Day 14 - Books, Music, Toys, and Schnitzel

Decided it was time to stop the touristing and get serious, so I headed out to explore 3 of the Half Price Books locations in the area, finding, as a jackpot, a CD Warehouse and a huge collectable toy shop called "Alien Worlds". On the way back I stopped at the Hofhaus, which was billed as a authentic German beer house...well they got the beer part right, with 7 German brews on tap, but schnitzel was the only German food on the menu, although I will admit the 3 cheese mac and cheese and bacon was terrific, as was the raspberry cheesecake (14 days - 3 desserts).

Now the packing has begun and I will take Miss Saturn (1934 miles thus far) back on the road tomorrow to Austin by way of not 1, not 2, but 3 outlet centers. My gosh I hope one of these workshops pays me before its all over....I have yet to buy a single pair of shoes!!!!

By the way...100 degree temps start tomorrow and are expected for the next 7-10 days...and I saved long sleeved shirts for the conference. Guess I am eating in house and charging all meals to the room!

Day 13 - Tourist Day

I started out walking over to the Alamo....I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how these guys held out against a force of thousands for 13 days. Santa Anna must be rated among the most incompetent military leaders EVER!!! Its an 8 foot wall around most of the compound that a good athlete could jump over, let alone need to scale. And the area they defended was spread out enough that 200 defenders could easily have been picked off by a few good sharpshooters without much trouble. Included are lots of pictures but only about 15-20% of the Alamo is the Alamo of the legend...the rest is a reconstruction. Nice gardens though.

Took a ride to the top of the Tower of the Americas (owned now by Landry's Restaurant Group) which was the cornerstone of the World's Fair in 1968. Spent a good 10 minutes at the top (I am a slow study) and headed to Riverwalk.

Loved the crafts village, LaVillita, right next to the Hilton...lots of really cool things to buy for astronomical prices. I will come back after the second Powerball win...I don't think one will handle it...Dinner at a little TexMex pub in the village that had the world's best nachos EVER!!! And for desert, I stopped in an ice cram store for a waffle cone with Blueberry cobbler ice cream. Outstanding!!!

By the way I did stop in the Mall along RiverWalk and saw a new pair of sneakers, just like my first day Asics from last year only in an orange scheme and were wicked cool. If only one of these workshops had paid me....

Tomorrow dinner at a German Bauhaus...I am excited!

Day 12 - A Day of Infamy

I just don't know where to start....On the trip from College Station I talked with the fine folks at Terrace Community Charter School and turned down their offer to teach 7th grade science next year. Really, I still want to teach at Orange Grove Performing Arts Magnet and am content to hold out for that. Then, on getting to San Antonio early I located a nearby Half Price Books and spent 2 hours in heaven....I only bought 2 Alex Rider books for my classroom.

Met Sam and Kenny at noon, but I was really disappointed that we did not head out to lunch. We sat and talked about all those sports, youth services, and AFNer's who have come and gone, but I am really sad we didn't go out at least for one meal. Oh well...

Great hotel...less than 10 minute walk from River Walk which I will explore at length tomorrow as well as the Alamo and diner atop the space needle. Should be a good day. Hey dearest loving wife...interested in a cute puggle? Kate and Mike have a line on one....

Day 11 - Back in the heart o'Texas

1586.5 miles - A wonderful couple of days visiting high (and grade) school chum Mike Heller and his wife in Marshall, TX...reminiscing about male cheerleaders, slot car racing, class reunions, life choices, and beer. (Not necessarily in that order). It was good to see Mike and revisit the good days long gone....I hope I will run into him again. Its not everyday you get to discuss Shakespeare as heard in the original Klingonese with someone....

Traveling to San Antonio tomorrow for lunch with Sam and Ken from AFN days gone by....stop over tonight in College Station one last time and dinner again at Fish Daddy's.

Am going to have to make a decision about Terrace Community offer....have to sleep on this one....

Day 9 - Galveston Bay

1315.0 miles - Spent a lovely day in Galveston. The city itself looks old and worn on the Bay side. Old houses, some, like the first photos, not even standing straight...but some lovely homes like the Moody Mansion, home of the cotton magnate, and other palatial homes that withstood the flood line Broadway. Those that survived are marked with a metal sign recognizing their feat. Next I visited the Strand, what was the main hub of the pre-hurricane Galveston. Now its a collection of specialty shops. One store, note the black cabinet, still has the water lines (see the close up and the back of the cabinet) from the flooding that lasted almost a week. Note how high from the floor the cabinet was, and the street was 3 steps below the entrance.

Visit the refurbished schooner Elissa which travelled the world in the 1800's, saw the Great Flood movie, roamed the shops and bookstores, and had a great meal on the Wharf before heading back. Tomorrow I am off to Mike Heller's in Texas for 2 days of high school reminiscing.

NOTE: Its relaxing being able to wear only the same wild pair of shoes each day, since no one sees them twice!

Day 8 - The Big Goodbye

One more concept map....and one last look at University Drive...and for the third year I walked back to the Traditions thinking this may be the last time I ever visit College Station or Texas A&M....and if I had the money (and the masters), I would love to do my doctorate here with this terrific group of people. I hope that I can come back next year. Seeing Kurt and Dick for the third year was fantastic, as always. Newcomers, like Abby, Cheryl, and Angela made the week special.

I am already looking forward to next year.

However, tomorrow I take a side trip to Galveston, O Galveston. I can feel your sea winds blowin...I will play Glen Campbell in the car tomorrow (if I can find it on my iPod).

One last bad joke...Do you know why there are no sea gulls in Tampa Bay? If there were any they would be bagels.....

I know you want to laugh...go ahead...it's allright...

Day 7 - Grilled Cheese!

Many highlights today....First, I think my team did an exceptional job preparing a multi-layered lesson with high order analysis and an opinion driven research paper despite constant playing around, laughing, bad songs, worse jokes, and insane laughing. No, seriously, it was THEM...not me! I was sitting, quietly, minding my own business, doing my work diligently and they just kept clowning around...

But then the important stuff happened...went to lunch at the restaurant that had the world's best three cheese grilled cheese sandwich for lunch....Organized and pulled off two terrific gag gifts for Abby (She was almost in tears!), and a great night at Dr. Carol's by the pool. What a great way to end the week....Tomorrow its off to Houston and Galveston on the second leg of the journey!

And no...I never did take part in any of those conversations about body parts.

Honest!