Just a few more notes from a Large State

Cindy and I decided that for our field trip, we would remember the Alamo. And not remember the Blue Bell ice cream tour. When I told the kids what we were doing…Madalyn asked what it was. And I told her the Alamo is a place important to Texas history. She says “do we *have* to learn something?” We surely wouldn’t want some edumacating to mess up our vacation.

We also decided that we would go to the Alamo on Wednesday. Because it was going to be the coolest day of the week. Meaning, the high was only 96 instead of 102. Down right balmy. So, on Wednesday morning, we headed downtown…and then tried to figure out where to go. There are lots of signs…but by the time you get close enough to read what they have to say, you realize you are in the wrong lane. We did our fare share of going around the block.

We finally settled on parking in the garage for the River Walk Mall…and as we exited the elevator into the mall, Madalyn realized she was in souvenir heaven. I somehow managed to convince her that we would look on our way out…and that we might find something over at the Alamo. We ambled along (cause we are in Texas) and then had to ask how to get to the Alamo. I wonder how many times the people at the information booth are asked that question every day.

As we walked towards the exit, we had to pass the IMAX movie place. They had all kinds of cool offerings – like one about Ancient Egypt, another about Lewis and Clark, The Alamo experience, The Deep Sea, Dinosaurs, and a few others. So, what did we pick? Well, all the girls just saw the words “Johnny Depp” and that apparently sealed the deal.

Let us pause for a moment…

Okay…so we bought our tickets for the 12:30 show…and then walked across the street to see the Alamo. First of all…this place is gorgeous. The gardens and manicured lawns just sent me off into a picture taking frenzy.

(And after taking the above two pictures, Cindy says to me "did you really take pictures of those birds?! " I thought they were kinda cool...in a "Where's Waldo" way. Ahhh...the crazed mind of a blogger...)

A frenzy that was not appreciated by my group. Because they were hot. And not so into ambling. So, while I took some pictures, the girls went to the loggia for some shade and a bench. Doesn’t that sound romantic? And European? Just going to sit for a while under the loggia and admire the view... But, trust me, it was neither romantic nor European with whiny, stinky girls in the African heat. Wait…maybe it could be European…

After my frenzy came to a momentary halt, I found the girls…who discovered some sort of Animal skin thing. Not sure what it was…or what it was used for. But we decided that it must be Indian. And that we were all Big Chiefs. And then the girls found a bench…that seemed to remind them of a boat…and that it must be a row boat… When they finally pulled me away from the gardens, we approached the front of the mission. There was a sign out front reminding people of the sanctity of the inside of this building…and that we were to use quite voices…and not take pictures. So, we opened the door, and tried not to squeal with delight and get ourselves admonished by the docents…for the inside of the Alamo is blessed with…air conditioning. Wondrous cool air and small oscillating fans.

We walked into the small rooms to see the items on display…and then Madalyn had to tell anyone who would listen that we are related to Davy Crockett. It’s a good thing we had that hook, or I think she would have professed boredom for the whole thing.

We left the building and walked across the courtyard to the gift shop. Another air conditioned haven. We wandered about…and got t-shirts for the girls and one to bring home for daddy. And Ashley found something she could not live without. A giant pencil. (And a few days later when her grandparents asked what we did this week – she didn’t recall the swimming, playing, field trips, Johnny Depp…- nope, none of those could compare to the joy of getting a giant pencil.)

After making our purchases, we headed back over to the mall to have lunch before our Johnny Depp encounter. Did we need another pause? Naturally they had to drag me along as I snapped some more pictures.

When we got to the Food court…Cindy immediately found her boy friend.You should have seen the look on the guy’s face that was working the Cinnabon. He just did not get why we were in hysterics. And then the girls did not get why we *had* to get a picture. Hallelujah for over their heads…

We finished our scrumptious feast from the “here you try sample” eatery and went up the escalator to the IMAX. On our tickets for the show, we actually had assigned seats. I have never been to a movie theatre that did that. We got our 3-D glasses and found our seats so that we could watch “The Deep Sea” with narrations by Johnny Depp. No visuals of him at all. And can you imagine Johnny Depp in 3-D? Yeah, I thought you needed another pause there. Cindy and I think that they should have had a small picture of him in the corner of the screen for the duration of the show. Hell, forget a small picture, that IMAX screen is huge…they could have reserved half the screen so that we could watch him read his lines. In 3-D.