Vacay 2013...A Change of Plans Brought Memories for a Lifetime

Chandler and Spencer walking at Fiesta Texas. A thousand words.

"What time are we leaving?" Spencer asked me as I pounded away on the keyboard Thursday around 5:00.

"I have about 30 more minutes on this project, buddy and then we can start putting all of our things together, load the car and get on the road." I responded to my quite excited 7 year old.

Thirty minutes turned into an hour of course, but the spreadsheets were complete and emailed. Up the stairs we climbed to pack up the final bits of clothing and other needs for the Cahill Family Vacay to San Antonio. The goal was to leave at 5:00. We drove out of the garage at 7:15. Man plans...God laughs.

Awaiting us in the quick 3 1/2 hour drive out I-10 was a 103 year old hotel in the heart of San Antonio just around the corner from the Alamo and two blocks from the famed Riverwalk. Priceline blessed us with this first night for only $60! Quite the deal to say the least.

On the drive, a gorgeous sunset led the way as we sojourned west. Once we arrived, checked in and parked, we took the elevator to our room. Spencer opened the door and his mouth fell open. There in the room stood two four post cherry rice beds and two bathrooms. They upgraded us for no additional charge. What an awesome way to start the vacation. The place was beautiful and filled with history. A perfect fit for being around the block from the legendary Alamo.

The plan? Our only plan for the entire vacation was to have fun, go to Sea World, Fiesta Texas, Alamo, Riverwalk and see some family. No real strategy on when. Lets fly from the seat of our pants and soak in every moment. No rushing. No stressing.

Sooooo...off to Target to pick up a couple of things and then back to the Riverwalk. I have traversed the Riverwalk many times over the past twenty years. I don't remember the fish ever being this large! The river was full of ducks, ducklings and fish awaiting all of us patrons to feed them. Of course we obliged as we found a great Tex Mex place with good shade and a table sitting on the Riverwalk edge. Chandler, Spencer and I threw chips to all of the begging animals and aquatic life as we ate chips/queso, quesadillas and soaked in the scenery. After the feast, we walked the river, took pics and ended up at the Rivercenter Mall where we had fun at The Disney Store (miss this place) and other places. That night we met the cousins at County Line BBQ and we chowed again while all of the younger cousins played and Robert (2) entertained us with his cuteness.

Day 2 cranked up with a morning boat cruise around the river with an entertaining history lesson

Riverwalk River Cruise

from the driver. One of the best decisions of the day? Not doing this cruise in the afternoon when the temps rose to over 100 degrees. Getting on the boat, the mercury stood at 85-90, so the 30-45 minute river cruise brought much less sweat and even lesser discomfort compared to the people that decided to take the trip down the river in the blazing afternoon heat.

The plans quickly changed later as the cousins got caught out in a diaper emergency, so the Alamo got pushed to later in the day. Chandler found a place that served Italian Gelato! Oh man...if you have never tried this stuff you truly have not lived. I think we sampled almost every one of them (except bubblegum...YUCK!). Spencer had some then and Chandler and I decided to wait and come back later after we had more Tex Mex on the Riverwalk. Our Tex Mex choice was the long-standing Casa Rio. They started their restaurant in the 1940's on the Riverwalk. Amazing! Off to the Alamo to meet the cousins again. I minored in History at U of H, so I love this stuff. What made this even more awesome was walking these hallowed halls with a History expert in Vince. Vince is a history teacher who has studied Texas History for years. He told me things that I had never heard from his recent research. Always amazed at his knowledge.

Spencer feeds me some gelato

After the Alamo, we walked across the street for our gelato (I had the Tiramisu - who wouldn't?!). We hung out and laughed and talked some more, but we had to check out of our hotel and head out to the San Antonio Missions minor league baseball game.

The Missions game turned out to be pretty epic for a minor league baseball game. They had just called up a guy who had finished his college playing days and it was his first night. He didn't have a name on his jersey. The guy played like he was ready to be called up to AAA ball. He almost knocked the game winning home run to deep center field only for it be caught on the warning track. The next guy up hit the game winning home run over the left field fence and the place erupted. It was good old-time baseball. To top it off, seats were only $11 at the field level. When was the last time we paid that for an Astros game?

Shamu doin' her thing.

Spencer couldn't wait. As we checked into our next hotel, he knew that the next day we would head out to Sea World. Both of my guys are animal fans, but even more, they love aquatic life. Dolphin, whales, sharks, fish, sting ray, penguins, seals, walrus, etc. They both love them all! Sea World has them all including a couple of really cool roller coasters. At this point, Chandler and I get a shocked. Spencer decided he wants to ride the Steel Eel. This is a pretty serious coaster. Not only does he want to ride this bad boy, he wants to ride the very front! Ooooookay! As we get in line, all that goes through my mind is that he will change his mind when we get up there. Nope. He got even more excited. The coaster climbed the hill with that familiar chain sound pulling us up to let us go when we reached the top. We take off and Spencer lets out a spine tingling scream. He was scared for the first 5 seconds and then he started to laugh and scream at the same time. He's hooked.

The three of us on the Steel Eel at Sea World

We saw Shamu later in the day, watched the dolphins, goofed off with the cousins at the kiddie water area, and had a blast at Sea World. By the end of the day, we headed back to the Steel Eel for one more ride and then to the car. By the time we arrived to the hotel, the restaurant had closed, so we found a Buffalo Wild Wings close by. Spencer fell asleep in my lap before the food got to us. A good sign of a fun day. Chandler challenged himself with spicy wings as I asked the waiter to put the Tour on of the 50 TV's in the room. He obliged and we feasted again to the sounds cycling in the background. Another great ending to a wonderful day.

Fiesta Texas loomed. I have to be honest here by saying a I was a bit nervous about this one. I knew that Spencer had a blast on the Steel Eel at Sea World, but this is Six Flags. They specialize in the roller coaster. He wanted to ride one straight up first off. Okay!

The first coaster was a fail. It was fun, but quite jarring, so he didn't like it much. We then got on the Road Runner. For those of you who remember Astroworld and the Runaway Mine Train, it was quite reminiscent of that ride. We had a blast with that ride. So much so that we rode it about three times that day. Chandler rode the new Iron Rattler, Superman and a couple of others that Spencer was either too short for or was a little nervous in getting on after the first one we rode that day. The rain showed up and cooled things off which was nice actually as it also emptied the park! No wait in the lines produced a lot of options for rides. We all loved the shooting ghost Scooby Doo ride (much like the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney). All in all, a wonderful day. We caught up with the cousins again along with Uncle Bobby and Aunt Sandra that night at Willie G's Ice House. Great food and more fun with awesome family that we don't get the chance to see very often.

Chandler with little Robert. He LOVES Chandler.

Season tickets make sense on a trip like this because if you have an extra day, like we did, then you can go back and hit the things you missed the first time through. So, we actually did plan out the last day of our vacation. We took a shuttle to Sea World that morning and saw all of the shows that we missed on Sunday. We also saw the sea lions, took in a ski show, and of course, rode the Steel Eel again. After we finished there, we drove out to Fiesta Texas to get on some rides we missed the day before. Spencer surprised Chandler and I again by saying he wanted to ride the Iron Rattler! He was tall enough, but this beast hits 70 mph, has a full loop twist and a dark tunnel. He rode with me in the middle car. It completely freaked him out and he cried for about five minutes. After I calmed him down, we went and rode some other rides and then he said he wanted to try it again! After the third time asking me to ride it again, I finally said, "Buddy, you cried for five minutes after you got off, why do you want to ride it again?"

"I am not scared anymore."

"Are you saying you were scared because you didn't know what to expect in the ride? And that now that you have been on it, you know what to expect and you will be fine?"

"Yes, daddy. I want to ride it again. I know what's coming now."

Soooo, off we go to the line for the Iron Rattler "take two". This time around? No fear. Nothing but elation! He was psyched the entire time. He screamed. He laughed. He was grinning from ear to ear. Seven years old and 45 pounds of no thrill seeking energy.

At the Alamo

After the last ride on the Iron Rattler, we took the trip east on I-10 to head back to the humidity metropolis. Spencer cried because he didn't want to go home. Chandler said it best, "Dad, that's a good sign of a great vacation." He was right. We had a great time the three of us. We laughed. We screamed. We stood amazed.

No specific plans each day brought lasting memories. Love these two. Love being a dad. Love making them laugh and smile.

My grace is sufficient for you...One Day At A Time!