On the River

It's the holidays and we were blessed to have family with us to celebrate them.



That's A & S down on the Riverwalk, with one of the tour boats floating past behind them.



V & D up on one of the scenic bridges spanning the San Antonio River.



We went to "Rita's on the River" for dinner. yes, that is a "Texas Margarita" A is drinking out of what would otherwise me a small fishpond. We got a nice discount from Restaurant.com - $50 off a purchase over $100. (As an aside, Restaurant.com is a really good deal - you should definitely check it out.) I'd give Rita's 3 stars for this visit. The food was good, but not great relative to, say, Garcia's. The service was slow, despite the fact that it wasn't all that busy and we came in early (5 PM). I'd say Rita's is a good place to get a beer or margarita, and munch on some chips - but if you want dinner, it's not a place to seek out (but not a place to avoid, either.)



We parked out behind the Alamo in a parking lot owned by the Crockett Hotel, so we had to walk back past the Alamo. I balanced the camera on a fence pole to get this night shot.

Unfortunately, when we got back to the parking lot, this is what we found:



"Ah, honey, where's the GPS?" Yeah, we left it in the front window.

The night management of the Crockett showed up. The "loss prevention" guy at first told me he didn't even have a broom to lend us to sweep out the glass. Then the night manager came out and was much more solicitous, which seemed to change the tone of the loss prevention guy. Eventually a broom was produced and they both actually helped us clean up. But certainly no offer of compensation or any offer of off-setting the damage (not even a refund of the $10 parking fee).

But I have to say that the San Antonio police officer who came to write up the statement was really great. He was a young guy in his early 20's (it looked like) who was very sympathetic and even called his wife to get us the number of an auto glass company he had used recently when someone broke into his car (she didn't have the info). It's always a comfort to see that there are genuinely caring people who are drawn to public service like this young man.

So, our adventure on the river was truly an adventure, ended with a 20 mile drive in mid-30 degree weather with a window gone. Can you truly appreciate a taste that is sweet if you do not know what is bitter?