Mission Trip 4: The Outings

After working during the day, we went out some of the evenings after dinner (which we cooked ourselves in the church kitchen) to different places around San Antonio.

• Tuesday night we went to the Quarry Market which is basically just a strip mall on the site of an old stone quarry. We wandered around to Starbucks, Whole Earth (an interesting hippy-ish store), the Gap, and Borders. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun.
• Thursday night we went to downtown San Antonio and looked at the Alamo, which was actually a bit disappointing. It may have been more impressive if we had gotten to go inside, but it was closed for the evening. Then we went to the Riverwalk, which was amazing, let me tell you. Ours doesn't even deserve the name.
• Outside of the Riverwalk we saw this guy named Sam who was on the side of the street painting pictures using spray paint and different techniques. He made this really awesome picture of a cross, and several people from our group went back and bought ones in different colors. If I ever get a picture of one of them I will post it. In fact, if I get copies of pictures from the trip I will definitely post them. Sam turned out to be only seventeen years old.
• The first place we went in the Riverwalk area was another Starbucks that was completely awesome. You walk in and it is like a CD store. They have listening stations and you can even burn a custom mix. Then you walk a bit further and you can buy drinks and pastries, etc. Upstairs are places to sit and they even have live music nightly. It was pretty much the stuff of fantasies.
• Our next stop was the Hard Rock Cafe gift shop, and even though I have a Hard Rock Maui shirt I have never been in a Hard Rock Cafe. It was very small and cramped, but they had a lot of cool shirts. I, again, didn't buy anything, though.
• We then walked up and down the Riverwalk. It is like a jungle, because there are gigantic trees and cool restaurants on either side and of course it is humid in San Antonio. There were so many sights and sounds and smells. And people. If you are ever in San Antonio, do not miss the Riverwalk!
• Friday night we went out to eat at a restaurant called La Margarita in an area called El Mercado. After dinner we wandered around the little shops, but it wasn't too interesting. They did have a lot of cool elephant sculptures for some reason, but I didn't see any I liked enough to buy. I am really picky when it comes to buying things, if you couldn't tell by now.

We got lost practically every time we tried to go somewhere, but it just meant that we got to see more of the city than we would have otherwise. Texas is almost like another country. When you are driving down the highway you see signs that say 'Exit 245,' 'No littering,' '23 miles to Dallas,' etc., and then there will be one that says 'Don't mess with Texas.' Completely randomly. And we saw a sign that looked suspiciously like it had bullet holes in it. Plus you get into Texas and you drive and drive and drive and drive and still aren't out of it. No offense to anyone who has feelings for the place, but I wouldn't live there if you paid me. It was a wonderful experience, however, and I would definitely go again. I think this will be all for the mission trip unless (or until) I get pictures. If you read all of this I am very proud of you. Toodles!