I knew that we were going to Austin and to Dallas. We were going to see Duran Duran and The Cowboys. That was the gist of the trip.
Oh this all started months ago when a friend of mine that lives in Austin posted to her Facebook page that Duran Duran would be performing during the Formula 1 Race. Having been a fan, sometimes rabid, since 1983, I reposted the information to my husband's wall and commented that we should go.
Fast forward to ticket sales day. Danny took the day off of work and started the purchasing process at exactly 10 a.m. He had gotten the tickets, second balcony about seven rows up in the middle. In a venue that truly did not have a bad seat in the house, these were amazing. Though John Taylor would not see me or hear me, I would clearly see and hear him. I was beginning to be Hungry Like the Wolf. (I smell like I sound).
So with tickets purchased, a vacation now had to be planned...
Danny did it all. And I graciously stayed out of Ashlyn, Hayley, by text, and his way as they put their heads together and giggled and oohed and aahed and glanced my way and then uttered a series of yes's followed by chest bumps and high fives. Ok, I don't know what they did in the planning stages because I just tried to stay out of the way. Danny making plans is a joyous event because he is so excited about it. I love his generosity. (When he bought The Eagles tickets for his mom, he could not be contained with excitement as he found the perfect seats!)
At work, I readied everything I could for my week's absence. I wrote seven pages of notes, including all the post holiday switches. I was going to be gone over Halloween, and would not be there for the taking down of orange and black and the putting up of red and green. My notes were detailed. The information shared with the leadership. And at 4:00 on Tuesday, I didn't have a rat's ass to share with anyone about what may happen the following week at work! In fact, I didn't even go into a Walgreens while on vacation. Upon return, I was still on such a BWE high that I didn't care that the notes were mostly left unread and that I still got to switch the colors.
We flew Southwest out of Des Moines. I love that we have Southwest now though I am still not a fan of not having an assigned seat. But other than that, the airline is fun! My first surprise was revealed at check in time when the ticket counter person asked if we were headed to San Antonio. I thought we were going to Austin but San Antonio is cool. What do I know!?! And I admit that my geography knowledge of Texas is poor so I didn't know drive times etc and figured this was an easier flight.
San Antonio, what a great town. Danny has a thing about hotels, he likes to stay in the very nice ones when he can. The Contessa on the Riverwalk is one such hotel. We had a Riverwalk view. The room was an upscale studio apartment. The people were so nice! I love being treated as special as I am!
We ate at Hard Rock because we could. I have always liked the Hardrock since my first visit to the original in 1987 in London. I know it is an overpriced chain, but. That is where drink #1 and #2 happened. I drank half of Danny's fruit press drink. It was so good!
We took a boat ride and learned some of the history of the area. These type of little tours are such a great way to see the city, or riverwalk quickly and then make a plan to go a little deeper into places. After the tour we headed to the Alamo (basement was closed for repairs) and then onto The Menger to have a beer in the same bar that Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders drank in. We have now drank in the same establishments as Teddy and Charles Dickens. I don't know if we will ever top that pub though as it was so dark and dank and reeked of beer and fire. Oh, and Tits was going to be there but that is another story.
That was drink #3.
We went to the Riverwalk mall and found a Disney store. Christmas present purchased!
We took a lot of photos and laughed a lot and I was already over the moon with my BWE and the first day wasn't even over. I use the term blessed a lot, but boy am I ever!
We went to a Texas steakhouse on the Riverwalk and got a terrible steak. I don't even know how that happens. I thin ribeye, an overcooked sirloin and cold fries. Tripadvisor will hear about this.
We went to Durty Nelly's, an Irish pub with a sing a long piano player. There were buckets of peanuts on the tables and buckets of shells on the floor. Drinks #4, 5. I had been up since 5 am.
Our final stop was a piano bar and that is where all my money left me. Have you been to a piano bar? Tips for songs (I did not get Barry Manilow). Tips to change the writing on the mirror -GO COWBOYS in response to someone's GO GIANTS and SCREW THAT! GO USA! in response to someone's bullshit European sports shout out! I'm nothing if not obnoxious when well into drinks #6, 7, 8, 9. 9 was the kicker. My birthday shot which was twice that size and contained Red Bull. No thank you. Danny and I danced and dipped and then he cut me off from the booze because I was trashed and a huge surprise was planned for the next day. I ever so lady liked flipped him off but don't think I was truly upset. It was a fantastic day and I immediately passed out on return to the Contessa.
At 4 in the morning 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 left me in a very unlady like fashion. I had never been a consumer of Pepto Bismal before but I shall never leave home without it again. By the time we hit the road on Thursday morning, I was feeling fine. We headed south. Austin is north. Sea World signs. WTF?
I asked Danny if we were going to Sea World and he told me yes, but that it was closed. The slight hangover probably didn't help my confusion so Danny explained further. The park was closed but he had purchased an hour encounter in the penguin exhibit. I (we) would be able to go into the Antarctica like enclosure and walk amongst the penguins. I started crying there on the interstate. I thought skipping a day of work to buy Duran Duran tickets was the nicest thing ever but this, this tops everything. I have loved penguins longer than Duran Duran. My dad had been to Antarctica twice while in the Navy and it was a great treat when he would get out the old photo album and show me the photos of him in his bushy beard and the penguins on the ice pack. I have spent much of my adult life collecting and being gifted penguins of all designs. Our wedding cake top was of penguins in veil and dress blues cover. I had imagined taking a cruise to Antarctica, but not really. But this, this was just beyond anything I ever imagined.
At Sea World we watched a little slide show, were given the do's and don'ts and donned the cold weather gear. It was around 30 degrees in the enclosure with a light snow. It was mating season and many of the penguins had paired off and were nestled together in their cozy rock nests.
Naughty and hilarious and more naughty and oh, so very sweet. That describes the penguins we met. Gentoo, King, Rockhopper and Chinstrap live inside the enclosure. The King had just finished moulting and were walking around strutting their stuff. Most of the Rockhoppers had found themselves a partner and were snuggled in the rocks. The Chinstraps were busy causing trouble. One spent our entire visit walking behind Danny and biting at his ankles. They very much wanted to know what we were up to, but wanted no part of our kind words or kind pets. The Gentoo were so very nice and sweet. Words fail me. I know, how is that possible. I never ever ever imagined that I would get to pet a penguin, let alone all those that came up to me. I never ever ever imagined that I would have a penguin on my lap and one peaking around my should while another came barreling in ala Harlow to get some attention. I had always been a fan of the emperor but can now say with complete confidence that the gentle Gentoo is my favorite. To top it all off, Danny just let me have this experience. He took all the photos, he was completely selfless, making sure I was first and foremost with these guys. Best friend/husband/guy ever. Have I mentioned that I am blessed beyond measure.
"We have never done a whole birthday week before" commented Danny
"I always have, you have just finally caught on to it." I replied
No comments:
Post a Comment