I flew into and out of Houston because it was the cheapest option, and I don't mind taking buses in between. I didn't plan on spending much time in Houston, and I didn't, but I wanted to go there because I have a friend that lives in Katy, TX which is a suburb of Houston. My flight left at 7am on Wednesday and I got to the gate at 6:50. I have never cut it that close and I won't ever again-OH the anxiety. Whew. My guess is that there were a lot more people flying because these were pretty much the first flights let out of the Northeast after the third beating of snowstorms we received. I felt very lucky that I was able to get out of this snowy tundra between storms (in case you didn't know, I missed the fourth and hopefully last mega snowstorm while I was in sunny Texas-heh heh heh). Anyway, everything went smoothly and I arrived and it was a beautiful day. I took the bus into downtown Houston and walked to The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, a good downtown Houston beer bar that I had read about. I love trying many different new beers so I usually get flights when I go to places. I decided to stay Houston-oriented and got a flight full of Houston beers from several breweries. The food was pretty good too! Then it was time to walk to the Greyhound (where I also cut it uncomfortably short) for my bus ride to San Antonio.
Now, I'm an experienced traveler, but sometimes I definitely make mistakes. One of those was putting the wrong La Quinta, where my family and I were staying, into my GPS. May I add that there are 4 in downtown San Antonio? Yeah.... so anyways, I arrived in San Antonio and walked the 20 minutes with all of my luggage, went up to the room that they were staying in and knocked...and knocked...and knocked. Finally I called my stepmom, told her I was outside of their door and she promptly told me that she looked outside and I wasn't there. GREAT. So then I found where their La Quinta was at and it was in the complete opposite direction, about 25 minutes walk away. So off I went. Aside from that little snag, my traveling had been pretty great so far and I was ready to get some good food and enjoy my time with family.
Next, we walked down to the River Walk and had some yummy BBQ at County Line Smokehouse, a Lonely Planet recommendation. It was pretty good, especially the sides and the honey butter :) The baby back ribs I had were also really good! Afterwards, I met up with my friend from college who just happened to be in San Antonio for a convention for work. WHAT a happy coincidence! We walked around the River Walk about (possibly getting lost) and finally found our way to another recommendation from Lonely Planet, mostly because of it's historical significance (and I do love my history), The Menger Bar. At this bar, Teddy Roosevelt recruited his Rough-Riders to go fight in the Spanish-American War. I loved the old-timey feel of it for sure and it's worth a look if you are visiting. It's probably because it was a Wednesday night, but it just wasn't very busy and I was hoping for a little more life. But again, for the history, it was cool. My friend and I parted ways and I walked back to (the correct) La Quinta.
The Rodeo itself was pretty awesome. I had seen rodeos back home in Iowa at the North Iowa Fair Grounds, but nowhere as BIG (as everything in Texas is) as this rodeo in San Antonio. And it just felt more like a rodeo because we were in Texas. The events were great and we all really got into it! Plus, the scenery wasn't too shabby either (for your information, rodeo men are attractive). Texas Pride came into things again whenever they announced a rider from Texas and you'd hear the hundreds of people cheering. At the end of every night of the rodeo (which goes on for 2 weeks or so) there is a concert (usually country-yes!). This night it was Joe Nichols. I had already seen him before, and I really am glad I had already because something with either the venue or the balance between his mic and the instruments, but it was really hard to hear the words to the songs. My dad, who is hard of hearing, was really having problems and so we stayed for about 3/4 of the concert, but decided to leave early. That was fine with me, because it had been a long day.