Wednesday, August 22, 2012

"The Way West"...Day 69...Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Another great night's sleep. This morning, I'm up at 7:00AM...make coffee, check emails...shower and shave.
Around 10:00, I'm heading out again for an early lunch. My destination is "Mi Tierra"...a place where I first ate around thirty years ago. My friend, Cliff, and I were driving cross-country to California. We found ourselves in San Antonio on Christmas Day...and we were hungry. Everything was pretty much closed...except for Mi Tierra whose motto is "we never close"...they are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's a "touristy" place and the food is not great (although very good), but I always eat here when I'm in San Antonio...it's a tradition.
I like the breakfast dishes here, so I order the eggs scrambled with onions, peppers and "machaca" (dried shredded beef)...and relax with a Margarita. The food is good...and light enough to allow for dinner later in the evening.
After lunch, I walk around the city for a couple of hours...no particular destination in mind. After all of this eating, I can use the exercise!
Along the way, I make one stop at the "Texas Rangers Museum and Saloon". I start chatting with the manager...he's the great grandson of the original owner, and he's just moved back here from Austin to run the place. He's also a "foodie" like me...and he has two great suggestions for Austin. The "pitmaster" at my favorite Texas BBQ joint (Louie Mueller in Taylor) has opened his own little bbq place in Austin (Franklin's), and it's a MUST stop...opens at noon...line starts forming at 10:00. The other place is a food truck called "Three Little Pigs", and they serve a "Pork Belly Slider" that my new friend thinks is, maybe, the best thing he's ever eaten.
Back at the hotel, I enjoy another three-hour nap until around 6:00PM. Then...it's back to the Riverwalk for the evening. I'm hungry again around 8:00PM, so I return to Luke. Oyster on the half-shell are only .50 apiece, so I order a dozen...salads look good, so I get the frisee with a poached egg and bacon and...later...the fried oyster salad. I drink a few glasses of French Chablis...I think that this is going to be a wine night.
After dinner, it's only a short walk to a little wine bar...they have Chilean Carmenere, so I have a few glasses of that. Another short walk...another wine bar...more Carmenere. Within an area of just a few blocks, I'm able to get excellent wine at four different places.
Soon, it's close to midnight...time to head back to the hotel. I've got beers iced down in the cooler...but I'm stuffed. So...I get into bed and start watching a movie on TCM. Before it's even half-





way through, I'm fast asleep.

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