Friday, July 6, 2018

OTRA Part 7 - Home again....


Time was growing short for sightseeing, so we returned to our hotel.   Yes, once again the balcony was wonderful for relaxing…

At dinner time, it was back to the riverwalk to find our meal, and on the way, we noticed a statue of San Antonio’s namesake:  San Antonio.  Interesting.  Didn’t ever think about the origin of its name.

Meet San Antonio:


All too soon it was time for this excursion to end.   Our departure was from the same station at which we arrived – the old Sunset Station.  It consists of several buildings and is an event center as well as train station, thus the gates to the event center part of the station were locked.   

Unfortunately it was well before dawn, thus this is the best picture I could get:


On the way through Dallas, we passed by Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was assassinated back in 1963.  And I took a quick picture of the building from which those fatal shots were fired:



Trains all ran late enough that by the time we got to Washington DC, we had missed our connection for Baltimore.  But Amtrak put us on another train, departing only a half hour after the one we missed.  Even though we were inconvenienced, that was quick service!

It was a wonderful trip, and we both enjoyed our visit to Texas.  Will another excursion like this be in the cards any time soon?  We don’t know.  But I do know that I will once again be out on the rails - hopefully sooner rather than later.   

And I’ll be writing more entries for this blog when I do.

Thanks for reading…

Mandy

4 comments:

  1. Growing up Catholic in New York there were several parishes named after Saint Anthony...especially in areas where a large percentage of Italian immigrants settled. My grandparent's parish in Queens was St. Anthony's. Although there is more than one saint named Anthony most revere St. Anthony of Padua, who was actually from the Lisbon area of Portugal. He is also the patron saint of lost, stolen and misplaced articles.

    It seems like you have the entire concept of being a train traveling tourist down to a science. I think we may give it a shot after I finally retire.

    One recent night we went out to dinner and has become my new custom I wore beige pantyhose under my shorts. On the car ride to the restaurant my wife noticed and asked about wearing stockings in public. I said no one ever seems to notice and the subject was dropped.

    Today I am around the house wearing pantyhose under my shorts and she said if we go out I should take off my stockings.

    That's the way things are rolling these days.

    Pat

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    1. Thanks for the info on St. Anthony!

      I really enjoy train travel and sightseeing combined. If you plan to do it after you retire, you should consider retiring rather soon...before long distance trains disappear. I fear that they are repeating the mistakes of the 1950's and trying to drive passengers to airlines instead of trains, by hiring an airline CEO with no rail experience for head of Amtrak, removing diners in favor of boxed food, cutting trains, etc.

      Of course, there's always Greyhound...but it's not quite the same. And we've had some bad experiences even on rather tame Amtrak buses. Personally, we avoid "stink buggies" (exhaust odor as well as from the on-board toilets) as much as possible, no matter whose flag they run under. If you do try bus, free advice: never sit toward the rear...LOL! I wouldn't even consider a cross-country trip by stink buggy, no matter how much I wanted to see the destination.

      I figured your wife had noticed your pantyhose. My wife is fortunately fine with my wearing nylons. But my matching necklace and bracelet seem to trip her trigger. I can wear them around town, with or without her accompanying me. But on trips, she generally requests that I leave them home.

      Sometimes it's easier to give them a "win" than make an issue. Keep on pushing the envelope whenever you can!

      Mandy

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  2. I enjoyed reading your trip, Mandy. It's fascinating to find out about places that are totally different from home. I'm not sure I'd want to go to the Fat Ass Ranch, though!

    It's nice to hear you being treated as a woman even if you weren't trying! Although I can see a certain marital tension there and hope that will all work out to the good.

    Glad you had a good time and thanks for sharing. Sue x

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    1. It would have been fun to go in and buy some of their souvenir wine glasses...but time was getting short and we needed to be heading back to San Antonio. (And then there would have been the issue of transporting them halfway across the country in our suitcases. If I really care, I can probably order on line...LOL!

      I knew going in that, because I wasn't trying, I wouldn't be identified as a woman 100% of the time. And it didn't. There probably wouldn't have been any issue or tension if the panhandlers hadn't ignored her, and hit us both up. She normally takes being called "ladies" in stride. Fortunately, I haven't sensed any problems since then.

      Glad you like the travel stuff...likewise, I enjoy yours!

      Hugs,

      Mandy

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