M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 13

Coming to #RWA14? Day Trips from San Antonio

 

One of the things my husband and I love to do is day trips. We head an hour or two out of town, poke around, then head back to sleep in our own bed. There are a lot of fun day trips to take from San Antonio. Here are some of our favorites:

1) The coast. Head south on 281 for a couple of hours and you end up in Corpus Christi. We like to head across the bridge and go to Mustang Beach.  We like to eat at Snoopy’s, just off the bridge on South Padre Island Drive.

2) Fredericksburg. It’s a sweet little town about an hour and a half north of San Antonio (take I-10 West and take a right at the sign and drive for another good while.) It’s a German settlement in the Hill Country, with lots of cute shops and a wonderful bakery along the main street. We like to eat at Wheeler’s or The Buffalo Nickel. My mom and I go every chance we get! Also, there are a lot of wineries in the area, and you can go on a tour. If you’re not up for a tour, there are at least three places on the main street that offer wine tasting. There are some microbreweries, too.

3) Austin. Traffic is bad, no matter what time you go, but there’s a lot to see–the capitol building, Sixth Street, Stubbs, Barton Creek, lots of places to hear music. We like to eat on South Congress, but parking is always premium, and be prepared to wait for a table.

4) Lockhart. You can get there either going east on I-10 or north on 35, then exiting and traveling a bit. Lockhart is known for its barbecue (we like Black’s) but the center of town has some cute little shops, too. Not nearly as many as Fredericksburg, though.

5) Shiner. To be fair, the only reason we went here was to tour the brewery, which was WAY smaller than I expected. The tour is free, less than half an hour (and it takes a good 90 minutes to get to Shiner), but you get 5 free beer samples. We went two days in a row.

6) Johnson City. This is the birthplace of LBJ, and you can tour his ranch. There are also little shops around, and wineries. Mostly I remember seeing longhorns out that way.

7) Bandera. They call it the Cowboy Capital, but then Pleasanton says it’s the Birthplace of the Cowboy. Who knows. Bandera has a few antique shops and a museum and barbecue. The Medina River runs near there, but the last time we went, it was dried up.

8) Bastrop. This is a town east of Austin, not too far from Lockhart. Be sure to visit Historic Bastrop, a collection of cute little shops. It’s smaller than Fredericksburg–at least the historic part is. It’s right on the Colorado River, so there are water activities, too. We went in January, so not a lot of that! Also, if you travel a bit to the north, you can see the damage from the largest forest fire in Texas. It was pretty stunning to me, since we don’t have a lot of fires in Texas!

9) New Braunfels. The oldest bakery in Texas lives here, and it’s goooooood. There are antique shops as well as Schlitterbahn, the ginormous water park, the Guadalupe River, on which people like to go tubing. We don’t usually eat here because our favorite place is the next town over.

10) Gruene. My favorite. If you’re my friend on Facebook, you know I’m almost always heading to Gruene. The town has changed a LOT since we started going there. It used to be a main street with little shops, a dance hall and a few restaurants, including The Gristmill, a giant restaurant overlooking the Guadalupe River. Now it has new shops, too, which I haven’t visited, lots of restaurants, though our favorite remains The Gristmill. It also has the oldest dancehall in Texas, which was in the movie Michael, and upon whose stage I have sung :)

Next week: Places you want to eat in San Antonio!

Coming to #RWA14? Some Places to Eat in San Antonio

In San Antonio, we LOVE food. You will NOT go hungry if you come to RWA. You might go broke trying all these different places, but not hungry.

On the river:

Casa Rio is the Mexican restaurant you see featured in so many San Antonio Riverwalk pictures, with the colorful umbrellas. Tourists like it.  It’s not too badly priced, between $10-$15 a plate.

Mexican Manhattan is one of my brother’s favorites. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard good things. Prices average around $15.

Dick’s Last Resort is a rowdy restaurant with barbecue and more. Most meals are between $15 and $20.

County Line Barbecue is good. I LOVE their cole slaw. It’s fairly casual, and between $15 and $20.

Saltgrass Steakhouse is my favorite steakhouse in San Antonio. I’ve not gone to the Riverwalk location, but whenever we go out for steak, it’s to Saltgrass. I like the prime rib. Prices between $15 to $30

In the mall:

Fogo de Chao is our special occasion restaurant, a Brazilian steakhouse where the waiters walk around with spits of meat and carve it off for you at the table. About $50 a person, and you might end up in a meat stupor. But it’s a nice treat.

There’s a food court in the mall as well, on the lower level, and a few restaurants like Tony Roma’s and Hooters.

A hop, skip and a jump away:

Shilo’s is a sandwich shop within walking distance on Commerce. My husband loves their reuben sandwiches. I love their homemade root beer. They’re also open for breakfast. I can’t find prices, and I haven’t been there in awhile, but it’s yummy.

Rainforest Cafe–If you’ve never been to one, it is fun, and atmospheric, but if you’ve been, well, it’s just like the others. Around $20 a person.

Rosario’s–my very favorite Mexican food restaurant. This is more than a hop away, though. It’s about a mile and a half away, down Alamo Street, and it is usually very busy, but so worth the wait! Parking is terrible, but food is good. I love love love the enchiladas suizas. So rich and tasty. Also, wonderful drinks. Around $15  a person.

Blue Star Brewery is a microbrewery in the King William area. It’s about 2 miles away, and doesn’t have a big menu, but has delicious beer and good food. About $15-$20 a person.

Guenther House is my favorite place for breakfast. I always take my out of town company for the delicious biscuits. It’s across the street from the Blue Star, in the home of the founder of Pioneer flour, so all of their food are flour based–biscuits and gravy, pancakes, waffles. My mom loves their pecan coffee, I love their biscuits. They have a small indoor seating area, and an outdoor area. Not many tables, though, and not really set up for large groups. Still, a definite stop to make!

The Tower of the Americas has a happy hour nightly, from 4:30-7, with drinks and appetizers. I believe if you say you’re going to the happy hour,  you don’t have to pay to go up in the tower. I’ll double check with that. Drinks are no more than $7.

Coming to #RWA14? Some Things to Do in San Antonio

San Antonio has so much to offer, lots of sightseeing to be done. I’m struggling right now, though, with my dad and stepmom coming in this weekend, trying to find something to do. They’ve been here at least a dozen times, you know, and we’ve done a lot of the major things.

Here’s some things you might want to try if you come to San Antonio for RWA.

Within walking distance

1) The Alamo. It’s RIGHT by the conference hotel. Be aware it’s smaller than you may expect. The complex was much larger at the time of the battle, extending across the street from where the Alamo sits. It’s likely to have a long line to get in, because, like I said, it’s not very big. But it doesn’t take long to go through.FREE
2) The Tower of the Americas. Ride up the elevator for a great view of the city. Warning: If you’ve been on the Space Needle, the view isn’t nearly as stunning, but you can see miles and miles of Texas. $15 a person, but free if you go to the restaurant. And the restaurant has an excellent happy hour.
3) The Institute of Texan Cultures. A museum dedicated to the history of Texas. When I was in college, I dressed up and showed people how to spin wool into yarn and how to weave. $8
4) The Riverwalk–lots of restaurants and bars, and you can ride the barges for about $8 a person. The tour is a good deal, because the guide will give you some San Antonio history.
5) La Villita–some little shops in an historic area of town

A little farther afield (but still downtown–you can take a streetcar for a very low price)

1) The King William district–stately old homes, many renovated. You can tour the Steves Homestead if you like.
2) El Mercado–a great place for souvenirs, many of them brought from Mexico.
3) The Buckhorn Saloon and Texas Ranger Museum. I haven’t been here since it moved, but my aunt and uncle went last year and enjoyed it.

Farther yet:

1) The Missions. The Alamo is technically not one of the missions, since it never operated as a church. Of the missions, San Jose is in the best shape, followed by Concepcion. San Jose is farther.
2) Sea World. Has a water park, but you have to pay extra.
3) Fiesta Texas. Has a water park. This is important because it will be HOT.
4) Splashtown–is a water park.
5) The Zoo. It is awesome. Also, it will be crowded.
6) The Botanical Gardens.
7) Sunken Gardens–right next to the zoo, free, lots of stairs. Not very big, but a nice way to spend a morning.
8) San Antonio Museum of Art–quite large, in a beautiful old brewery. Also, it’s on the San Antonio river, the not-crowded part.
9) Natural Bridge Caverns, which is a little out of town on the north side.

Have I got you interested yet?

Later this week: Day Trips and Places to Eat!

Coming to #RWA14? Some Things to Know About San Antonio

 

Next week registration for the annual RWA Conference. I’m so excited RWA will be coming to my hometown this year. I thought I’d fill you in a bit on what to expect in beautiful San Antonio.

 

It is going to be HOT. It’s July in South Central Texas. We’ll probably start most mornings in the mid-70s and end in the upper 90s. Just be glad it’s not August. August for Texans is like January for northerners. We try not to go outside, and pray the power stays on.
Our public transportation system is not the best. You should be able to get around downtown okay, but if you’re wanting to get away from the center of town, it won’t be too easy. San Antonio spreads all over the place. If, for example, you want to go Sea World or Fiesta Texas, which are on the far north side of town, plan on driving at least half an hour.
There are a LOT of places to eat. A. Lot. I remember going to the Dallas conference in 2004 and not being able to find anything outside of the hotel. NOT a problem in San Antonio. You have everything from the Food Court in the mall to an assortment of restaurants on the Riverwalk to restaurants in South Town…you will NOT go hungry.
San Antonio is family-friendly. If you’re bringing the family, there are many options to entertain them while you’re at the conference!
Lots and lots of history makes San Antonio what it is. The Alamo, La Villita, El Mercado, The Menger Hotel–all of them have a story. That’s just off the top of my head!
You probably won’t encounter a lot of cowboys. Hurts, I know. Most of the cowboys are south or west of the city. You’ll probably see airmen and soldiers, but they’ll likely be very young, and with their moms and dads on a visit to the city.
The San Antonio River will probably make some of you laugh. By Texas standards, it is a river. By, say, Tennessee standards, it’s a creek.
There are a lot of places to visit that are a good day trip, if you come down early. The coast is a couple of hours, Fredericksburg an hour and a half to the north, outlet malls about an hour west.
We have a decent minor league baseball team, and they’ll have home games against Corpus Christi early in the week.
No matter what you like to drink, you can find a place to do it in San Antonio. The Tower, microbreweries, on the river–plenty of places to meet up for a cool drink and great scenery!

Later this week: Places to See, Places to Eat, and Day Trips!

Goals for the Week of the Fourth

I was telling Fred this summer is going so fast! I’ve not yet gotten out my sewing machine, I’m not to the halfway point in my novel, I’ve only sat outside to write 3 days. I have gone to the beach, gone to lots of little small towns, read 4 books and have watched a season of True Blood (season 5). I wish the things I haven’t done didn’t stress me out. But to that end, here are my goals for the week.

 

Get to the 2/3 point of the new book
Celebrate Independence Day
Shopping with Mom
Make something fun from Pinterest
Continue cleaning/decluttering
clean/cook/exercise

Goals for the Week of….NOTHING

Whew! The beach was wonderful–but I could have stayed another day or two. Not Fred. He was done with sand. I spent the rest of the week wondering why I wasn’t at the beach… I did do a lot of walking there, and swimming, but other than yard work, no exercise since we got back.

But I did NO writing, so I need to get back to that this week!

Get to the 1/2 way point of the new book
Shopping with Mom
Make something fun from Pinterest
Continue cleaning/decluttering
clean/cook/exercise

Go Spurs Go!

 

The first time the Spurs won a championship, in 1999, was our first year in this house. I think I wore a Spurs shirt every day that summer. I’d been a Spurs fan for a number of years, since David Robinson came to town and I met Cindi, who is a rabid Spurs fan. I remember we watched every play-off game, and, well, my poor grandmother. She stayed with us that summer and we made her watch the games with us (not that she could sleep with all the yelling!) We stopped at roadside stands for MORE Spurs shirts and a flag for the car. I took Josh, who was 7 at the time, on the bus downtown to the river parade (which I still think is a wicked cool way to celebrate.) It was a blast, even though I was scared to go alone! (Fred was working the parade for the news.)

I don’t remember when I started drifting away from the Spurs, or from basketball. I know I started getting more serious about my writing in 2000, and watching an average of 3 games a week was a pretty big time commitment. By the time this year rolled around, all I cared about was that Spurs in the playoffs meant we could wear jeans with Spurs shirts on game day. And it seemed whenever I tuned into a game, the tides would change, so I stopped watching so I wouldn’t jinx them.

But I watched the second half of the last two games and was blown away by the determination of the Spurs. When they won the championship last night on the home court, I loved watching their joy. I loved seeing David Robinson and Avery Johnson celebrate with them. I loved the humility of Kawhi Leonard when he won the MVP trophy. It just gave me a sense of pride that these guys represent my hometown.

Goals the Week of Fred’s Vacation

Okay, so last week wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped, and I’ve yet to start walking. Probably won’t happen on a regular basis this week, either, since we’ll be out of town part of the time, and Fred will be home. I’m not nearly as far as I wanted to be in the book, barely at the 20% mark. I did work hard on the garage and the spare bedroom.

Go to the beach
Get to the 1/3 point of new book
Throw Fred’s birthday party
Make something fun from Pinterest
Continue cleaning/decluttering
clean/cook/exercise

Real Texas Flavor

 

Since I complained about Night Shift not being “Texas” enough, I thought I’d offer up some Texas flavor for you.

I’m catching up on Meg Benjamin’s Konigsburg books. They’re set in a fictional Hill Country town based on Fredericksburg, Texas. In fact, when I was in Fredericksburg this past week, I half-expected to stop in Allie’s bakery or Docia’s bookstore! Texas references abound, the people act like Texans, and you feel like you’ve visited after you read these books.

I’m watching Revolution, which is filmed between San Antonio and Austin. Fred accuses me of watching it because of Monroe (who I do intend to base Trace on when I get to Boomtown #4), but I watch for the locations. The landscape is so clearly Texas. Seriously, I will miss the show for that reason.

I recently watched a movie called Angels Sing. It’s a Christmas movie, and was filmed in Bastrop and Austin, though I swear the house Kris Kristofferson lived in was in my neighborhood! The cast is full of Texas musicians, including Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Charlie Sexton.

I’m listening to Hayes Carll, who performs pretty regularly at Gruene Hall. I love love love his music. He’s coming back in August. I want to gooooo!

Why Night Shift Makes Me Crazy

 

 

Is anyone watching Night Shift? It’s SUPPOSEDLY set in San Antonio, but is actually filmed in New Mexico. I presume the reason is because all the doctors are military, and we have a lot of bases in the city. But other than that, there is NOTHING about it that suggests San Antonio. The outside shots are not San Antonio. The ethnic balance is not San Antonio. There is no “flavor,” so that makes me wonder why they advertise it as a San Antonio show.

The main doctor TC goes to visit his brother’s grave, and the brother was KIA. So why is he not at a military cemetery?

Then there’s the medicine. I don’t have experience in that, but I do know that doctors can’t sedate someone to transfuse their blood. Nurses can’t stand by to let groomsmen shave a groom when he’s unconscious. 

And all the decisions are made spur of the moment–no deliberation. I understand it’s supposed to show that they have to make spur-of-the-moment decisions in the field, but not all of the doctors have military background.

I get that it’s about doctors who do whatever it takes to save lives. I get that. But it’s been three shows and someone has broken a pretty serious rule every time. ER used to do it, but the fallout would arc over several episodes. Each episode wouldn’t be another doctor trying to out-rule-break another!

Are you watching? What do you think?