Mar. 28: A Unique Tour of The Riverwalk

We boarded the bus at 10:38 am and headed into town for another adventure. We found the Rivercenter which is a huge mall on the Riverwalk that we had only barely seen from the boats. Lots of food places and normal mall shops. Ate lunch and headed to the Alamo Segway Tour Co. We were issued bicycle helmets and then viewed a short video. We each received individual instructions on the operation. We were pretty shakey to start with although I think Larry and I were actually better balanced and more coordinated than some of those youngins (we were, of course, the oldest in the group). There were about 9 of us plus two guides on a really fun tour of the river area. We boarded out on the sidewalk, we turned around and went across the street, down and up wheel chair ramps. Both the guides were there to help us up and down the ramps but we were all nervous. After about five minutes and a couple more ramps we were all doing really well--almost looked like we not only knew what we were doing, but were also enjoying ourselves.

The first picture is of a the highest building west of the Mississippi in the early 1930's. If you click on the picture, you notice little appendages hanging off of that building. Those are gargoyles that function as down spouts. I'm thinking I don't want to be around that building when it's raining. There is a group photo in front of a beautiful home in the King William Historic District. This was a German settlement and became the most elegant housing in San Antonio in the late 1800's. The Guenther's started the Pioneer floor mill which is in the background of the third picture. And, of course, the last picture was with the Alamo. We were stopped once and Larry was gazing (gawking?) at some young ladies and ran into the back end of me. Fortunately, my lightening quick responses and excellent balance saved both of us from the embarrassment of falling off our machines. And because they took pictures, I didn't take mine. However, they didn't take the pictures I would have taken but these will work as our memories of the day.

Because we were touring tourist areas, there were lots of people stopping to look - some even took pictures. Several elderly people looked at Larry and me with envy and maybe jealousy. Could have been "stupid old fools" - sometimes I get those expressions mixed up.

Next, we headed back to the mall because Larry wanted to see an IMAX) theater movie. I wanted to see the Alamo (go figure) but Larry wanted to see the 3-D movie, Deep Sea - guess you can see who won that one. It was fun and if you think I have a startled expression taking my own photo (and don't we look sophisticated) , there should have been pictures of me when things started jumping out at me. There were tons of jelly fish that swam so close I was trying to poke them--within inches of my face. In fact, Larry and I think they were so close that we had a hard time focusing on them. Then something would burst out of the dark and jump right out into your face. Lots of girly screaming that I don't think came from me. Two really big experiences in one day - boy did I need a margarita.

So we headed back to the Riverwalk for a different Mexican restaurant. And here we are. Larry had some more tamales and I got a chimy. Chalk up another great meal that will be putting a few pounds back on us. The whole damn week has been nothing but eating. Between meals, we have found Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Marble Slab Creamery, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (again), Haagen Dazs, Cinnabon (which I didn't eat--a plus on my side of the snacking list), and then, did you know that Nestle has a Toll House Cookie Store. Nothing like a warm chocolate chip pecan cookie. WE HAVE GOT TO GET OUT OF THIS TOWN.