks in San Antonio Texas

Inside of the Shops at Rivercenter Mall, just steps away from the Alamo, we stopped by a cozy little Starbucks one evening.  

I know, its a Starbucks, but I admired all of the artsy references to the Alamo inside.

 

H & R Bakery in Salem Indiana

Salm Indiana has about one of the all time coolest coffee/donut places I have ever scene.  We stopped on a recent trip through southern Indiana and I am so glad we found this place.

When you walk in it has a spacious traditional donut shop feel...  there are display counters full of various donuts.

I ordered a pastry and coffee and both were great.  There was a very sweet lady who took my order too.  

The thing that really impressed me though was that the place has a toy train display!  There is a nice seating area where you are surrounded by shelves of trains, and a layout that goes along the wall!

I have always appreciated a train layout, and have even done some stuff in HO scale myself.  I believe the collection here is bit bigger than HO (S?)

It looks great though, and I enjoyed checking it all out.  

Downtown Salem is just a bit off of the main drag, so make sure you look for it on your next roadtrip!

 

Hard Rock Cafe San Antonio Texas

I wanted to put up a few photos from the Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio.  I still love stopping by HRCs when we travel.  I usually pick up a pin or two.

I know the chain has become a bit cliche over the years.....  but I always love seeing cool rock memorabilia.  AND, I have never had a bad meal at one.

 

The Alamo in San Antonio Texas May 2021

 We were so lucky to visit the Alamo in San Antonio Texas again recently.  I posted this video to youtube about it.  

Here are also a couple of photos with a Teddy Roosevelt look a like Texas Ranger, and reenactors at the Alamo.  

Also I have included the small container that holds the remains of the Alamo defenders in the front of the San Fernando Cathedral.  No visit to San Antonio or the Alamo is complete with out stopping by this wonderful church.

AND, ANOTHER trip to San Antonio Texas!

So, not too long ago my wife and I were thinking of doing a four day trip somewhere, and she suggested San Antonio.....  again.  I immediately said that sounded good to me.  No arguments.  San Antonio has become one of those places we love, and we are OK with going back as often as possible.  There are spots there I feel drawn to......  and spots that I still want to discover.

This would be our 3rd trip to this great Texas town in about a six year period.  

I made several videos of our time in town that I will be posting.

Of course we spent time at the Alamo again.  We went to the market.  We were all over the Riverwalk.

We did visit the AMAZING Briscoe Western Art Museum for the first time.  We were FINALLY able to stay at the legendary Menger Hotel.  AND we attended a service at the San Fernando Cathedral.  More on all of those things later.

San Antonio is filled with historic hotels, and we felt lucky to get a room at the Menger this time, but we still ended up hanging out a bit at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk, which is right across the street from the Alamo.

We stayed at this slick hotel on our first trip to town and it is kinda special to up.  Part of the Riverwalk actually flows through the hotel.

On our first trip to San Antonio, we really enjoyed our stay at this hotel, and we hung out at their coffee shop each day, enjoying tea and coffee, and writing out our postcards.

It was nice going back to that little spot, which might be unremarkable to some, but has become special and sentimental to us.

We really enjoyed the service at the San Fernando Cathedral too.  Your visit to the Alamo is incomplete if you don't visit this church, as the remains of the Alamo defenders are here AND the church played a part in the battle.

I asked the priest to bless some water for me and he said a very sweet blessing.  I can't really explain it, but this church service and interaction with the priest was very special for me.

This was our first trip that we were not able to do a ghost tour with Sisters Grimm, but we still made a quick stop to their shop, which is inside of the Menger Hotel (accessible from the outside of the building).  I have raved about them before and I hope you make sure to do a tour with them on your San Antonio trip.  I really love what they do.

I will be posting some video's over the next few days of one of this great and historically rich city.

 

Mill Springs Kentucky and Battlefield Coffee Co. in Nancy KY May 2021

 

I have posted video on the Battle of Mill Springs before, but here is a bit more to go with it........