Starling Travel

My absolute favorite moment of the trip to San Antonio was the half hour or so that I sat outside just listening to music and feeding pigeons. I was shocked that they would take the food right out of my hand. The unpalatable brownie suddenly became a treasure of bird attractant. I recorded a brief glimpse of what it was like here:

I felt more at peace and calm here than I did during our pilgrimages to the missions. I find it strange that I can find God at a shopping mall more easily than at a church.

When you head out of the Rivercenter Mall toward the Riverwalk, you hear the haunting sounds of Andean Fusion. You can’t escape it. They play there live almost every day of the year and in the evenings, when they finally go home, the overhead music plays their music. You might think that the sound of flutes playing classic hits might be irritating after a week in San Antonio, but I loved them even on the day I left. Here an example of what you can see:

I love to find local musicians wherever I travel, so I immediately bought a CD from the table by the players. Imagine my surprise when I found an album by Andean Fusion on Amazon.com. You can find even more of their albums on their official website:

• Andean Fusion Official Website

Over the week that I stayed in San Antonio, I noticed that there are many members of the group. They switch out every day and even switch instruments during a set. One of my favorite moments in San Antonio involved just sitting in the open air, listening to the music and feeding the pigeons.

Where: Rivercenter Mall
849 E Commerce St San Antonio, TX 78205 – Google Map
Phone: (210) 225-0000

Andean Fusion Concerts
Monday – Saturday, 1:00 – 8:00pm
Rivercenter Lagoon

“Don’t forget The Alamo.”

I think I heard that phrase manipulated into a joke about twenty times over the course of our trip to San Antonio.

You are not allowed to take photographs within the Alamo buildings, but I was able to click many, beautiful pictures outside. What you can’t experience from here is the size of the place. It is both large AND small. The church, (first photo on the slideshow) is what I equated with the Alamo. I imagined a large wooden fence around this church and that’s it. The church itself is MUCH smaller than I imagined, whereas the grounds covered a lot more acreage than I expected. In fact, the Alamo was actually much larger than the park that is there today. Some walls of the Alamo and the remains of buildings were found all the way across the street. It was both more and less than I expected.

I didn’t know enough about history to know the story of The Alamo. I don’t know how I got a 4 on the AP American History test without being able to say anything more than, “Davy Crockett died there, and I think it was the Mexicans that killed him…” Fortunately, there is a wonderful exhibit in the Long Barracks that explains this history. They even had an episode of a show from The History Channel showing. I recommend going through the Long Barracks before you go into the church, even though the church is the first thing you encounter when you come on the grounds.

We went to The Alamo three times while we were in San Antonio, mostly because our hotel was right next to it. I loved taking pictures there. The preservation societies in San Antonio have created such a sunny and beautiful atmosphere there that photography is simple. A trip to San Antonio isn’t complete unless you remember to visit The Alamo.

Where: The Alamo – San Antonio, TX
300 Alamo Plaza, San Antonio, Texas – Google Map
Telephone: (210)225-1391, ext.23
Fax: (210)229-1343
Email: giftmuseum@thealamo.org

Admission: Free (Please make a contribution)
Hours: 9:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Monday through Saturday and 10:00 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. on Sunday

They say that the Menger Hotel is haunted. If it is, the ghost has inhabited the fixtures of the hotel itself. It’s the hotel that wants to kill you. The step in your room that leads to the toilet tries to trip you in the middle of the night. The outlets in your room aren’t grounded (except that one by the bed). The water that comes out of the faucet is so hot it could scald you. The ever oscillating shower head alternately freezes you and burns you.

Yet, I LOVED The Menger Hotel and would love to stay there again all because of three little words: Location, Location, Location.

The Menger Hotel sits right between The Alamo and the mall. Walk a little further and you’re on the Riverwalk. If they could somehow transport the five missions that are scattered throughout the town near The Menger, I wouldn’t have needed a rental car.

Add to all of this the history and beauty of such an old building, and you have the perfect hotel, despite any burns you may have incurred during your stay.

As far as the ghosts are concerned, I don’t think there are any. We were there for a WWII Reunion with hundreds of people. At the Air Force Base, the announcer asked if anyone in the room had seen a ghost and not one of those hundreds of people raised their hands. Maybe they didn’t count the entity in my room trying to kill me…

Where: The Menger Hotel
204 Alamo Plaza San Antonio, TX 78205 – Google Map
Tel: (210) 223-4361
Fax: (210) 228-0022
Email: almapuente@1859historichotels.com

We went to San Antonio for a World War II Reunion of the 303rd Bomb Group. The highlight of the evening for the final banquet was an Andrew Sisters Revue performed by Destination. I went to the banquet expecting a typical faire of WWII era music sung poorly by a local band. They were a local band from Wimberley, Texas, but they sang beautifully. See for yourself here:

Destination performs regularly with a full orchestra in Wimberley, but they are also available if you have an event in Austin, San Marcos, Mustang Island or San Antonio. They’ll do right by you. Can’t say they’ll do the same for their “fellas” overseas…

Where: Destination:

MySpace Page – Destination Trio

She also performs with Gypsy Moon:

MySpace Page – Gypsy Moon Music

For Booking Information: Phone: 512-396-7171

Scattered across San Antonio, are the humble Bill Miller BBQ restaurants. They are a casual oasis of BBQ that beckons to me at every few street corners. We finally stopped at Bill Miller to see if it was all that Texas BBQ was supposed to be.

I was told long ago that the hallmark of good Texas BBQ is that they cook the meat without sauce and let you add the sauce to your liking. That’s exactly how they did it at Bill Miller. I had a piece of brisket and some chicken. Both were tender and moist before we used any of the sauce on it.

For me, though, it’s all about the sides. I can’t eat too much meat, but I can enjoy good bread, potato salad and coleslaw all day long. Fortunately, Bill Miller BBQ had enough of those as well.

Bill Miller has a bakery where fresh pies are baked every day and brought to the stores. We had a choice of at least three different pies. When there is that much variety, it’s hard to choose just one. We had two and stole bites from one another’s.

After I had loaded up on food, the service was efficient and friendly. They served us up what we wanted and checked us out quickly so we could eat it. I really liked that I could just go through the line, get my food quickly and immediately go to my table to eat. It smelled so good, I don’t think I could have waited for traditional sit-down service. Luckily, they served cafeteria-style, so I didn’t have to wait any longer than it took me to get through the line.

In fact, I couldn’t wait. I forgot to take a picture of my food until it was all gone.

Want to know the best part? It was cheap. For both Mike and I to eat, it was around ten bucks. We had more food than the two of us could eat plus dessert and we only spent around ten dollars. They have locations in San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi. If you find yourself in Texas, make sure you try out Bill Miller’s BBQ. You won’t be disappointed and you’ll be surprised how much food you get for your buck.

Where: Bill Miller BBQ
P.O. Box 839925
San Antonio, Texas 78283-3925
Phone: (210) 225-4461
Fax: (210) 302-1533
E-mail: hq@billmillerbbq.com

Restaurants all over San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi:

San Antonio: Google Map

Austin: Google Map

Corpus Christi: Google Map

This postcard was really cool because it has a big hole in the middle of it. I’m surprised it got to me in one piece. I would have thought the post office machinery would have eaten it up, but it looks like it’s in pristine condition.

Thanks for another postcard, Henry!

Please send me a postcard from your travels or your hometown. If you do and it’s interesting, I will publish your postcard on Starling Travel.

Send your postcards to:

Starling Travel
Attention: Laura Moncur
P.O. Box 522032
Salt Lake City, Utah 84152

It’s like sending a postcard to the whole world when you go on vacation. It’s like bragging about your hometown to the everyone on the planet.

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I spent a week in San Antonio, Texas. While Salt Lake City had already moved on to Autumn, coming off the plane into Texas felt like August all over again. Because I’m usually cold all the time, the warm and humid heat felt like a welcoming blanket.

This week, we are going to tell you all about our trip: where we stayed, the fun things we did and the fun things that we could have done that we missed out on. Even the unique and interesting places that people don’t normally visit.

Stay tuned for a week in San Antonio!

Tyreseus moved to San Francisco this year and he is enjoying the diversity it has to offer. Here is his review of a show he saw in his new hometown. Something that he would have never been able to see if he had stayed in Utah.

• Blind Prophecy 2.0 – Typically San Francisco

He saw the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players. They find slides at estate sales, garage sales and various other places and then write songs about them. When they perform, they show the slides while they sing with charming and hilarious results.

They are touring the United States right now, so you may be able to see them in your hometown:

• The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players : Tour

If they are not performing near you, you can actually see them right now through the power of YouTube.

More videos after the break…

Josh Leo lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Recently, they have renovated an area called Gaslight Village. Here is his video about the rennovation.

I love the different answers from each person he interviewed about the sculpture. Josh didn’t seem to like the way Gaslight Village turned out, but his video has made me want to visit his town more than ever.