Thursday, February 7, 2013

Cross Country By Train Pt. 3

 
Good Morning San Antonio!!!
 
We arrived early in the morning, and I mean early! It didn't seem to faze the kids though. They were ready to go after 16 hours on the train. I have been up now for around twenty hours and still have a full day to look forward to, but I am pumped. This is the first time for Hillary and the children to experience Texas, and San Antonio is one of the best places to experience this great state!
The Tower Of The Americas is a 750 ft observation tower/restaurant seen in the background of the photo above. From 1968-1996 it was the tallest observation tower in the United states.
 
There is a Denny's restaurant conveniently located about a quarter of a mile from the train station so we gathered our luggage and made our way down the street to get an early breakfast. Our motel was not far from Denny's, so we worked our way there hoping to drop off our luggage. Our luggage consisted of 2 rolling suitcases, 5 backpacks, laptop bag, camera bag and binoculars. We were able to leave most of it behind the counter at the motel which was a blessing since check in time was 11 hours away!
 
As we left the motel and ventured out into the unknown world of a pre-dawn Downtown area, we did so in a tactical mindset. Keep close and keep your eyes open. Surprisingly, we encountered no one. We ended up with a very peaceful, safe, and unique self-guided tour of the Heart of the city enjoying the Riverwalk with a Ghost town feel.



Having three members of my family from The Volunteer State, two of which at 7 and 8 years of age think they can repel Santa Anna's army by themselves, I keep a watchful eye for the invading forces. You can almost feel the Spirit Of Alamo Past. As we stand here wrapped in an eerie quiet calm in front of this rugged old Mission (around 5 o'clock in the morning), I wonder what it must have been like on that morning of March the 6th before daybreak around 5:30. Silence breaks with the sound of small arms and cannon fire. Around a couple of hundred brave men fighting for Texas, fighting for freedom, knowing their fate yet standing against an army of around 2,000 were awakened to battle by shouts from Santa Anna's men, "!Viva Santa Anna!" It is a very sobering landmark, and definitely one to experience in the predawn hours without the hustle and bustle of tourists.
 
Before we head on to explore some more a Park Ranger came out to say hello and the children were able to chat with him for a little while.
 
 
 
We are ready for a break from walking... So what else is a family to do when everything is closed? Well, why not go to the two story McDonald's!? And go we did!
 
You may be asking, "Are they eating ice cream and sundaes before daybreak?"  Why, yes. Yes, they are. This is one of the perks of being on vacation. Live a little, loosen up your collar. It won't kill them. Children are very resilient. They seem fairly happy to me. We have to remember we were children at one point in our lives as well, and, to me, this is important. They will remember these moments.
 
 
 
As the sun rose on this fine city, traffic began to increase with cars, cyclists, and buses as folks started their day. We decided to take a stroll down the Riverwalk with a little fog accompanying us on our way.

There are plenty of photo opportunities here. Plenty of plants, flowers and birds to incorporate into your shots as well as the diversity of structures. For example, this bridge.





Here is a shot of my princess posing for the camera of which she seems to have quite the knack.

 La Villita. San Antonio's first neighborhood. This is an Historic arts village area. There is an amphitheater which looks across the narrow river where plays and other events are held.

Here is a picture of the Bexar (pron.: bear) County Courthouse taken from the Riverwalk. Notice the Green light located on the bridge. The river makes a turn here and the light changes from red to green depending on river traffic.
 Here are a couple of shots of the Emily Morgan Hotel. It is a beautiful piece of architecture, as are many of the downtown buildings. If architecture is your thing, then you will definitly be pleased what this city has to offer.


 
As the day progressed we worked our way back to the Alamo. If you are expecting to see tumbleweeds roll past this old mission, roadrunners scurrying  around and miles of nothingness between you and the horizon, you are in for a shock. It is located right in the middle of the city which for me is extremely convienient for exploring the city on foot.
 
Tourist traffic has grown, and we no longer are the only ones here as we were at 5:00 am. It is bustling, and we are excited to relive the battle through the tour guides. Taking pictures inside the Alamo is not permitted; however, you are welcome to photograph while on the grounds.
 

 
 

 
There is a Mission Trail available that allows you to see the other four Missions that are part of the city. We look forward to exploring those on our next visit.
 
There is so much to do and so little time it seems, so my next installment will be of our time spent at the San Antonio Zoo, Japanese Tea Gardens, and our dinner on the Riverwalk at night. Stay tuned!
 

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Cross Country By Train Pt. 2


  Up and at em! Taking advantage of a continental breakfast at a Super 8 in New Orleans. We had a good night sleep and are ready for the next leg of our trip. We arrived in The Big Easy around 11 pm Sunday night on the Crescent.  We were set to depart for San Antonio around 11 am Monday on the Sunset Limited. Pre Katrina Amtrak ran from Orlando Florida to Los Angeles California; however, due to major damage of the tracks between Orlando and New Orleans that route was closed. So now the southern route cross country is from NOL to LAX.
I look at hotel/motel stays as a place to get some shut eye while traveling. Obviously, I want a nice clean place but I'm not looking for a 5 star complex. This motel had some cool character with it's lobby, balcony and courtyard. It's never a guarantee of the quality of accomodations when you book online and when you are on a tight budget.  Even so, you make the wisest choice possible and hope for the best. We weren't dissapointed in any of our choices. We were, however, pleasantly surprised in a couple of places. I'll share those locations as we get there.
The childrens first taxi experience took place the previous night from the the New Orleans Union Passenger terminal going to the motel. It was in a Suburban, yet the following morning, all 5 of us and our luggage returned to the train station in an old Lincoln Town Car. As I said before the kids were exposed to a lot of interesting scenarios in a short period of time.
 
All Aboard!!!! The Sunset Limited
 
 

 
We are excited to see that this train is larger than the Crescent. It is a double decker. Most of the seating is located on the upper deck along with the Observation Room and Dining Area. There are sleeper cars as well. On the lower level are the lounge/cafe area and restrooms. I was impressed with the open feel of the seating area and observation car.






The Mercedes Benz Superdome is located right behind the train station and is a pretty cool structure to see while waiting to depart. The boys were excited to hear about the significance it holds with the sporting world. You also get a nice view of the Big Easy skyline.








 

Since we homeschool, travel by train works out wonderfully. The kids can have one awesome field trip while continuing their studies! I wish that my classroom desk and window view could have rivaled this one!
 
 
or that my breakroom could have been this cool
 
 
or my cafeteria this exciting!
 
 
All in all I think this was a "home run." And apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks so. Oh yeah, by the way, the principal and the teacher got to hang out together as well.
 
 




Views along the way were obviously very rural and sparsly populated with towns of New Iberia and  Lafayette and others along the line. We had a little rain here and there with sunshine for most of the day as we rocked back and forth through forgotten towns, passing by patches of above ground graveyards and rolling through fog laden bayous.

 
As we roll on down the tracks, through swamps and gator country, we are heading towards Lake Charles, LA. This was a great time to just sit back and relax. This was much needed for myself, to just sit and have no obligations or worries of the normal daily life. I'd traveled through the gulf states before, however the children had not. I knew this wouldn't be the scenic highlight of the trip, however, one of the missions of this adventure was to expose them to many different states, landscapes, landmarks, architecture and cultures. I believe that they were able to enjoy the not so exciting parts of this trip as well. While not watching the world go by, they were either playing games at the tables in the observation car or lost deep in the adventures written in the several books that they brought with them.
 
 I chose to stay awake while the others were sleeping. Being in a new environment, as safe as I felt, I felt a little vulnerable if we were all sleeping at the same time.  I sat there watching Hillary and the kids enjoying the peaceful, rocking motion that the train provides. We would rotate our seating order through the trip.  Caleb happened to be with me between Lake Charles, LA and Houston. He surprisingly stayed awake as well. I was able to just sit there in a dimly lit train car watching the lights off in the distance and chat with my little buddy. I enjoyed the one on one time spent with the children along the way. Caleb was up with me as we passed by oil refineries which were lit up like New York City. We could see the fires burning as well. He was up as we pulled into Houston, TX. He was in awe of the big city lights of the Houston skyline. We would arrive at our first main destination, San Antonio, TX, around around 3 am on Tuesday morning.
 
San Antonio, TX
 
This is where the main part of our vacation begins.