It is now about 8:30 PM and I am tired, so is my lovely bride. But we had a great day. Let me back up to last night.
On Tuesday night our intention was to camp at Inks Lake. That did not work out, and is another story, but the long/short is we drove from Enchanted Rock to our would-be camp at Inks Lake, and on to "Old San Antone." Our new destination was the Holiday Inn Express - River Walk. The drive from Inks Lake through Kingland and on to San Antonio was such a scenic drive. Trees and brush, the Hill Country, the occasional grand lady of a house just barely visible from the road, those beautiful ladies built in another time, so solidly that they still here, many still occupied. And of course, many deer standing beside the road, adding a little risk to the drive.
We reached the Holiday Inn Express just after 5:30 PM. Having climbed Enchanted Rock just hours before reaching San Antonio (that too, is another story) we were TIRED! That is exactly how my lovely bride said it...TIRED! We had plans for finding a nice Mexican eatery on the River Walk, listening to strolling mariachis, sipping on some cooling, Jimmy Buffet-style refreshing drinks, and engaging in small talk. Nope...nope...nope...we were TIRED! Umm, hello, Dominoes? Yes, please deliver to Holiday Inn Express - River Walk. So we had pizza and cinnamon sticks for our first dinner in San Antone in several years. We finished dinner, turned on the TV....and passed out. I MEAN O-U-T. Yes, we both had a good night's sleep, one of those nights that you do not see or hear ANYTHING until a certain, stupid grackle starts cackling outside the second-floor window sometime around 9:00. But it was a refreshing morning after a good night's sleep.
But that was the problem - I got a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP. Now, why would anyone complain about getting a good night's sleep? I will TELL you why. My lovely bride had specifically selected this particular hotel because the building once served as the Bexar County jail. This was from back before the turn of the 19th century to the mid- 1920s. And like ANY good jail-turned hotel SHOULD BE, the Holiday Inn Express is HAUNTED!
Here is one link to the hotel's haunted history: https://ghostcitytours.com/san-antonio/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/holiday-inn-express/
So, I awoke this morning refreshed. Nothing interrupted my blissful slumber, nor my lovely bride's. I was really disappointed at not at least seeing a wisp of blue vapor float across the room. But as I thought about it, maybe the ghosts DID try to wake me up! I slept so well last night that Freddy Krueger scraping his really long fingernails across my face could not have awakened me! But, apparently Freddy did not visit because I did not have any long scratches across my face. My lovely bride reported nothing out of the ordinary, for her part.
Having NOT been kept awake by ghosts all night, my lovely bride and I went to the Mercado to try to find a couple of items. I found a nice hat to wear at Sea World, and my lovely bride found some things, too, including a dress for Baby Baby (our granddaughter) and some Mexican vanilla. Then we went to a Mexican bakery and bought several excellent pastries. I did not mind eating this rather unhealthy fare, because I knew we would walk it off at Sea World.
We arrived at Sea World around noon. I had cleverly purchased "advance tickets" so that instead of standing in a long ticket line, we could just saunter right up to the gate, show our tickets, and slip on inside. So, we were able to skip Zone A (the ticket booth), Zone B (I have no idea what that was), and waltz right up to Zone C, which was the entrance/metal detector line. So we walk though the line, and toward the Beluga Whale show, when a young security officer says, "Sir, do you have a knife in your pocket?" Well, as a matter of fact I DID have a pocket knife. My lovely bride bought me a Swiss Army pocket knife at my last birthday. I produced the knife and the young man (MUCH YOUNGER than my own son!!) said, "Oh, you can just take it back to your vehicle...or, we can confiscate it." I have to complement myself here because I did not create scene at all. I just nodded and turned away, with my lovely bride telling me she would be waiting when I got back.
I walked out the entrance, and realized that it was a good thing we had only parked a mile or so from the entrance, me not being willing to pay for "close in" parking, to which I could have "upgraded" when I purchased the tickets online. As I contemplated the two-mile stroll to which I was committed (THEY were NOT GETTING MY KNIFE) and headed into the oblivion that was the Sea World NOT-close in parking, I heard a familiar voice. My lovely bride wanted to Waltz Across Texas with me, out to the pickup. I was glad though, as we talked about little things all the way, and all the way back. By the way, here is free advice: Park RIGHT UNDER A NUMBERED SIGN. That way you can easily locate your vehicle, merely by walking back to the numbered sign. Of course, you must REMEMBER the correct number, but that is where my lovely bride excels.
Once the dangerous weapon was secured, my lovely bride and I sauntered back the three-and-a-half miles to the starting gates, and once again, proceeded to Zone C. This time there were no re-entry problems, and we were referred to the actual ticket takers. Really, they SCAN the tickets these days. I had cleverly stored our ticket on my "smart phone." So the young lady (again, MUCH YOUNGER than my daughter!) scanned my phone. Then she scanned it again. Then she scanned it yet AGAIN! Being very perceptive, I realized there was some problem. Yes, the young lady said, my phone screen was TOO DARK to scan. So apparently my smart phone is too dum to lighten the screen during ticket scannings. So, we were sent to the "Resolution Desk." Bear in mind, I had loaded the ticket into my phone so that there would be no delay in entering the park.
At the Resolution Desk, the young lady (same parenthetical comment as above) scanned my phone. She then said, "These tickets will not scan." Umm, nope, they will not. So the young lady prints out the tickets, and my lovely bride and I saunter gaily back to the starting line. The first young lady smiles and takes our newly printed tickets. THEY WILL NOT SCAN!! Back to the Resolution Desk.
I will say that the junior high-aged girl at the Resolution Desk immediately recognized the problem this second time around. She said said sweetly, "Oh, these are ADVANCE TICKETS but you just purchased them last night." I said that this was indeed the case. She said, "But you can't use advance tickets until twenty-four hours AFTER you buy them." Through the growing red fog building up in my head, I heard the young lady say, "But for only an extra five dollars each, you can use these passes today." Her voice was soooo sweet. Before I could respond, I heard my lovely bride say, "Yes, that is perfect." She shelled out the ten dollars (plus eighty-two cents tax), and we FINALLY passed through those pearly...er, I mean silver, gates. We were IN Sea World!!
The first thing we did was purchase two large Sea World drink cups, which allowed the holder to get 99-cent refills. These cups turned out to be worth their weight in gold as the humidity began smothering us. Be that as it may, we were so happy to be at Sea World, and I was happy that I still had my Swiss Army knife. We went to the Beluga/Dolphin show, which was quite spectacular. It is so amazing what they can teach the animals to do, and what the animals can teach the audience to do. By the end of the show, perfectly normal, sane adults were waving their arms, throwing their hands over their shoulders, and doing many other things as well. I am sure that, along with the fish the whales are given as treats, the whales are also thrilled by the things they can train a thousand strange humans to do in just thirty minutes!
After leaving Beluga Stadium, my lovely bride and I went to a nearby restaurant and had our noon meal. We had barbecue ribs, a couple of "sides," and some watermelon. It was really more food than we wanted, but good anyway. After lunch, we made our way to Rio Loco, the giant water-tube ride. My lovely bride was a little hesitant but soon we were seated in the giant tube with four other people, and were headed down Rio Loco. It was a fun ride, but not dangerous in the least. The best thing was that we all got completely drenched by a waterfall as we floated down the river. It was great to be so cool once again.
After riding the Rio Loco, I talked my lovely bride into riding the Great White Shark roller coaster. She thought hard about it, as she listened to screaming riders race past. Finally she agreed to the ride. Actually, she became rather excited about it. Then I noticed there was not a waiting line. Cool! So we walked through the several empty stalls and found that only the people climbing on the roller coaster just now were ahead of us. The ride lasted less than two minutes, and it was our turn. My lovely bride and I strapped ourselves in. The attendant checked our seats to be sure we were locked in, then it was time to go. This ride is actually a roller coaster that has no body, only rows of seats suspended from the coaster track. So we were strapped in and the ride began moving forward.
The roller coaster climbed slowly to the top of the first tower, then "clank" and we were rolling downhill. Slow at first, but moving fifty miles per hour or so within the next few seconds. I cannot begin to describe the twists and turns, except to say that the spine-crushing, bone-jarring maneuvers must be similar to the sensations felt by jet fighter pilots as the after-burner kicks in while the plane is twisting, turning, and diving. After one last loop and twist, the Great White Shark comes to a screeching stop in just seconds, almost assuring that a visit to the chiropractor is in order ASAP. I asked my lovely bride if she was alright, and to my surprise, she yelled, "Let's go AGAIN!" I admit I was surprised. It would not have been anymore surprising if the Devil was getting snow at that moment! But, back we went! And there was no waiting.
That second ride on the Great White Shark proved to be the last ride of the day. We gathered ourselves and walked over the the Penguin exhibit. This of course is inside a highly air conditioned building that is equipped with a moving sidewalk. That's right. A conveyor. We stood and watched as the penguins drifted slowly by. My lovely bride and I drank in the cool air, and revived ourselves. We then went to the puffin exhibit and sat on the bench there for another twenty minutes or so. At that point we were cooled off, and we figured we could walk back across Sea World, and then walk the four miles back to our pickup. Along the way, though, my lovely bride found a shade and asked me to come pick her up when I got to the pickup. I helped her sit down on a rock bench, then I started on the final two mile leg of the walk to our vehicle. Soon I had my lovely bride in the truck and we were headed back to the (SUPPOSEDLY) haunted hotel.
It turns out I may have griped about the lack of ghosts too soon. When we returned to our room and opened the door, the air conditioner was off. We had left it on automatic earlier in the day. So I adjusted the thermostat to 65 but nothing happened. I waited a few minutes, then lowered the control to 59! The machine still would not work. So I have to believe that the ghosts, upset both because they could not wake me up last night AND because I had doubted their presence, "fixed" the air conditioning. To back up this theory, the maintenance man arrived quickly but soon found that there was nothing "wrong" with the air conditioner. He just shrugged his shoulders and said he would report the problem to the front desk. A few minutes later we were offered, and accepted, another room. One door down. The air conditioning in the new room is working like a charm. As I finish this, I will go to the front desk to collect an electric blanket. And once again, I believe the ghosts will not bother me tonight. IT IS TOO COLD IN HERE.
Tomorrow, we venture to Aquatica. And to those looking for a haunted hotel, I can't recommend this one, unless the ghost of the air conditioner in Room 207 should choose to jam up the thermostat.
On Tuesday night our intention was to camp at Inks Lake. That did not work out, and is another story, but the long/short is we drove from Enchanted Rock to our would-be camp at Inks Lake, and on to "Old San Antone." Our new destination was the Holiday Inn Express - River Walk. The drive from Inks Lake through Kingland and on to San Antonio was such a scenic drive. Trees and brush, the Hill Country, the occasional grand lady of a house just barely visible from the road, those beautiful ladies built in another time, so solidly that they still here, many still occupied. And of course, many deer standing beside the road, adding a little risk to the drive.
We reached the Holiday Inn Express just after 5:30 PM. Having climbed Enchanted Rock just hours before reaching San Antonio (that too, is another story) we were TIRED! That is exactly how my lovely bride said it...TIRED! We had plans for finding a nice Mexican eatery on the River Walk, listening to strolling mariachis, sipping on some cooling, Jimmy Buffet-style refreshing drinks, and engaging in small talk. Nope...nope...nope...we were TIRED! Umm, hello, Dominoes? Yes, please deliver to Holiday Inn Express - River Walk. So we had pizza and cinnamon sticks for our first dinner in San Antone in several years. We finished dinner, turned on the TV....and passed out. I MEAN O-U-T. Yes, we both had a good night's sleep, one of those nights that you do not see or hear ANYTHING until a certain, stupid grackle starts cackling outside the second-floor window sometime around 9:00. But it was a refreshing morning after a good night's sleep.
But that was the problem - I got a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP. Now, why would anyone complain about getting a good night's sleep? I will TELL you why. My lovely bride had specifically selected this particular hotel because the building once served as the Bexar County jail. This was from back before the turn of the 19th century to the mid- 1920s. And like ANY good jail-turned hotel SHOULD BE, the Holiday Inn Express is HAUNTED!
Here is one link to the hotel's haunted history: https://ghostcitytours.com/san-antonio/haunted-places/haunted-hotels/holiday-inn-express/
So, I awoke this morning refreshed. Nothing interrupted my blissful slumber, nor my lovely bride's. I was really disappointed at not at least seeing a wisp of blue vapor float across the room. But as I thought about it, maybe the ghosts DID try to wake me up! I slept so well last night that Freddy Krueger scraping his really long fingernails across my face could not have awakened me! But, apparently Freddy did not visit because I did not have any long scratches across my face. My lovely bride reported nothing out of the ordinary, for her part.
Having NOT been kept awake by ghosts all night, my lovely bride and I went to the Mercado to try to find a couple of items. I found a nice hat to wear at Sea World, and my lovely bride found some things, too, including a dress for Baby Baby (our granddaughter) and some Mexican vanilla. Then we went to a Mexican bakery and bought several excellent pastries. I did not mind eating this rather unhealthy fare, because I knew we would walk it off at Sea World.
We arrived at Sea World around noon. I had cleverly purchased "advance tickets" so that instead of standing in a long ticket line, we could just saunter right up to the gate, show our tickets, and slip on inside. So, we were able to skip Zone A (the ticket booth), Zone B (I have no idea what that was), and waltz right up to Zone C, which was the entrance/metal detector line. So we walk though the line, and toward the Beluga Whale show, when a young security officer says, "Sir, do you have a knife in your pocket?" Well, as a matter of fact I DID have a pocket knife. My lovely bride bought me a Swiss Army pocket knife at my last birthday. I produced the knife and the young man (MUCH YOUNGER than my own son!!) said, "Oh, you can just take it back to your vehicle...or, we can confiscate it." I have to complement myself here because I did not create scene at all. I just nodded and turned away, with my lovely bride telling me she would be waiting when I got back.
I walked out the entrance, and realized that it was a good thing we had only parked a mile or so from the entrance, me not being willing to pay for "close in" parking, to which I could have "upgraded" when I purchased the tickets online. As I contemplated the two-mile stroll to which I was committed (THEY were NOT GETTING MY KNIFE) and headed into the oblivion that was the Sea World NOT-close in parking, I heard a familiar voice. My lovely bride wanted to Waltz Across Texas with me, out to the pickup. I was glad though, as we talked about little things all the way, and all the way back. By the way, here is free advice: Park RIGHT UNDER A NUMBERED SIGN. That way you can easily locate your vehicle, merely by walking back to the numbered sign. Of course, you must REMEMBER the correct number, but that is where my lovely bride excels.
Once the dangerous weapon was secured, my lovely bride and I sauntered back the three-and-a-half miles to the starting gates, and once again, proceeded to Zone C. This time there were no re-entry problems, and we were referred to the actual ticket takers. Really, they SCAN the tickets these days. I had cleverly stored our ticket on my "smart phone." So the young lady (again, MUCH YOUNGER than my daughter!) scanned my phone. Then she scanned it again. Then she scanned it yet AGAIN! Being very perceptive, I realized there was some problem. Yes, the young lady said, my phone screen was TOO DARK to scan. So apparently my smart phone is too dum to lighten the screen during ticket scannings. So, we were sent to the "Resolution Desk." Bear in mind, I had loaded the ticket into my phone so that there would be no delay in entering the park.
At the Resolution Desk, the young lady (same parenthetical comment as above) scanned my phone. She then said, "These tickets will not scan." Umm, nope, they will not. So the young lady prints out the tickets, and my lovely bride and I saunter gaily back to the starting line. The first young lady smiles and takes our newly printed tickets. THEY WILL NOT SCAN!! Back to the Resolution Desk.
I will say that the junior high-aged girl at the Resolution Desk immediately recognized the problem this second time around. She said said sweetly, "Oh, these are ADVANCE TICKETS but you just purchased them last night." I said that this was indeed the case. She said, "But you can't use advance tickets until twenty-four hours AFTER you buy them." Through the growing red fog building up in my head, I heard the young lady say, "But for only an extra five dollars each, you can use these passes today." Her voice was soooo sweet. Before I could respond, I heard my lovely bride say, "Yes, that is perfect." She shelled out the ten dollars (plus eighty-two cents tax), and we FINALLY passed through those pearly...er, I mean silver, gates. We were IN Sea World!!
The first thing we did was purchase two large Sea World drink cups, which allowed the holder to get 99-cent refills. These cups turned out to be worth their weight in gold as the humidity began smothering us. Be that as it may, we were so happy to be at Sea World, and I was happy that I still had my Swiss Army knife. We went to the Beluga/Dolphin show, which was quite spectacular. It is so amazing what they can teach the animals to do, and what the animals can teach the audience to do. By the end of the show, perfectly normal, sane adults were waving their arms, throwing their hands over their shoulders, and doing many other things as well. I am sure that, along with the fish the whales are given as treats, the whales are also thrilled by the things they can train a thousand strange humans to do in just thirty minutes!
After leaving Beluga Stadium, my lovely bride and I went to a nearby restaurant and had our noon meal. We had barbecue ribs, a couple of "sides," and some watermelon. It was really more food than we wanted, but good anyway. After lunch, we made our way to Rio Loco, the giant water-tube ride. My lovely bride was a little hesitant but soon we were seated in the giant tube with four other people, and were headed down Rio Loco. It was a fun ride, but not dangerous in the least. The best thing was that we all got completely drenched by a waterfall as we floated down the river. It was great to be so cool once again.
After riding the Rio Loco, I talked my lovely bride into riding the Great White Shark roller coaster. She thought hard about it, as she listened to screaming riders race past. Finally she agreed to the ride. Actually, she became rather excited about it. Then I noticed there was not a waiting line. Cool! So we walked through the several empty stalls and found that only the people climbing on the roller coaster just now were ahead of us. The ride lasted less than two minutes, and it was our turn. My lovely bride and I strapped ourselves in. The attendant checked our seats to be sure we were locked in, then it was time to go. This ride is actually a roller coaster that has no body, only rows of seats suspended from the coaster track. So we were strapped in and the ride began moving forward.
The roller coaster climbed slowly to the top of the first tower, then "clank" and we were rolling downhill. Slow at first, but moving fifty miles per hour or so within the next few seconds. I cannot begin to describe the twists and turns, except to say that the spine-crushing, bone-jarring maneuvers must be similar to the sensations felt by jet fighter pilots as the after-burner kicks in while the plane is twisting, turning, and diving. After one last loop and twist, the Great White Shark comes to a screeching stop in just seconds, almost assuring that a visit to the chiropractor is in order ASAP. I asked my lovely bride if she was alright, and to my surprise, she yelled, "Let's go AGAIN!" I admit I was surprised. It would not have been anymore surprising if the Devil was getting snow at that moment! But, back we went! And there was no waiting.
That second ride on the Great White Shark proved to be the last ride of the day. We gathered ourselves and walked over the the Penguin exhibit. This of course is inside a highly air conditioned building that is equipped with a moving sidewalk. That's right. A conveyor. We stood and watched as the penguins drifted slowly by. My lovely bride and I drank in the cool air, and revived ourselves. We then went to the puffin exhibit and sat on the bench there for another twenty minutes or so. At that point we were cooled off, and we figured we could walk back across Sea World, and then walk the four miles back to our pickup. Along the way, though, my lovely bride found a shade and asked me to come pick her up when I got to the pickup. I helped her sit down on a rock bench, then I started on the final two mile leg of the walk to our vehicle. Soon I had my lovely bride in the truck and we were headed back to the (SUPPOSEDLY) haunted hotel.
It turns out I may have griped about the lack of ghosts too soon. When we returned to our room and opened the door, the air conditioner was off. We had left it on automatic earlier in the day. So I adjusted the thermostat to 65 but nothing happened. I waited a few minutes, then lowered the control to 59! The machine still would not work. So I have to believe that the ghosts, upset both because they could not wake me up last night AND because I had doubted their presence, "fixed" the air conditioning. To back up this theory, the maintenance man arrived quickly but soon found that there was nothing "wrong" with the air conditioner. He just shrugged his shoulders and said he would report the problem to the front desk. A few minutes later we were offered, and accepted, another room. One door down. The air conditioning in the new room is working like a charm. As I finish this, I will go to the front desk to collect an electric blanket. And once again, I believe the ghosts will not bother me tonight. IT IS TOO COLD IN HERE.
Tomorrow, we venture to Aquatica. And to those looking for a haunted hotel, I can't recommend this one, unless the ghost of the air conditioner in Room 207 should choose to jam up the thermostat.
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