Day 6 "Never forget the Alamo!", or words to that effect

This morning we started out early with a nice big breakfast buffet at our retro hotel. Sam finished off 4 sausages, eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 bowls of cereal and a piece of toast, while the rest of us were a little more selective at the buffet. The hotel is trying hard to compete with the chains further down the Riverwalk, and the staff is very helpful and accommodating.

We decided to take the surface streets to the Alamo to get there as quickly as possible. The water route meanders back and forth and goes away from where we wanted to be.

. We stopped by the Buckhorn Palace, where Teddy Roosevelt recruited and organized the Rough Riders.

, Sam almost got eaten by a lion

, partied with a deer

and got stuck in a store window.

Because the Alamo is considered a shrine to the men who died there, no pictures can be taken inside, but we shot a few outside and within the grounds.

After we left the Alamo we had a quick lunch downtown and headed back to the hotel for a swim, but a very loud thunderclap scared us out of the pool quickly.

We hung out on a veranda overlooking the Riverwalk for a while, and checked out the wildlife the hotel has in some enclosures near the pool, including a toucan and an iguana. The rain continued so we decided to have some rest time in our room. Later, the clouds lifted a little so we returned to downtown in the hopes of taking a boat ride and having dinner. Unfortunately the boats quit for the day due to the rain.

, But we had a nice dinner on the Walk at Casa Rio, complete with Mariachi musicians and lots of ducks,

. as well as "Alamo" beer. It's actually made in Blanco Texas, about 50 miles north of San Antonio. Tasty, though.

On the way back to the hotel we came across some huge wooly caterpillars, more ducks, an intricate tile spillway, the Holiday Inn (I bet PeePaw stayed there with Nana), and a giant seat carved out of a tree.

Then, right outside the hotel, we spied a roadrunner (beep! beep!) and a big owl (probably hunting rodents).

The kids capped off the night with a late night swim. The pool is illuminated with lights that change colors and indeed looks very Tropical and festive at night. Tomorrow we hope to get that boat ride in the morning, and then get to the airport about noon for our flight to Las Vegas via Denver. I hope to have lots of pictures of the Rockies and Sin City to post tomorrow. Please reply here or email a response. I am beginning to think there are only 1 or 2 folks reading this. Bye!