New Orleans Road Trip - Day 17

Addendum: We left off a significant historical factoid about the USS Lexington in yesterday's post. The USS Lexington was the first US Naval vessel to embark women. In 1980, six females joined the ranks of the USS Lexington's crew. Two of them were pilots and the remaining four were crew members. Also, if you'd like to learn more about the USS Lexington, you can do so at their website by clicking here.

Bright Side Breakfast of Raw Bits Twang Twang with 2/3 of a banana for Linda. Half a bagel with cream cheese, cup of milk and a banana for John. Then we pulled out of Corpus Christi around 8:32 a.m. onto Interstate 37. There were clearly marked hurricane symbols in the far left lane every mile or so to show that it is a hurricane evacuation lane. It was closed for any other use except breakdowns. Since we had a fairly short drive to San Antonio we got off I-37 onto Highway 77 near Odem so we could soak up some color along the way. The first flavor was the smell of an unfortunate skunk. John was soon excited about learning that we can get the elevation and GPS coordinated from Wilma's navigation system by just tapping on the circle on the screen that shows our location on the road. He has been using his smart phone for elevation info - the Wilma Way will be much easier and safer. At Sinton, TX, we got onto Hwy 181 headed north.

We have noticed that there are fewer coffee shops on this trip than we are used to. However, McDonald's makes perfectly passable coffee. John finds their Mocha tolerable, but not as good as Starbucks. He has also figure out you can get it with one or two pumps of chocolate and non-fat milk. Just like Starbucks. Saves on calories and 4 pumps of chocolate makes it more like cocoa than coffee.

Skidmore, TX consisted of a Dairy Queen, Skidmart (a lumberyard), a gas station and a closed gas station that is for sale (If you happen to be in the market).

Highway 181 then took us through Beeville, the county seat of Bee County. We saw an interesting old Coca Cola Bottling plant. On top of the cute county courthouse was a red beehive topped by clock (accurate!) and a golden statue of a person reaching upward. Linda spent a few minutes exploring the Full Circle Antiques shop where she found a cute Texas birdhouse and a Texas star for her garden. John parked next door at a Tanning Salon which is now offering Teeth Whitening. John gave her 25 minutes to go wild in that atore.

Near Normanna, TX we found an old building from 1909 that you can see in today's photo gallery and also a Historical Museum and Community Association. Next came Tuleta where Rev. Peter Unzicker started one of the first Mennonite Churches in Texas. A nearby billboard asked What's Missing in CH _ _ CH? And underneath was the answer: UR. More old buildings caught our eye in Falls City: an old hotel and the First National Bank.

Our pathway soon took us to Poth where Linda went into Mega-Mall Antiques and came out with a book written by a cowboy cook/poet/preacher back in the 80s.

John was soon in Nirvana, that is, Floresville where we at lunch in a place which was first started in 1950. To learn more about its history, go to their website. John had a new trick up his sleeve. At breakfast he overheard a Whataburger veteran mention that he always requests that they burn his buns, which apparently means that BOTH sides of your buns get toasted. Somehow, that sounds just a bit kinky.

We arrived in San Antonio around 2:22 p.m., in time to go to our room and watch our new doorlock be installed. We had grown quite fond of the old style of La Quinta doorkeys. They have a pattern of holes in them. You push them in and open the door. Once you release the door handle, you can pull the key out of the slot. That simple. With the upgrade comes the credit card size key where you insert the card and wait for the green flash of light to magically appear. It took longer than the 10 minute installation we were promised but we didn't complain since they were letting us check in a little early.

Dinner was at a Pancho's Mexican Buffet here in San Antonio, the home of Pancho's. It was a favorite of ours when we moved from Texas in 1979. We lived in Garland and there was a Pancho's Jr. within 5 or 10 miles. The San Antonio Pancho's was quite large and had a wide selection of Tex-Mex dishes. Linda especially enjoyed the zuchinni and yellow squash dish. John was able to come in 19 calories under his allotment for the day so he was pleased. Imagine – Whataburger and Pancho's in the same day – with 15 calories to spare! John's calorie report for the week ending last Sunday....drum roll please....4,903 calories under his allowance. Not too bad for being on a road trip and eating out all the time.

There are 37 photos in today's gallery, which you can view by clicking here.

Funny business signs seen today were No Regrets Tattoos and Rub Me the Right Way (a massage parlor). The tattoo business name reminds me of when I asked our (then) next-door teenage neighbor what was on his arm (it looked like a salamander or an iguana) and he said “A mistake”. I wonder if he still has it. I'll have to remember to ask. We are FaceBook friends, after all.