Athens, Georgia

Athens, Georgia is about a 2 day drive from San Antonio and is a college/university town as well as the birth place of R.E.M and B-52's. 

 The University of Georgia has a lovely campus and was established in 1785.   33,000 students attend this campus.

The city itself is very pretty.

The town has a number of historic features such as the Old Athens Cemetery.

The cemetery is in the center of the campus and has headstones dating the American Revolution.

The University is also the home of the Georgia Bulldogs football team and there are numerous statues such as this located around the city.

There are also very interesting motor bikes. We don't pretend to know the history of this scooter but it certainly has a military theme.

There are many places to eat and we really enjoyed the East West Bistro in Broad Street where delicious food such as the spicy shrimp salad that Ross was about to eat.

And, the fried chevre and basil poblano vinaigrette dish Beverley enjoyed.

Before one can drink in Athens proof of identity is required. 

Athens has lots to offer.  Being a University town there is always something on.  On this day the University wind ensemble entertained the crowd with classical music.

To know more about this interesting town have a look at http://www.visitathensga.com


Best wishes,
Beverley and Ross

Athens Georgia - Rehersal Dinner and Wedding

Last week we spent a few days in Athens, Georgia which is a 2 day drive from San Antonio.  We were invited to Marc and Theresa's wedding. Theresa is the daughter of Regina and Jim our great friends who live in Savannah, Georgia whom we visited with a couple of years ago.  As is the custom in America the evening before the wedding (27 Sep) there is a rehearsal dinner where family and friends get together to enjoy and share in the upcoming nuptials.  Marc's parents Francoise and David live in Tennessee and prepared an excellent spread of smoked BBQ meats.  You can see the BBQ's which they brought with them from Tennessee.

The venue was at The Farmhouse Inn - At the Hundred Acre Farm which is located a few minutes drive from historic Madison, Georgia.  The farm reminded us of Beaver Dam in Canada where we spent 21/2 great years.

To see more of this property have a look at www.thefarmhouseinn.com

Francoise and her mother-in-law Jean are great cooks and these are the magnificent desserts they prepared for us all.  A great finish to a wonderful evening with lovely people and great food.

On 28Sep it was Marc and Theresa's wedding day.  They were married in the chapel at the Athens Botanical Gardens.

The reception was held in the room under the chapel and here is Marc and Theresa thanking us all for joining them on their special day.  To see more photos of the wedding please have a look at the DJs pictures. You get to them by going to www.AmbienceEventServices.com and then scroll down on the left to find Marc and Theresa's wedding photos. 

Marc and Theresa are keen university football fans and as Theresa is a graduate of the University of Georgia and it was game weekend, it was fitting that  the mascot from the Georgia Bulldogs joined in the festivities.

It was a great wedding and we wish Marc and Theresa every happiness.

More to follow on our time away,

Best wishes to all.

Bev and Ross



Austin- Texas

Recently we spent a couple of days visiting Austin which is the capital of the State of Texas.  It has a population of 820,611 and was settled in the 1830's.

The State Capitol building was built in the 19th centuary.

Austin is now considered the music capital of Texas and much of this live entertainment is found in 6th street.  This nine-block historic district has been an epicentre of activity since the realy 1900's when it was developed as a centre of commerce.  

There are a number of grand buildings to be found in the city centre of Austin such as the elegant Driskill Hotel which was built by cattle baron Jesse Driskill in 1889.  At a cost of $400.000.  Jesse funded this build from the monies he had accrued from selling cattle to the Confederate Army during the Civil War.    

There is still a grand old car still parked in front of this hotel.  During his presidency Lyndon Baines Johnson the 36th President of the United States kept a suite at this hotel.

Today his second daughter Luci Baines still resides in the penthouse of this building which is located in the city center.

As the music capital of Texas it is no wonder that Willie Nelson spent some time in this city.

The city has erected a statue and named a street in his honour.

As you now everything in Texas is big.  Even the pot plant containers.

Austin has lots to do and many things to see so we are planning to return for another visit.

Best wishes to all,

Bev and Ross

Houston and Galveston

Late last month we paid a quick visit to Houston and Galveston mostly to visit the Houston Space Centre as Ross had not been there. Houston is the largest city in Texas with 2.1 million people making it the fourth largest city in the USA. It has a spectacular skyline and we found it fairly easy to navigate our way around.

Because we had come specifically to visit the space centre we stayed south of the city at the holiday inn at Hobby Airport.

Our visit to the centre was interrupted by a very solid storm and the tours were cancelled for a time because of lightning strikes in the area.

The highlight for us was the visit to the central control room (unfortunately no photos) we have all seen on the news and in movies. During our time there they had a real time link to the international space station and we were able to watch the astronauts go about their daily business. There is so much more to see I am sure we will return.

Please visit http://www.spacecenter.org/

After Houston we made the short trip south to the gulf coast for a quick visit to Galveston. It is similar to many seaside tourist resort towns but has the added bonus of being a major start point for many Carribean Cruises. On the day we were there there was a hurricane forming well to the south but it quickly affected the local weather.

Because of the bad weather we decided not to stay but headed back to San Antonio (about 4 hours drive). We plan to visit again in the cooler months and non hurricane season.

Cheers

Ross and Bev

Eating Around San Antonio

Over the last few weeks we have done a little local travel as well as have our great friend Annette come to visit from Australia via Canada. And as we do when we have visitors (and when we don't) we tend to patronise our local restaurants.

One of our favourites is the  Fish City Grill. The grill has a Cajun influence and serves everything from gumbo to fish tacos to crawfish in season.

The plain grilled fish (in this case Tilapia) is outstanding and on Saturdays they have all you can eat snow crab.

It also has an oyster bar that is not afraid to mix fresh seafood with Tex/Mex cuisine.

The daily specials are on a chalkboard over the door before you enter.

For something totally different and close to home we have a traditional Texas Bar-B-Q and as you can see the prices are more than reasonable. The fare ranges from ribs, sausage and brisket to cornbread and pecan pie.

And they throw in live music.

Another place we have eaten on a number of occasions is the restaurant in the Bass Pro Shop but because the restaurant (again seafood oriented) is similar to many others I thought I would show several shots of the shop itself.

For those of you who have not been to a Bass store it is an amazing spectacle. On site they sell everything in the way of sporting goods from boats to duck whistles and the array of stuffed animals is like nothing I have ever seen.

If you get the chance to visit one you should take it and visit the onsite restaurant.

More to follow.

Cheers 

Ross and Bev

BBQ with friends

We are so fortunate to have great friends as our neighbours and recently we decided to have a get together.  As it looked like it was going to rain ( not a very familiar event in San Antonio) we decided to have it in our garage.  Keith cooked all of the meat in his BBQ which you can see and Ross cooked the salmon out the back on our BBQ.  We had a great time.    

As you can see there was no shortage of food.  All together there were 6 children who all had a good time.  Kaci was playing "mum" to them all.

 To help run off some of their energy they took to the street.

Even Princess the cat came for a visit.

Impromptu get togethers are always fun and we plan to do this on a more regular basis.

Best wishes,

Bev and Ross